CHAPTER 32



Chapter 33

POLITICS OF BOOM AND BUST, 1920–1932

1. “Old Guard” Returns (pp. 753–755)

a. This section outlines the probusiness Republican administrations of the 1920s, which favored small government and ended the push for “progressive” reforms. As with Grant after the Civil War, the authors spare little in their caustic description of the first of these presidents, Warren G. _______________. Focus on the Supreme Court actions (p. 755) affecting the status of women that the authors term “anti-progressive.” Do you remember the Supreme Court’s reasoning in the 1908 Muller v. Oregon case (p. 670) when it came out in favor of special protection for women in the workplace? How and why was this view changed when similar protections were overturned in the case of Adkins v. Children’s Hospital (1923)? *** Should the law treat women and men completely equally? If so, why? If not, in what areas should women be treated differently?

(1) Muller v. Oregon (1908):

(2) Adkins v. Children’s Hospital (1923):

(3) Your view:

2. Harding Years, 1921–1923 (pp. 755–760)

a. This section highlights the growth of big business and the difficulties of labor unions during the 1920s. Note also on p. 756 a law passed in 1924 called the Adjusted __________________ Act that promised big benefits to World War I veterans in twenty years. Internationally, America returned to its isolationist roots in the 1920s. Not being part of the League of ____________, the country signed a series of disarmament treaties, including the 1922 “________- Power ___________ Treaty” (that limited U.S., British, and Japanese warship tonnage at a ratio of ___________). Later in the decade, the idealistic _______________ - Briand Pact, supposedly outlawing war, was signed. Higher American tariffs temporarily helped American business but hurt European economies trying to recover from the devastation of World War I. Corruption was also exposed in the Harding administration typified by Interior Secretary Albert B. _______ and the oil-related scandal called ___________ ________. After Harding’s death in 1923, the new president was the flinty, conservative, morally straight Calvin “_____________ Cal” Coolidge from the state of _________________.

3. Coolidge Years, 1923–1929 (pp. 760–764)

a. Farmers in the 1920s were in a depressed state a decade ahead of the rest of the nation. *** How did the end of wartime demand plus farm mechanization (symbolized by the new tractors) contribute to lower prices for farm products?

b. (It’s important to have a general understanding of the structure of postwar debts and reparations because they contributed both to the onset of the Depression and to the rise of Hitler in Germany.) Look at the flowchart on p. 764. The U.S. insisted on getting its $_____ billion or so in war debts paid back from France and Britain. Because they couldn’t earn dollars by selling goods to the U.S., what was their main source of funds to repay these war debts? What happened in 1929 when Wall Street bankers started calling in the loans they had made to Germany under the 1924 __________ Plan?

4. Hoover Years, 1929–1933 (pp. 764–767)

a. In the 1928 election, Republican Herbert Hoover defeated the first Catholic presidential nominee, Democrat Al __________ of New ________. The authors use words like industry, thrift, self-reliance, dignity, integrity, and humanitarian but also stiff and thin-skinned to describe the apparently well-qualified Hoover, a self-made millionaire. With the 1929 Agricultural ___________________ Act, Hoover moved modestly to help farm cooperatives help themselves, but soon afterwards, Congress passed the ___________- Smoot Tariff bill which raised average import duties to _____percent. *** Why do the authors say on p. 767 that this move played “directly into the hands of a hate-filled German demagogue, Adolf Hitler”?

5. Crash and Depression (pp. 767–770)

a. The chart on p. 768 shows that the value of common stocks declined by ____percent between its high when the market crashed on “Black __________” in October 19____ and its low in 1932. A stock market “crash” is caused when everyone wants to ________ (buy or sell) and no one wants to _______ (buy or sell) their ownership of shares in companies. *** What do you think might cause people suddenly to dump their shares on the market?

b. The authors provide a number of graphic examples of how the “foundations of America’s social and political structure” were severely and almost fatally shaken by the decade-long Great Depression, which descended starting in 1930. The stock market crash, by reducing the savings of investors and creating a negative psychological mood, was only one small factor in the onset of this Depression. Summarize these three main causes of the Depression cited by the authors.

(1) Overproduction and income disparities:

(2) Overexpansion of credit:

(3) Economic problems abroad:

6. Hoover and the Depression (pp. 770–773)

a. Hoover was a humanitarian, but as a conservative he felt government handouts to the poor would destroy the “national fiber.” When Hoover did substantially alter his principles by spending large sums of government money, it was for public works such as the ___________ Dam and for the _______________ Finance Corporation (RFC). Who received funds from the RFC and how did this illustrate the conservative Hoover’s belief that the benefits of such programs would eventually “trickle down” to the masses?

7. Bonus Army and Foreign Events (pp. 774–776) The final blow to Hoover’s reputation occurred in 19____ when he ordered General Douglas _______________ to evict the remaining elements of the __________ Army, a large group of World War I veterans who came to Washington to demand early payment of war bonuses. Overseas, Japan was expanding without restraint by the League of Nations. *** What do the authors mean (pp. 774–775) when they conclude that “collective security died and World War II was born in 1931 on the windswept plains of Manchuria”?

