America Moves Toward War An isolationist or neutral America no longer seems possible

U.S.’ Isolationist Policy 1920s, U.S. is isolationist “U.S. was dragged into war by greedy bankers & arms dealers” Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1928 –62 countries declare that war would not be used “as an instrument of national policy” 1912, Blue1914, Khaki1924-Present, Green

FDR Not-So Isolationist! 1933: Good Neighbor Policy pulls troops out of Lat. Amer. 1934: Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act lowered trade barriers, reduced tariffs 1935: Neutrality Acts –Outlawed arms sales or loans to nations at war –Ban on arms sales & loans to nations engaged in civil war (Spain) Continues selling arms to China when Japan attacks them b/c no “formal” declaration of war by Japan –Pearl Harbor = revenge?

Neutrality? ● Cash-and-Carry, 1939: allowed warring nations to buy U.S. weapons as long as they paid cash for them & transported the weapons themselves ● Selective Training & Service Act, 1940: U.S.’ 1 st peacetime draft - 16 mill. registered, 1 mill. drafted ● Lend-Lease Act (1941): lend or lease weapons & supplies to “any country whose defense was vital (necessary) to the U.S.”

Lend-Lease Routes

Wolf Pack Attacks Large groups of German u-boats patrol the N. Atlantic, sinking lend-lease ships ● September, 1941: FDR gives U.S. Navy permission to attack U-boats in self-defense. ● By 1943, Radio Detection and Ranging ( RADAR) used

Atlantic Charter: declaration of war goals FDR and Churchill meet secretly in 1941 on USS Augusta Precursor to United Nations -Both countries pledge: - collective security - disarmament - self-determination - economic cooperation - freedom of the seas

Shoot on Sight, 1941 Escalating German U-boat attacks on American ships (military and merchant) FDR tells Navy to shoot U-boats on sight Declaration of a full-scale war seemed inevitable... When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you crush him.

Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941

“… a date that will live in infamy”, FDR - 2,403 Americans killed - 21 ships sunk (no AC) -300 planes severely damaged or destroyed - 1/10 Pacific Fleet! - Congress declares war on Japan - Germany and Italy declare war on the U.S. - Former American isolationists are now ready to go on the offensive and enter the War.

What do you think? - Which was the most threatening act the U.S. did prior to going to war? Explain your answer. -If you knew the U.S. was helping the British before the war, would you have reacted the way the Germans did?