The Neutrality Act

This act would forbid any U.S. ship to sail from an U.S. port to a foreign port. In developing this act, Jefferson had hoped to find an alternating from war. The act failed. American coastal cities were soon desolated. All segments of the American economy were being affected by this act. The paralysis effect on the American economy accompanied by the almost unaffected economy of Great Britain led to only one thing, the American people were turning against one another.3 The American leaders learned one thing from this act, the war could not be fought through economic pressure, it would have to be won by military action.

In any nation’s creation, there is most certainly a point in time at which the country does not exist and a point at which it does. Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to single out the exact events that mark these points. This is especially true in American history, where upon first glance many events could have marked the birth of the nation America is today. With research, however, it is evident that the Stamp Act was the true mark of no return in American history. When the act came into law in 1765, there was a growing resentment from colonists towards British parliament in regard to taxes. England actually paid more in taxes, but Americans felt they had done a lot for Britain and were concerned about England interfering with their

After being elected to a second term, Washington faced more issues concerning the young country. Washington established that neutrality was the best policy for foreign affairs. In 1793, he issues a Proclamation of Neutrality, which stated that the United States would conduct a non-partisan state within foreign powers. Avoiding war would give the young United States the opportunity to develop economically without accumulating substantial debts.

Another major foreign policy action was the entry to World War I. On August 4, 1914 there was an outbreak in Europe. A war started between the central powers and the allied powers. The central powers consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungry, and the Ottoman Empire. They were also known as the Triple Alliance. The Allied Powers, also know as the Triple Entente consisted of Britain, France, and Russia. An immediate cause of the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914. Some long term causes that started the war were militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism. America tried to keep themselves isolated from the war in Europe. Before the war, America had an idea of neutrality. Neutrality is when American lives and property is not threatened. There was great ethnic diversity in the United States which led to a public union about war. The United States also had the idea of freedom of the seas. This meant the routes for trading were open. The United States had the desire to trade with both the central and the allied powers. The United States had a great economic interest in the war at this time. There were many different

1st Neutrality act: I Think that this was a good move because this law did not allow the U.S to lend money to nations that were warring which I feel was a good move because it helped keep the U.S out of it but it also saved the U.S money from lending it to nations that were already in debt.

The passing of the Lend-Lease Act gave the United States permission to fund nations such as Britain and France, with guns, other arms. It allowed the United States get involved, while claiming neutrality.

Neutrality Acts (1935, 1937, 1939) – The desire for the United States to remain at peace carried into the 1930s, as political turmoil increased in Europe and Asia. Congress passed Neutrality Acts in 1935, 1937, and 1939. These acts were designed to keep the United States out of any turmoil bubbling on foreign soil. The American people wanted to avoid becoming entangled in another world war.

The United States government announced a policy of neutrality at the outbreak of the war in Europe because it did not want to risk what was at stake by entering the war. It was also believed that the fighting would be contained in Europe and would have no threat of violence for Americans. Since the imports and exports were so important for Americans they did not want to enter the war and complicate the trade. It was not until the threat to sink all ships did the United States government feel as though they needed to enter the war. It was very important for the United States to get involved to stop Germany from taking over Europe and creating a major threat for Americans.

This effectively made it impossible to trade with Germany as Document C reinforces when reflecting on the war. The British navy was one of the strongest in the world for America to go against them would be suicide and they also depended much more on Britain for trade and economic reasons than Germany. Which meant America was to stick to their neutrality and do nothing. They continued trading to the countries they were able to and left alone the countries they could not. In the letter of secretary of state William Bryan to the Senate Committee of Foreign Relations (Document D) he implies that the U.S. is still neutral. He then goes on to explain what a tight place the U.S. is in. He addresses many of the points made in Document B and articulates why the U.S. has made some of the decisions it has and gives very convincing argument that the U.S. has had neutrality as its motivation the whole time. Germany was most likely irritated with the United States passive manner and upset that they did not come to German rescue when they still openly traded with they’re enemies and then claiming neutrality. In their eyes America’s standoffish attitude most likely justified they’re actions towards the U.S. but to the United States nothing could justify the German aggression they were going to receive as the war progressed.