Chapter 33 Term Sheet

POLITICS OF BOOM AND BUST, 1920–1932

Pages 753–755

Warren G. Harding

Charles Evans Hughes

Andrew W. Mellon

Herbert Hoover

Sen. Albert B. Fall

Harry M. Daugherty

“laissez-faire” economics

William Howard Taft

Adkins v. Children’s Hospital (1923)

Pages 755–756

Esch-Cummins Transportation Act (1920)

Merchant Marine Act (1920)

Veterans Bureau (1921)

Adjusted Compensation Act (Bonus Bill) 1924

Washington “Disarmament” Conference (1921–1922)

Five Power Naval Treaty (1922) / 5-5-3 ratio

Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)

Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922)

Teapot Dome Scandal (1923)

Death of Harding (1923)

Calvin Coolidge

Pages 760–764

1920s farm depression

Capper-Volstead Act (1921)

McNary-Haugen Bill/Coolidge veto

John W. Davis

Robert M. La Follette

Allied war debts

German reparations

Dawes Plan (1924)

Pages 764–767

Alfred E. Smith/1928 election

Agricultural Marketing Act (1929)

Federal Farm Board

Hawley-Smoot Tariff (1930)

Pages 767–770

Speculative bubble

“Black Tuesday” (October 29, 1929)

Great Depression

“Hoovervilles”

Pages 770–773

“Trickle down” economic theory

“Public works” projects

Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) (1932)

Norris-LaGuardia Act (1932)

“Yellow dog” contracts

Pages 774–776

Bonus Army (1932)

Gen. Douglas MacArthur

Manchuria (1931)

Henry L. Stimson

“Collective security”

“Good Neighbor” policy

Chapter 34

DEPRESSION AND THE NEW DEAL, 1933–1938

1. Introducing FDR (pp. 777–780)

a. You may get confused by all the acts and agencies set up by Franklin Roosevelt in an attempt to deal with the massive Great Depression of the 1930s. In fact, people in the Roosevelt administration didn’t really have a consistent, coherent plan when they started out. Using the FDR quote leading off the chapter on p. 777, summarize in your own words what FDR’s underlying philosophy was when he took office in March 1933.

b. Roosevelt was greatly aided by one of the most active and popular first ladies ever, his wife ______________

(a niece of Theodore Roosevelt). As you read this section about FDR, list a few facts about his background and some of his personal characteristics.

(1) Background:

(2) Personal characteristics:

c. Roosevelt defeated the Republican ______________ by a wide margin in the 1932 election. This election produced what historic shift in the voting patterns of African Americans (p. 797)?

2. Money and Jobs (pp. 780–787)

a. As soon as FDR was inaugurated in March 1933, the Democratic Congress passed a huge mass of New Deal legislation in what became known as the first “_______________ Days.” The new laws dealt with the “Three R’s” of the New Deal program: _______________ (aid to those in immediate and desperate need), ________________ (programs designed to stimulate the economy), and __________________ (efforts to change permanently elements of the economic system that had contributed to the Depression). As you read the remainder of the chapter about New Deal efforts to overcome the Depression, try to classify the major programs (not necessarily all of them) into one of these three categories. Use the charts on pages 781 and 784 if needed. *** Then go back and put an asterisk (*) by those programs that you think are still in effect today.

Relief Recovery Reform

b. Roosevelt’s first act in office was to declare a “banking holiday” as a prelude to reopening the sounder banks with government backing through the Emergency _______________ Relief Act of 1933. Through the __________ - ____________ Banking Reform Act, Congress restructured the financial services industry and established the _________________ ______________ Insurance Corporation, (FDIC) which insures people’s deposits in national banks. *** Looking at the chart on p. 782, what connection do you see between the establishment of the FDIC and the virtual end to bank failures after 1933?

c. Generally, in reasonably good economic times, the unemployment rate is around 4–5 percent of the workforce. When Roosevelt took office the unemployment rate was an unbelievable ______ percent. To help unemployed youth, the _____________ _______________ ________ (CCC) was established. FDR aide Harry _____________ was in charge of other agencies that passed out direct relief payments to people through the Federal Emergency _____________ Administration (FERA) and gave adults jobs on federal projects temporarily through the Civil ____________ Administration (CWA) and later through the much larger and semipermanent Works _____________ Administration (WPA), which built many of the buildings and bridges we’re familiar with today.

d. Who were these three popular “demagogues” who argued against FDR and the New Deal?

(1) Father Charles _______________ of Michigan:

(2) Senator Huey __________ of Louisiana:

(3) Dr. Francis _______________ of California:

e. *** Remember the “trickle down” philosophy of Hoover as reflected in the aid to business given through his Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)? He hoped that business would use government money to build factories, thus creating jobs and helping ordinary people. How do the relief and employment efforts of Roosevelt reflect more of a “bubble up” philosophy as opposed to Hoover’s “trickle down” approach?

