Roosevelt and Isolationism

In 1940, the United States was extremely against this animosity and reacted with trade embargoes and monetary approvals. FDR had talked with the Dutch and the British to see if they would agree upon embargoes on Japan. Franklin Delano Roosevelt did not want a conflict in the pacific as the United States was not prepared for war. For instance, the oil embargo that was organized between the British, the Dutch, and the United States was about 90% of Japan’s imported oil. [3] This upset Japan because without oil or fuel their military and war efforts would come to a complete stop.

The famous speech, Pearl Harbor address to the nation by Franklin D. Roosevelt (president at the time) shows us a vast amount of rhetorical appeals: Pathos, Ethos, and Logos to the nation. This speech announced to us that the intended audience and the persuasion used in order to change the peoples’ minds to defend our nation. The Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation speech was given to tell the U.S. that Japan has initiated war by attacking Oahu, Hawaii; while also attacking islands on the Pacific coast. Roosevelt addressed to the nation the stance we must take in order to protect ourselves from Japan and from attacks in the future. It was also revealed that Japan deliberately planned and attacked Hawaii do to the distance between each other. The Japanese ambush caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. It was then that America made a move to attack the Japanese Empire on December 8, 1941.

Interventionism, the belief that the United States should involve itself in foreign affairs, and isolationism, the belief that the United States should avert from any foreign affairs were two ideas that bopped heads during the first World War when it came to the United States’ position in foreign affairs. Interventionism was highly driven off of the thirst for profit and power. This hunger completely brainwashed people of all other thoughts, triggering them to steal innocent lives recklessly and mercilessly. However, isolationism protected American interests during the early 1900’s as it kept us out of war and affairs which ultimately resulted in American debt, lives, and peace being spared from the terrors of war as exhibited in George Washington’s Farewell Address, Ambassador James Bryce’s British Report on German Atrocities, and Robert La Follette’s A Progressive Opposes the Declaration of War.

Hours after Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japan, gaining worldwide headlines, giving millions unanswered questions, the speech, Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation was given one day after the event. On December 8th 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a speech to be remembered today, by using rhetorical devices and figurative language to strongly picture his message to the public, making great use of parallel structure, personification, parallelism, and climax ordering to enforce his key point of wanting Americans to stand up against the Japanese forces for the deliberate actions done towards there peaceful country, with no threat or hint of war or of an armed attack. With hopes of gathering support for the decision to declare war on Japan.

December 7, 1941: Attacks on Pearl Harbor: Around November 25, the US intercepted a message of an imminent attack on US soil. In addition, Japan started to move its navy towards Hawaii. Washington’s response to this was a warning to Hawaii, indicating the anticipated attack. However, on December 7, 1941, a fleet on Japanese bombers approached Pearl Harbor with the intent to bomb the navy port. US navy ships were left defenseless as the Japanese torpedoes starting to sink them. Within two hours, US lost eight battleships, two cruisers, and more than a hundred planes. About two thousand soldiers died and one thousand were injured. As a result of this attack, President Roosevelt addressed the Congress, asking for the declaration of war. On

The devastating WWI left a permanent mark on the European soil, as well as in American people’s minds. People now understood what real wars are like; they are not always honorable, romantic or beneficial. As a result, isolationism ran high as the postwar United States entered the 1920s. Three presidents, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover all devoted themselves to domestic affairs starting from 1920 while trying their best to keep the country safe from the European turmoils. However, as the WWII erupted in Europe in the 1930s, president Franklin D. Roosevelt sensed the potential danger posed by Germany toward the United States. A series of changes in foreign policies from 1920 through 1941 marked the United

President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his war speech and asserted December 7, 1941 as, “a date which will live in infamy.” The United States’ naval bases stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii were struck by Japanese planes intentionally and promptly. The news of this attack on the Pearl Harbor shocked the world. It was devastating to the nation that were still in the throes of depression. Witnesses of this event painted a portrait of a nation stunned, but determined to rise again. The United States’ government had not disclosed a Pearl Harbor story to the public--that the U.S. had failed to act on advance information about a planned Japanese attack. Japan 's move against the United States was audacious enough to be considered no more than a slight possibility, although the potential for an attack had been widely discussed.

