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Valros
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JOHNSON HW
« Thread Started on Mar 19, 2007, 5:35pm »

Stephen Peterson
March 19, 2007
Period 3-4 American Studies

"A PEOPLE'S WAR?" THESIS & OUTLINE

Thesis: Zinn believes that while the Second World War was the most popular war in American history, the government and its major supporters did not really intend to enforce the ideals of freedom and self-determination they espoused.

I. "This is not an imperialist war."
A. The government's actions leading up to World War 2 were in some ways no different than the other imperialist powers'.
1. America had used military force to further its own interests.
a. "[America] as a defender of helpless countries matched its image in American...textbooks, but not its recod in world affairs." (p. 399)
b. Military intervention in Mexico, Cuba, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines, Japan, China, Colombia, Panama, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras, and Russia

« Last Edit: Mar 19, 2007, 6:36pm by Valros »

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JOHNSON HW cont'd.
« Reply #1 on Mar 19, 2007, 6:33pm »

2. America only declared war on Japan because Pearl Harbor was an "attack on...the American Pacific Empire."
a. "So long as Japan remained a well-behaved member of that imperial club of Great Powers who...were sharing the exploitation of China, the United States did not object." (p.401)
b. "[Pearl Harbor] was [immoral]--like any bombing--but not really sudden or shocking to the American government." (pp.401-2)
B. The American government deceived the American people to generate support for the war.
1. "...it does seem clear that [Roosevelt]...lied to the public for what he thought was a right cause." (p.402)
a. "Pearl Harbor was presented to the American public as a sudden, shocking, immoral act." (p.401)
b. "The records show that a White House conference two weeks before Pearl Harbor anticipated a war and discussed how it could be justified." (p.402)

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Re: JOHNSON HW
« Reply #2 on Mar 19, 2007, 7:33pm »

2. The United States talked a good line but never intended to strip the imperial Allied Powers of their territories.
a. "The [Atlantic] Charter was celebrated as declaring the right of nations to self-determination." (p.403)
b. "Two weeks before the Atlantic Charter, however, the U.S. Acting Secretary of State, Sumner Welles, had assured the French government that they could keep their empire intact after the end of the war..." (p.403)

II. Was American policy during the war in keeping with its democratic ideals?
A. Liberties were sacrificed in the name of security.
1. Racism, sexism, and anti-Semitism were still alive and well.
a. "The plight of Jews in German-occupied Europe...was not a chief concern of Roosevelt. [...] He left it to the State Department, and...anti-Semitism and cold bureaucracy became obstacles to action." (p.406)
b. "The Red Cross, with government approval, separated the blood donations of black and white." (p.406)

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Re: JOHNSON HW
« Reply #3 on Mar 19, 2007, 8:03pm »

c. "Yet, the war againt fascism, although it utilized women in defense industries where they were despserately needed, took no special steps to change the subordinate role of women." (p.407)
2. Congress took steps to quiet the opposition to the war.
a. "[The Smith Act] took the Espionage Act prohibitions...and applied them to peacetime." (p.411)
b. "In Minneapolis in 1943, eighteen members of the Socialist Workers party were convicted for belonging to a party whose ideas...were said to violate the Smith Act." (p.411)
B. America was looking to protect its business interests and ensure its "economic supremacy."
1. "The American economic war aim was to save capitalism at home and abroad." (p.404)
a. "Labor-management committees were set up in five thousand factories...but they acted mostly as disciplinary groups for absentee workers, and devices for increasing production." (p.408)

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Re: JOHNSON HW
« Reply #4 on Mar 19, 2007, 8:15pm »

b. "[A]lthough two thousand corporations were involved [in scientific research], of $1 billion spent [by the government], $400 million went to ten large corporations." (p.408)
2. It made an effort to secure foreign markets and business interests.
a. "In later years, the concern for oil would constantly compete with political concern for the Jewish state in the Middle East, but at this point, oil seemed more important." (p.405)
b. "Economic assistance is one of the most effective weapons at our disposal to influence European political events in the direction we desire..." -- Ambassador Avril Harriman (p.405)

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