3. Laborers and Farmers (pp. 787–790)

a. Roosevelt first tried, ultimately unsuccessfully, to cooperate with business in putting people back to work. The vehicle was the National _________ Administration (NRA), whose symbol, the Blue _________, signified that business and labor in a particular company or industry had agreed on ways to increase employment and wages. The Supreme Court (in the Schecter “sick _________” case) killed this effort, but the authors that say it wasn’t working well anyway because it required too much altruistic self-sacrifice. Note the rather contradictory efforts of the Agricultural ________________ Administration (AAA) to raise farm prices by promoting scarcity (i.e., paying people not to produce) at a time of widespread hunger and unemployment. Drought and dust storms in the southern plains compounded farm problems—the famous ________ Bowl well portrayed in the Steinbeck novel ________ of Wrath. *** As you read about the causes of the Dust Bowl on p. 789, what environmental lessons are contained in this story?

4. Structural Reform (pp. 790–795)

a. Match up the New Deal programs listed below that continue today to be an accepted part of the role of government in the economy and society:

| |(1) Protects investors in stocks and bonds |A. Federal Housing Administration (FHA) |

| |against fraud, deception, and manipulation. | |

| | | |

| |(2) Planned development of a region and entry |B. Securities and Exchange Commission |

| |by government into the power industry. |(SEC) |

| | | |

| |(3) Financial help to home-buyers and builders |C. Social Security system |

| |(4) Unemployment insurance/old-age pensions |D. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) |

b. *** Pick ONE of these programs and comment as to why you either agree or disagree that this activity is a legitimate function of the federal government. Program: _______________________

5. New Deal and Labor (pp. 795–797) Remember that the American Federation of Labor (AF of L) was a craft union organization, meaning that it was divided into skilled occupational groups such as carpenters, plumbers, electricians, etc. To expand the labor movement beyond these skill-based groups, in 1935 John L. ____________ started what came to be known as the Congress of ____________________ Organizations (CIO), which included many unskilled workers and was organized by industry rather than craft—steelworkers, auto workers, teamsters, etc. Congress, for the first time, passed legislation supporting unionization in the form of the _______________ Act of 1935 which was to be enforced by a new National ______________ ______________ Board. In 1938, the Fair _____________ _______________ Act was passed and helped set minimum wage and working conditions. Summarize the results of the New Deal’s pro-labor stance as reflected in the chart on p. 797.

6. End of the New Deal (pp. 797–802)

a. In the 1936 election, Roosevelt soundly defeated the Republican nominee, Alfred M. _____________ of _______________. In this election, FDR was able to put together for the Democrats a coalition (or combination of interest groups) that held together surprisingly well until just recently. Besides the “New Immigrants,” the authors say on p. 798 that this coalition was composed of the ________________, the _________________, the _______________, and the _________________. In the first act of his new term, Roosevelt squandered much of his political capital by trying (unsuccessfully) to expand the size and change the composition of the conservative _______________ Court, which had overturned much New Deal legislation. Although he lost this fight, the Court thereafter became less hostile to the New Deal’s “socialistic” legislation. *** What does the chart on p. 800 tell you about the New Deal’s success or lack of success in dealing with the huge unemployment problems of the 1930s?

b. On pp. 800–801, focus on the economic reversals of the late 1930s caused at least partially by a slowdown of New Deal subsidies ordered by Roosevelt when he thought times were improving and he should move to balance the budget by cutting expenses. It’s important to understand the basic theories of British economist John _______________ Keynes, which were introduced at this time and still have influence today. *** Why do you think Keynes would argue that governments should run an intentional deficit (i.e., spend more money than they receive in tax payments) when unemployment is high and the economy is in bad shape? How can a government spend more than it receives? Where does the extra money come from?

(1) Why deficit spending in bad times?

(2) Where does the money come from?

7. New Deal Evaluated (pp. 802–804) The authors summarize well the many criticisms of the New Deal—that it was inefficient, bureaucratic, and inconsistent, and that it introduced big government, a high national debt, and elements of socialism into the American capitalistic system. Perhaps most significant, they point out that the New Deal really never ended the Depression and its high unemployment rates. These were only ended by the huge government spending associated with American entry into __________ _________ ____. And it was the war, not the New Deal, that caused the biggest expansion of the national debt, from $_____ billion in 1939 to $_____ billion in 1945. On balance, the authors seem to _____________ (like or dislike) Roosevelt and his program. On p. 804, they say that FDR was like _____________________ in his espousal of big government, but like ____________________ in his concern for the common man. *** What do they mean, also on p. 804, when they conclude that Roosevelt “may have saved the American system of free enterprise…. He may even have headed off a more radical swing to the left by a mild dose of what was mistakenly condemned as ‘socialism’ ”? Does this argument make sense to you?

8. Varying Viewpoints (p. 805) Against arguments by historians such Carl Degler that the New Deal was a “revolutionary response” to economic depression, or by others such as Barton Bernstein that it was not revolutionary enough, the authors obviously favor the more modern “constraints school” interpretation. *** What does historian William Lauchtenburg, a member of this school, mean when he calls the New Deal a “half-way revolution”?