As Franklin Roosevelt began to have more internationalist views, Americans, under no circumstances, wanted to be drawn into another foreign war. The result was a relative stand still in American foreign policy. Congress pacified isolationists by passing the Neutrality Act of 1935, which was designed to isolate America from the growing Nazi monster. First, it created an embargo on the sale of arms to all belligerent nations and second it stated that American citizens that traveled on belligerent ships were doing so at their own risk. The Act was basically an attempt to prevent the World War I nightmare from happening again. Roosevelt was required to sign the bill though he would have rather it had different provisions regarding the embargo of arms to belligerent nations. He was in favor of creating selective embargoes

Internationalism here is taken to mean seeking interaction and co-operation with other nations, and such an approach can be identified consistently in Roosevelt’s private ‘mutterings’, but also as the period passes in his presidential role. If we look to the earlier years of FDR’s life we see that he was an advocate of American membership of the League of Nations which was founded by Woodrow Wilson following the Second World War. Despite the fact that Roosevelt actually opposed US membership in his election campaign in 1932 this should perhaps be seen more as a pragmatic decision to further his electoral fortunes than a U-turn in his beliefs. Roosevelt as early as 1935 considered Hitler to be an enemy that America would have to take a stand against. In less prominent projects FDR also displayed his internationalist credentials as he helped to found the Walter Hines Page School of International Relations and John Hopkins University in 1930. During the early months of office Roosevelt was preoccupied with his New Deal package, yet he was disconcerted by what was going on in Hitler’s Third Reich, where the Nazis were stamping out opposition and the persecution of the Jews. FDR was also concerned that events in the military sphere, including in March 1935 the reintroduction of conscription for the

The second half of the 20th Century saw America transit from their traditional roots of international isolationism to a superpower interventionist. The values that the American forefathers had laid down as their vision for the future of the nation were abandoned, becoming increasingly more involved in foreign affairs. The World Wars played a substantial role in America's conversion and significantly changed American views both politically and economically. Both Woodrow Wilson and F.D Roosevelt were dragged into wars they did not want to be a part of.

As the United States went through two World Wars between 1914 and 1941, isolationist sentiment had a large influence on US foreign policy. There were many causes for such isolationist beliefs as the era included many significant changes. The main change that Americans experienced during this time period was the immense difference in the decades, with a roaring economy in the 1920s following the first World War and a Great Depression in the 1930s which would end with the start of the second World War. With such large changes occurring within the lives of Americans during this entire period of time, isolationist sentiment rose. As such beliefs became widespread, US foreign policy became influenced by such isolationism. Isolationism meant that

World War II was a tremendously impactful war which was fought during the forties. It had many turning points and great changes that turned not only the United States but the world. One of the first events that occurred was the rise of Communism. With the rise of communism it caused panic in the country of the United States. The panic was inevitable because anyone could be suspected of being a communist. Also, with communism rapidly spreading in Europe it was hard for the United States to stay in a state of isolationism. Therefore, a key factor of the United States abandoning isolationism and joining the war was the incidence of Pearl Harbor. The bombing of Pearl Harbor was sent by Japan. As a result, the United States declared war on Japan and World War II started. After the war, the impact continued. After World War II, the Cold War began; which was a start to a race in technology, space, and power. The Cold War lasted several decades and was a reaction to World War II.

During the 1920’s, the economy of America was thriving. The First World War had created new jobs and industries; members of society, such as women, were becoming more profound in society and their roles were becoming redefined. The United States was emerging as the industrial giant of the world. To protect the American consumers from imported goods from Europe and encourage American products, the government of the United States imposed high tariffs. Essentially, the United States no longer desire to maintain ties with Europe. The tariffs imposed by the American government were instrumental in the efforts made by the United States to stay out of European affairs. The concept of “Manifest Destiny” drove the United States into connections

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Empire bombarded the US military base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in a surprise attack. This ambush reminded the U.S. that they could no longer be spectators of the war and engaged them into direct conflict during World War II. On the day after the attack, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt spoke before a joint session of the Congress, requesting for a declaration of war against Japan. Throughout his infamous speech, he utilised diction, literary devices, and his simple organization of text to urge the Congress to formally declare war on Japan and rally the American population to support the war effort, thus establishing a sense of urgency and strengthening the nation in the face of grave danger.

“December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan” (Roosevelt). Japan surprise attacked the Hawaiian naval base, Pearl Harbor, approximately at 7:55 am. The intent of the Japanese strike was to prevent the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with plans to seize overseas territories belonging to United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States.