Give Me Liberty
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Chapter 22 Summary
Considered by far to be some of the most famous works of art by magazine illustrator Norman Rockwell was the painting of the Four Freedoms, which were produced during the period which saw World War II. The concept of the Four Freedoms rose following Roosevelt State of the Union address, which he delivered before Congress in 1941 eloquently talking about the foreseeable future of a world which will be founded on the “essential human freedoms.” Which included the freedom to worship, freedom from fear, freedom from speech, and freedom from want. These soon became the favorite statements of Roosevelt in all of his addresses.
During the 1930s, with being faced with the economic crisis, a minor role was played by international relations in public affairs (Foner, 2016). Hence the reasons for Roosevelt embarking on a series of foreign policy departures, in his quest to promoting Good Neighbours, which saw him visiting Latin America and the Soviet Union to name but just a few. However, his activities were quickly overshadowed by the Ominous developments in various parts of Europe and Asia such that by the mid-1930s, Japan had expanded its reach in China and Manchuria. While Germany continued to embark on its campaign to ensure their control of the entire continent.
However, alarmed Roosevelt may have been; he was at first tied to the policy of appeasement at the Munich Conference. Isolationism resulted in a vast number of American businesspeople not desiring to relinquish on their ventures to the profitable markets overseas in countries such as Japan and Germany. At the same time, many Americans were also very reluctant to initially get involved with any international affair, mainly because of their remembrance of the legacy saw by World War I, which was very apparent from the Nye Committee.
As seen from the various American Neutrality Acts, it is very visible that Congress favored isolationism. 1939 saw the beginning of the war in Europe with Germany’s first invasion of Poland. This immediately resulted in both France and Britain declaring war on Germany, for they had sworn to protect Poland. For some time, Blitzkrieg appeared to be unstoppable, and for almost two years, Britain continued to fight the Germans all by themselves in the Battle of Britain. Though Roosevelt wished to intervene and help Britain, he was limited by public opinion.
During 1941, the United States found itself to be more allied with the countries which were currently fighting Japan and Germany. Fighting for such a long period against Germany left Britain virtually bankrupted, Roosevelt pleaded with Congress to go to their aid resulting in the Lend-Lease Act. Leaders who believed that the United States should intervene in the war carefully tried to awaken a somewhat reluctant country to start preparing for war. This was inevitable as, on December 7th, 1941, Pearl Harbor in Hawaii was bombed by a number of Japanese planes that were initially launched from aircraft carriers. This gave America no choice.
The war in Europe was at first fought in Italy and North Africa. In mobilizing the war, the Government began building housing for the forced civilian industries and war workers in order to try and retool for war productions. World war II greatly transformed the role of the American National Government. This led to American based industries producing an astonishing amount of utilized technology and science and wartime goods. With the west-coast emerging as the main focus of military-industrial production. In fighting for the Four Freedoms (Roosevelt, 1941) to Roosevelt, this was enough proof to indicate the importance of spreading worldwide on the Four Freedoms which were deeply expressed by American values.
Reference
Foner, E. (2016). Give Me Liberty! An American History: Full Fifth Edition. Vol. Volume Two. WW Norton & Company.
Roosevelt, F. D. (1941). The four freedoms. Outlined in a speech on January 6.