NEW DEAL—HISTORICAL INTERPRETATIONS

From the Introduction to The New Deal by Anthony J. Badger (1989)

In the postwar years conservatives condemned Roosevelt for introducing socialism; liberals applauded him for extending the responsibility of the federal government to cover the economic security of individual citizens. Most historians identified with the Democratic Party and liberalism and in the 1950s and early 1960s many aspects of the New Deal appealed to

them. . . .

Both conservative critics and liberal defenders of Roosevelt believed that he had instituted a massive break with the past. Radical historians in the 1960s saw the New Deal differently. Acutely conscious of continuing racism and poverty in the 1960s, they believed that the New Deal had merely served to sustain the hegemony of corporate capitalism. . . . The New Deal did not nationalize the banks or discipline American businessmen; rather the corporate leaders themselves drafted the financial and industrial stabilization legislation. . . . Limited concessions, the radicals argued, undercut radicalism’s appeal. . . .

In the 1970s, ideologues of the right challenged the notion that New Deal change had been minimal. Instead, they insisted that the New Deal had set the American political economy decisively and inexorably on the wrong course. . . . Right-wing intellectuals saw the Reagan victory of 1980 as the turning-point when the American people reversed a half century’s drive towards collectivism and chose freedom instead. . . .

My preconceptions and conclusions will soon become clear: that the New Deal did represent a sharp break with the past; that the New Deal’s impact was nevertheless precisely circumscribed, often constrained by forces over which the New Dealers had little control; that in the end the New Deal functioned very much as a ‘holding operation’ for American society; and that for many Americans the decisive change in their experiences came not with the New Deal but with World War II.

Write a paragraph about ONE of the following two questions (the second question being a bit more challenging).

1. What does this summary by Badger of New Deal “historiography” say about the influence of the times in which historians write on their interpretation of past events? If you had to classify the New Deal interpretation of your text authors into one of the categories listed by Badger, what would it be?

2. What is your interpretation of the significance of the New Deal in terms of its break with the past, its effect on the people it was designed to help, and its impact on the future course of history?

Chapter 34 Term Sheet

DEPRESSION AND THE NEW DEAL

Pages 777–780

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt

New Deal

“Brain Trust”

1932 election

Pages 780–787

Bank “holiday” (March 1933)

The “Hundred Days”

The “3 R’s”

Emergency Banking Relief Act (1933)

“Fireside chats”

Glass-Steagall Banking Reform Act

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

Federal Emergency Relief Act

Harry L. Hopkins

Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)

Home Owners’ Loan Corp. (HOLC)

Civil Works Admin. (CWA)

“Demagogues”

Father Charles Coughlin

Sen. Huey P. Long

Dr. Francis E. Townsend

Works Progress Administration (WPA, 1935)

Pages 787–790

National Recovery Admin. (NRA “Blue Eagle”)

Schecter “sick chicken” decision (1935)

Public Works Admin. (PWA)

Harold L. Ickes

Frances Perkins

Twenty-first Amendment (1933)

Agricultural Adjustment Admin. (AAA)

“Parity prices”

Dust Bowl

Grapes of Wrath

The “Indian New Deal”

Pages 790–795

“Truth in Securities Act”

Securities and Exchange Commission (1934)

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

Federal Housing Administration (FHA)

Social Security Act

Pages 795–797

Wagner Act (1935)

National Labor Relations Board

John L. Lewis

Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)

“Sit-down” strike

Fair Labor Standards Act (1938)

Pages 797–802

Alfred M. Landon

Twentieth Amendment (1933)

FDR’s court-packing scheme (1937)

John Maynard Keynes

Hatch Act (1939)

Chapter 35

FDR and The Shadow of War, 1933–1941

1. Foreign Policy of the 1930s (pp. 806–809) This first section stresses that, early in the Depression decade of the 1930s, even Roosevelt was an “isolationist,” effectively scuttling the London ________________ Conference of 19____. He preferred to deal with U.S. problems in isolation rather than to cooperate with other countries in attacking the Depression on a global basis. With the Tydings -______________ Act of 1934, the U.S. signaled further withdrawal from Asia by promising the Philippines their independence in _____ years. Also, in 1933, the U.S. finally recognized formally the sixteen year-old Bolshevik regime in the __________________ Union. Withdrawal from Europe and Asia was balanced by a much friendlier attitude toward Latin America, called the “Good ____________” Policy. Paving the way for a boom in post–World War II international trade, FDR and his Secretary of State Cordell ________ began drastically reducing tariff rates (if other countries would do the same) under the ______________ ___________ Agreements Act of 1934.

2. Dictators and Neutrality (pp. 809–811) Remember how, before U.S. entry into World War I, some were critical of Wilson for allowing U.S. ships and people into the war zone and thus increasing the danger of getting sucked into that conflict? Notice how the country tried to learn this lesson in order to avoid another conflict brewing in Europe in the late 1930s—and notice also how the authors brand this isolationist approach as a “tragically shortsighted,” “head-in-the-sand” policy which was “one war too late.” (See how useful it is to study history!!!)

a. *** To the best of your ability, define the following terms:

(1) Totalitarianism:

(2) Communism:

(3) Fascism:

b. List two reasons cited by the authors for the rise of communist “totalitarianism” in the USSR under Joseph _________ and noncommunist “fascist” dictatorships in Italy under Benito ___________________ and in Germany under Adolf _______________.