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

This lead to impressment of American sailors and traders who then were forced to serve under the French Navy. Britain was also doing this, not recognizing American sovereignty. Washington issued the Neutrality Proclamation and later on the Jay’s Treaty to continue the peace. Net Neutrality Proclamation was a declaration that United States will stay out of British and French affairs, while Jay’s Treaty was a series of failed concessions which did not stop the British from continuing its naval crime (Bailey, Cohen, and Kennedy 200-201). The Federalists during this foreign crisis, enacted two laws to help promote “peace.” In reality, the Federalists passed two laws to increase and solidify their power in congress, at the expense of what the people want. During this conflict, the Federalists were losing support after trying to support Britain during this diplomatic crisis. The Federalists passed the Naturalization Act. The Naturalization Act, raising from 5 to 14 the number of years of U.S. residence required for naturalization (Alien and Sedition Acts). This notion of “peace”, was just a ruse to keep their political power. The new immigrants tended to vote for the democratic-republican

With such events occurring quickly in such a small time period, the second World War came as a massive shock. Yet again, Americans called for isolationism and neutrality as they believed America should focus on ending the Great Depression, not worrying about and dealing with the international issues of other nations and peoples. By analyzing Document 5, it is clear that many Americans still believe in isolationism during the Great Depression. Bennett Champ Clark states in his Defense of the First Neutrality Act that “the desire to keep the United States from becoming involved in any war between foreign nations seems practically unanimous among the rank and file of American citizens.” Americans influenced the US foreign policy yet again as the First Neutrality Act was passed in 1935. By analyzing Document 6, it is clear that President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the choices he made were still influenced by isolationist sentiment as he states in his Quarantine Speech that “it is my determination to adopt every practicable measure to avoid involvement in war.” However, it is clear in President Roosevelt's speech that he knew that entering the war was inevitable as he states that the “peace of the world and the welfare and security of every nation, including our own is today being threatened by that very thing (war).” Although the United States tried its best to not enter the second World War for many years, it could not avoided by the end of 1941. On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese. The federal government’s response to this attack can be analyzed in Document 7, President Roosevelt’s Pearl Harbor Address to the Congress of the United States. In response to the attack, Roosevelt calls for Congress to “declare . . . a state of war has existed between the United States and the

He stated that in order to maintain national unity and independence, the U.S. needed to have an isolationist policy and stay out of foreign affairs. He had a vision that the U.S. would prosper as it expands westward, therefore peace was essential for westward expansion. John Adams also wanted the U.S. to stay out of foreign affairs and ensured that the U.S. remained neutral during the war between France and Britain. He feared that siding with France against Britain would destroy the American economy and lead to another war with Britain that the U.S. could not afford. As a result, the founding fathers viewed neutrality as the best foreign policy in order to prevent foreign entanglements and alliances. Today, politicians favor free trade and international relations with foreign countries. They believe that foreign policies help preserve national security, secure world peace and globalization, and maintain the balance of power among nations. U.S foreign policies seek to ensure American security and defense. These foreign policies help protect and project America’s interests to foreign nations around the world. The American economy and its resources are dependent on free trade. Therefore, it is important for the U.S. to maintain a strong army, strengthen alliances, and reinvigorate foreign relations, which contradicts the founding fathers’ wish for

I believe that the U.S should have never passed the second and third Neutrality Acts because they weren’t really neutral at all. In 1937, the second Neutrality Act included the cash and carry policy, which allowed the U.S to sell military supplies. If the U.S really wanted to remain neutral it should have stopped with the first act. Plus, by Roosevelt refusing to invoke the acts because of his support for China just pulled America further into war. In addition to the third Neutrality Act, the Lend-Lease Act was the exact opposite of staying out of war and, in my opinion, was no longer

The first neutrality act made it unlawful for the U.S. to ship or sell arms to