Following World War One, the American people were sick and tired of Wilson’s moral crusade on the world and were eager to, “return to normalcy,” so when the twenties began, a new lifestyle did too, built on prohibition, having a good time, debt, and isolationism under President Harding’s administration. By 1929, the fun had come to an end when the ominous cloud of debt finally began to rain on the United States. As the Great Depression settled in with a new somber reality of life after the high Americans just experienced a decade ago, isolationist sentiment only grew stronger. By the late 1930s and very early 40s, the United States had just been lured out of the hole that it stuck its head to get involved with the rest of the world when World
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Harding took over the executive branch and relieved the United States from involvement with international affairs that had previously resulted in blood shed. The “return to normalcy,” was the height of isolationist sentiment and completely rejected the idea of America joining the League of Nations because it threatens, “our constitutional integrity and surrenders to a dangerous extent our independence of action,” which was a strong opinion voiced by Harding himself in October 1920 in a speech given in Des Moines, Iowa (Document A). A little over a year later, Secretary of State, Charles Evans Hughes, announced that the Washington Naval Conference, beginning on November 12, 1921, would focus on the limitation of armament to avoid an arms race with Japan and Great Britain (Document B). The twenties were very much so still burdened by the tragedies that the results of World War One had brought upon them resulting in the fear of stockpile of war weapons and a high dejection of the League of Nation or any kind of international affairs for that matter. However, by the end of the decade this isolationist sentiment had not changed, but the reasons behind it were altered due to the new economic depression that let itself in the homes of all …show more content…
But, some people, like Edwin L. James of The New York Times, felt that the U.S.’ position in the world was still powerful and influential despite and while America was isolationist for now, it could not be avoided forever because the dollar was still powerful, even if it did not feel that way at home (Document C). By 1932, the country was still isolationist, which would not change until late in the thirties, but it would not be possible without Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who implemented New Deal programs and encouraged the country to get involved with international affairs. By 1937, when the Japanese invaded the area of Manchuria, China, where the Nanking took place. Stories of this invasion, as well as the conditions that the Chinese public faced such as, murder, rape, and overall terror, were publicized in articles like “Butchery Marked Capture of Nanking,” in The New York Times from December 18 of that same year, which influenced some American sympathies, but it especially showed Japan’s desire to imperialize, as well as how influential FDR’s, “Quarantine Speech,” really was (Document D). This incident did not quite grasp Americans’ attentions too much to be able to turn away from their
Harding took over the executive branch and relieved the United States from involvement with international affairs that had previously resulted in blood shed. The “return to normalcy,” was the height of isolationist sentiment and completely rejected the idea of America joining the League of Nations because it threatens, “our constitutional integrity and surrenders to a dangerous extent our independence of action,” which was a strong opinion voiced by Harding himself in October 1920 in a speech given in Des Moines, Iowa (Document A). A little over a year later, Secretary of State, Charles Evans Hughes, announced that the Washington Naval Conference, beginning on November 12, 1921, would focus on the limitation of armament to avoid an arms race with Japan and Great Britain (Document B). The twenties were very much so still burdened by the tragedies that the results of World War One had brought upon them resulting in the fear of stockpile of war weapons and a high dejection of the League of Nation or any kind of international affairs for that matter. However, by the end of the decade this isolationist sentiment had not changed, but the reasons behind it were altered due to the new economic depression that let itself in the homes of all …show more content…
But, some people, like Edwin L. James of The New York Times, felt that the U.S.’ position in the world was still powerful and influential despite and while America was isolationist for now, it could not be avoided forever because the dollar was still powerful, even if it did not feel that way at home (Document C). By 1932, the country was still isolationist, which would not change until late in the thirties, but it would not be possible without Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who implemented New Deal programs and encouraged the country to get involved with international affairs. By 1937, when the Japanese invaded the area of Manchuria, China, where the Nanking took place. Stories of this invasion, as well as the conditions that the Chinese public faced such as, murder, rape, and overall terror, were publicized in articles like “Butchery Marked Capture of Nanking,” in The New York Times from December 18 of that same year, which influenced some American sympathies, but it especially showed Japan’s desire to imperialize, as well as how influential FDR’s, “Quarantine Speech,” really was (Document D). This incident did not quite grasp Americans’ attentions too much to be able to turn away from their