(1)

(2)

c. As the dictators pushed for expansion in Europe and Asia, Americans tried to avoid involvement at all costs. List two reasons why most Americans were isolationist, as reflected in such things as the 1934 report of a committee under Sen. Gerald _______ about causes of U.S. entry into World War I and passage of the ________________ Acts of 1935, 1936, and 1937. *** Given what was known at the time, would you have been an isolationist or would you have favored a more interventionist, or aggressive, American effort to stop totalitarian expansionism?

(1)

(2)

(3) Your view:

3. March Toward War (pp. 811–814)

a. The authors list a stream of aggressive acts which were met with timid responses from America and the Western European democracies. In ___________ (country), they failed to support the duly elected left-leaning government in its civil war with the forces of General Francisco __________, who was receiving aid from Germany and Italy. In the Far East, they failed to oppose the full-scale invasion of China by ___________ (country), which had controlled Manchuria since 1931. In Europe, Germany built up its military forces; adopted a plan to exterminate its ___________ population; occupied the ______________ area of Germany, which was demilitarized under the Treaty of Versailles; took over German-speaking _______________ (Hitler’s birthplace); and moved on the German-inhabited ________________ region of Czechoslovakia. Finally, in a move that proved to be folly but appeared promising at the time, British Prime Minister Chamberlain met with Hitler in _________________ (German city) in September 1938. He got Hitler to agree to take no more territory and declared on his return to Britain that he had arranged for “peace in our time.” Hitler then proceeded to swallow up all of _____________ six months later. This “lesson” has often been used by those who argue that one should never “appease” or attempt to compromise with an “aggressor.” *** Do you agree with this “lesson”? If so, who is to decide when a country or leader is to be labeled an “aggressor”? If not, how are future Hitlers to be stopped before they wreak havoc?

b. War was virtually assured in 1939 when two arch-enemies, Hitler and Stalin, signed a nonaggression treaty. What were the rather cynical objectives of both parties?

(1) Objective of Hitler:

(2) Objective of Stalin:

c. Hitler then felt free to attack and take over ____________ (country), thus bringing in Britain and France and launching World War II. Supposedly learning the lessons of WW I, America responded by passing the _______________ Act of 1939, which was designed to keep Americans out of the war zone by requiring that all warring parties (basically Britain and France) buying goods in America pay cash and carry those goods out on their own ships.

4. Holocaust (pp. 818–819) List three main reasons advanced by the authors in this section as to why America, which selectively admitted some 150,000 Jewish refugees, did not do substantially more to aid the Jewish people being targeted by Hitler. *** What would your policy have been?

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4) Your policy:

5. Aiding the Allies (pp. 814–817, 820–824)

a. After a period of inaction over the winter of 1939–1940, called the “_____________ war,” Hitler invaded and conquered _______________ (through Scandinavia, Netherlands, and Belgium). The British successfully evacuated their troops from the French port of _______________. Prime Minister Winston __________________ then rallied his country to resist massive German air bombardment in the so-called Battle of _____________. Alarmed, Congress approved a huge military buildup and the first peacetime military draft. Although the population was much more anti-German (or anti-Hitler) than it had been before World War I, there was no political will for direct intervention. The domestic debate was between the Committee to _________________ America by Aiding the Allies and the pure isolationist America _____________ Committee, whose chief spokesman was the aviator Charles A. ________________. Roosevelt, an interventionist, responded by selling fifty ______________ (type of naval vessel) to Britain—clearly against the recognized obligations of “neutrals.” In the election of 1940, Roosevelt ignored the “______ -term tradition” and beat the able Republican challenger Wendell _______________. He then expanded on his concept of massive military aid to the Allies by securing passage of the hugely important _________ - ___________ Bill. America ultimately sent over $_____ billion of military equipment to the Allies, under the dubious “condition” that the equipment be “returned to America after the war.” This was a clear abandonment of neutrality (short of actual direct military involvement), and a transparent excuse for using America’s industrial might to aid countries that could not afford to pay for the equipment. It also once again exposed American ships to German ____-boat attacks. In a major and ultimately fateful change of tactics, Hitler called off his planned invasion of Britain and, in the summer of 1941, attacked his erstwhile ally in the East, _______________. Both sides ultimately racked up massive numbers of casualties in this epic confrontation. The German attack threw the Russian dictator ___________ “into bed” with Churchill and Roosevelt. In August of 1941, Churchill and Roosevelt met secretly on a destroyer off the coast of __________________. They got along famously and issued what came to be known as the _____________ Charter, a statement of war aims not unlike Wilson’s ___________ _________. Immediately thereafter, the U.S. navy began to escort Lend-Lease shipments to Britain, exposing itself to German attack. The first U.S. ship to be hit by the U-boats in September of 1941 was the destroyer __________. The Neutrality Acts were repealed, but the United States still refrained from war.

b. *** Comment on ONE aspect that you found interesting in this story of the lead-up to American involvement in World War II. For example, what do you think of the way the country inched its way toward involvement on the side of the Allies—from selling destroyers to Lend-Lease to escorting convoys, etc.? Or do you think it appropriate that Roosevelt would meet with Churchill and agree on the aims and strategies for a war in which the United States was not yet involved?

