Reluctance to Enter the War Essay

The American population in the late 1930’s was very self focused for several reasons. Many had come through World War One and it’s aftermath. The economy was still in a depressed state. There was a sincere lack of faith in the Government being able to handle anything outside of our borders. There was a perception that there was little about the situation in Europe that impacted the people in the United States. Each of these reasons in varying degrees impacted the feelings of reluctance about entering another conflict on far off shores. World War One was fresh on many people’s minds in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. That war impacted many individual lives and families in the United States. Most people remembered fathers or brothers that did not return home or were injured in that war. Much of what the United States government tried to do after the war in international relations failed. There was a perception that we were out of our league when it came to international relations. Our own economy was in the throws of a national depression. People were focused on personal and immediate survival needs. Several farm families had been uprooted in the mid west and were living in near homeless conditions on the west coast. Unemployment was at an all time high. Soup lines were still long. Neighbors and families were introverted in meeting immediate needs and not overly concerned with another foreign dispute. Faith in government was not very high in this period of our history. Franklin D. Roosevelt was still popular and people still had hope. Delivery of political promises was something the people had not seen much of. What they wanted the government to do was focus on American needs – not other nations wants. Although what was going on in Europe was perceived as negative for those in Europe. Many did not feel it impacted our own lives in the United States to any great degree. As a nation were not only had an isolationist policy – we had an isolationist attitude. Our perceptions of the hostile actions around the world would only be changed if they impacted our own shores. That perception remained strong until early December 1941.