6. Attack and Declaration of War (pp. 824–825)

a. As the authors state concisely on p. 825, the United States faced a “devil’s dilemma” after war started in Europe—“to keep Britain from collapsing, the Roosevelt administration felt compelled to extend the un-neutral aid that invited attacks from German submarines. To keep Japan from expanding (referring to its continuing aggression in China), Washington undertook to cut off vital Japanese supplies (gas, oil, metal, etc., essential to the resource-poor nation) and invite possible retaliation.” That Japan would opt for war was not surprising—but that a U.S. target would be on the hit-list appears to have been unexpected. The blow that brought the United States into the war came on Sunday, December 7, _______ at the naval base of _________ ____________ in Hawaii. From the Japanese point of view, what actions had the United States. taken that “forced” them to initiate a Pacific-wide war? What do the authors see as both the short- and long-term consequences for Japan of its decision to directly attack a U.S. target at Pearl Harbor?

(1) U.S. provocation:

(2) Short-term Consequences:

(3) Long-term Consequences:

b. After World War I, people thought they had learned the lesson of how to stay out of European conflicts by sticking firmly to isolationist policies. *** After reviewing the lead-up to U.S. involvement in World War II, do you feel there are any lessons to be learned from that experience (especially as America decides whether to “police the world” as its only “superpower”)? Should America be a leader in promoting democracy and free markets worldwide and take aggressive stands when dictators attempt to impose their wills on others? Or do you feel that absolute proof should be required that this country’s real and immediate interests are threatened before the United States. enters any foreign conflict?

Chapter 35 Term Sheet

FDR and the Shadow of War

Pages 806–809

London Economic Conference (1933)

Tydings-McDuffie Act (1934)

“Good Neighbor” Policy

“Nonintervention”

Mexican oil expropriation (1938)

Cordell Hull

Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act (1934)

Pages 809–811

Joseph Stalin

Benito Mussolini

Adolph Hitler

Nazi party

Rome-Berlin Axis (1936)

Ethiopian invasion (1935)

Isolationism

Nye committee (1934)

Neutrality Acts (1935, 1936, 1937)

Pages 811–814

Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)

Gen. Francisco Franco

Japanese invasion of China (1937)

FDR’s “quarantine speech” (1937)

Panay incident (1937)

Rhineland invasion (1935)

Holocaust

Austrian annexation (1938)

Sudetenland (1938)

Munich Conference (1938)

“Appeasement”

Hitler-Stalin Non-Aggression Treaty (1939)

Invasion of Poland (1939)

Neutrality Act (“Cash-and-Carry”) (1939)

Pages 818–819

“SS” (Schutzstaffel)

American Jewish Committee

American Jewish Congress

Pages 814–817, 820–824

“Phony War”

Invasion of France (1940)

Winston Churchill

Havana Conference (1940)

“Battle of Britain” (1940)

Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies

America First Committee (Lindbergh)

Destroyer Deal (1940)

Wendell Willkie (1940)

Lend-Lease Law (1941)

Hitler Invades USSR (1941)

Atlantic Charter (1941)

Greer, Kearny, and Ruben James incidents (1941)

Pages 824–825

Japanese embargoes (1940–1941)

Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941)

German war declaration (December 11, 1941)

Chapter 36

America in World War II, 1941–1945

1. Grand Strategy (pp. 827–828) In the so-called ___________ agreement with Britain, America had agreed to a grand strategy of “getting Germany first.” The authors are effusive in their praise for the wisdom of this strategy, even though it had incurred “much ignorant criticism.” *** If you had been an “ignorant” proponent of a “get Japan first” strategy, what might have been your argument?

2. Japanese Internment (pp. 828–832)

a. In a section called “The Shock of War,” the authors cite the relative lack of ethnic “witch-hunting” in this war. They then devote one paragraph only to the one “painful exception,” the internment of _______________ (a number) Japanese and Japanese-Americans in various isolated camps for the duration of the war. *** What is your reaction to such a drastic deprivation of civil rights to one ethnic group in time of war?

b. Look over the box section on “The Japanese.” Note not only the aspects of racial prejudice against the Japanese, but also that much Japanese emigration at the turn of the century was actively promoted by the Meiji government which “saw overseas Japanese as representatives of their homeland.” *** If you had been an average American of general goodwill on the West Coast in January of 1942, how might you have justified to yourself the sight of Japanese being rounded up and sent to the internment camps?

3. The War Economy (pp. 832–837)

a. With unprecedented national unity about the need to fight this war to the hilt, there was little objection to the heavy hand of government agencies rapidly redirecting the economy away from consumer goods and toward production of war material. The War ________________ Board orchestrated this transformation; rationing of nonessential items controlled consumption; and both prices and wages were controlled by government agencies. Some ______ million men (and a significant number of women) were enlisted into the armed forces, while some _____ million women (dubbed “_________ the Riveters”) replaced men on the factory floor. How do the authors summarize the short- and long-term impact of the war on the role and status of women?

(1) Short-term impact:

(2) Long-term impact:

b. Today, the populations of the northern cities are heavily African-American despite the original concentration of blacks in the rural South. How did World War II and agricultural mechanization after the War contribute to this shift?

4. Financing the War (pp. 837–838) The authors stress again that it was the war, not the New Deal, that blasted the country out of the Depression. Production and profits doubled during the war and pent-up demand for consumer goods caused by rationing and other wartime restrictions exploded after the war. The war, they say, even more than the New Deal, launched the era of big government we are familiar with today. The chart on p. 837 is interesting because it shows the magnitude of the national debt incurred to pay for the war as opposed to the debt people had previously worried about to pay for New Deal programs. This debt amounted to some $______ billion in 1946, which was more than _____ times the level ten years previously in 1936. Total World War II spending amounted to some $_____ billion (which the authors say was ______ times as much as all previous federal spending in the history of the republic!). Even though taxes were raised significantly, a full _____ percent of the war costs was paid with borrowed money. *** Who do you think lent all this money to the government?

5. Pacific Theater of War (pp. 838–841) This short section really can’t do justice to the ferocity of the fighting in the Pacific. After Pearl Harbor and simultaneous Japanese attacks on other South Asia locations, the Japanese tide advanced rapidly, eventually forcing American commander General Douglas ________________ to evacuate the ___________________ (country) in April of 1942. Japanese advances were finally stopped with two huge naval engagements, the battle of the ______________ Sea and the battle for __________________ Island, not too far from Hawaii. Look at the Pacific map on p. 840 and review the strategic options open to American war planners. The grand strategy chosen was that of “island _____________” from the South Pacific island to the next, getting closer and closer to the Japanese home islands. The first victory in this strategy occurred at __________________ in the Solomon Islands, which the Japanese evacuated in February 1943. From there, the names and arrows on the map show how U.S. forces used each new island won (after often horrendous fighting) as a base to launch air attacks further north. Finally, with the capture of ___________ and _____________ islands in the Marianas and the re-capture of the Philippines, it was possible to start long-range bombing of the Japanese mainland. This strategy, though ultimately successful, was extremely bloody and involved ferocious fighting over desolate islands that could be used only as air bases. *** Assume you had been a war planner at the time. Pick one of the alternative strategies listed in the caption on p. 862 (or invent a new one) and make an argument for that alternative strategy.

6. European Theater of War (pp. 841–846)

a. The authors begin by discussing the difficulty of keeping supply lines open to Britain against German U-boats, a campaign aided by the British breaking of the German “________________” codes. They also discuss the success of German Marshal Erwin ________________ in nearly capturing the Suez Canal and the massive German attack on the Soviets, which was finally stopped at ____________________ in the fall of 1942. Remember the temptation of some Western leaders to see the almost equally disliked Russian Communists and German Nazis kill each other off on the Eastern Front? Soviet leader Joseph __________ was fully aware of this temptation and constantly pressured his allies, Britain and the United States, to open a “______________ front” by invading France to help divert German forces from their invasion of Russia. Indeed, the biggest loss of life by far in the war occurred in _________________ (about 20 million people!!). Britain and the United States finally opened their second front not in France, as desired by the Soviets, but in _________ Africa in November of 1942—a campaign headed by U.S. General Dwight D. __________________. Six months later, this campaign was complete. Roosevelt and ________________ then met at __________________ in re-occupied French Morocco and they agreed on the war goal of “_________________ surrender.” *** What are your thoughts on ONE of the two key strategic questions raised here? First, should the Allies have opened a second front by directly attacking through France in 1942 or 1943, as desired by the Russians? Second, were Allied options unnecessarily limited by the call for “unconditional surrender” made at Casablanca?

(1) Second front:

(2) “Unconditional surrender”:

b. At Casablanca, Roosevelt and Churchill determined to pursue the enemy up the Italian peninsula rather than to immediately launch the invasion of France, desired by Russia. The “soft underbelly” proved to be not so soft and the Italian campaign was slow, tough, and bloody. But the Italian capital city of _________ was finally taken on June 4, 1944, just two days before the invasion of France. To plan for the French invasion and Soviet advances from the east, the “Big Three” of Churchill, Roosevelt, and ______________ met together for the first time in the Iranian capital of _______________ in November 1943. After a huge military buildup in Britain, the invasion was finally launched on June 6, 1944 (called “___ Day”), on the French coast at __________________ This invasion was led by American General _________________. After heavy losses, the French capital of ____________ was finally liberated three months later, and Allied forces moved north toward Germany while Russian troops were advancing from the east.

7. Roosevelt and Hitler’s Demise (pp. 846–849) Despite failing health, Roosevelt won a fourth term in November 1944 against the youthful Republican governor of ______ _________, Thomas E. _________________. Roosevelt’s compromise and little-considered vice-presidential running mate was little known Senator Harry S _________________ of ___________________. In late 1944, Hitler determined to make one final effort to reverse German fortunes by launching an offensive aimed at capturing the Belgian port of ______________that came to be known as the Battle of the ___________. American defense of the “bastion of ______________” was key in defeating this thrust. British, American, and Russian forces finally met outside the German capital of ___________ in April 1945, liberating the horrendous Jewish concentration camps along the way. In timing reminiscent of Lincoln’s death at the end of the Civil War, Roosevelt died in early April 1945 and Hitler committed suicide later that month. The Germans finally surrendered on May 7, 1945 (called “_______ Day”).

8. The Atomic Bomb and the Defeat of Japan (pp. 849–853) The War in the Pacific continued for four months longer, and was projected to last into 1946 if a full invasion of the Japanese main islands had been necessary. The authors first recount the massive U.S. firebombing of the Japanese capital city of _____________ in March-1945, which killed ______________ people, perhaps to give you a reference point for the death and destruction caused later by the atomic bombs. U.S. General Douglas ___________________ re-entered the _____________________ (country) in October 1944 and the U.S. Navy ended Japan’s capabilities at sea in the giant clash at ______________ Gulf off the Philippine coast. Two key Japanese-held islands, Iwo _________ and ______________ were taken by mid 1945, at a large cost in casualties, in preparation for what was expected to be a final assault on the Japanese mainland. The authors then discuss the amazingly complex and secretive American development of an atomic bomb, ostensibly in response to work on a similar bomb by the Germans. This bomb was first tested at _________________, New Mexico, in July 1945, the same month that President ______________ met with Stalin at _______________, Germany, where they issued a demand to the Japanese for _________________ surrender. Despite overtures through the Russians that the Japanese might be willing to accept a conditional surrender (the main condition being that they be allowed to retain their emperor as head of state), the atomic bomb was used first against the city of ________________ on August 6, 1945, and then against the city of _________________ three days later, resulting in a total of over ______________ casualties. _______________ entered the war on August 8 and, on August 10, Japan finally surrendered (called “_____ Day”). *** Look over the last three paragraphs of the “Varying Viewpoints” section on p. 855 and write a short paragraph about your reaction to the use of the atomic bomb to end World War II.

9. Overview (pp. 853–854) The concluding section places the _____________ U.S. casualties in the perspective of the larger losses of other countries and points out that the United States was the only combatant to emerge from the war with its domestic economy not only intact but actually strengthened. The authors give good marks to U.S. political and military leaders for their conduct of the war but reserve special praise for what they consider to have been the decisive factor—the “American way of war…more men, more weapons, more machines, more technology, and more money than any enemy could hope to match.” Can you think of a post–World War II conflict, against a much lesser opponent, in which all of these monetary and industrial advantages failed to achieve an American victory?

Chapter 36 Term Sheet

America in World War II

Pages 827–828

ABC-1 Agreement

Pages 828–832

Japanese internment

Korematsu v. United States (1944)

Com. Matthew Perry

Meiji government

Gentleman’s agreement

Issei

Nissei

Pages 832–837

War Production Board

Henry J. Kaiser

Office of Price Administration

Rationing

War Labor Board

WACS and WAVES

“GI”

Braceros

“Rosie the Riveter”

A. Philip Randolph

“Negro march on Washington” (1941)

Fair Employment Practices Commission

Congress of Racial Equality (CORE, 1941)

Pages 837–838

Gross national product

National debt

Pages 838–841

Burma Road

Gen. Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek)

Gen. Douglas MacArthur

Bataan Death March (1942)

Battle of the Coral Sea (1942)

Battle of Midway (1942)

Adm. Chester Nimitz

Guadalcanal (1942–1943)

“Island-hopping” strategy

Marianas: Guam and Saipan (1944)

Pages 841–846

“Enigma” codes

Marshal Erwin Rommel

Gen. Bernard Montgomery

El Alamein (1942)

Stalingrad (1942)

The “second front”

North African invasion (1942)

Gen. Dwight Eisenhower

Casablanca Conference (1943)

“Unconditional surrender”

Italian campaign (1943)

Anzio (1944)

Tehran Conference (1943)

D-Day Invasion (1944)

Gen. George S. Patton

Liberation of Paris (1944)

Pages 846–849

Thomas E. Dewey

Harry S Truman

Battle of the Bulge (1945)

Elbe River (1945)

Deaths of Hitler / Roosevelt (April 1945)

German surrender—“V-E Day” (May 1945)

Pages 849–853

Tokyo fire-bombings (March 1945)

Battle of Leyte Gulf (1944)

Adm. William F. “Bull” Halsey

Iwo Jima and Okinawa (1945)

“Kamikazes”

Potsdam Conference (July 1945)

Albert Einstein

Atomic bomb (“Manhattan”) project

Alamogordo test (July 1945)

Hiroshima (August 6, 1945)

Stalin enters war (August 8, 1945)

Nagasaki (August 9, 1945)

Japanese surrender—“V-J Day” (August 14, 1945)

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