Interwar Era Isolationism

 Was the United States truly isolationist during the interwar period?

A. Plan of Investigation
This investigation assesses whether or not American was truly isolationist during the interwar period. An evaluation of American foreign policy and its application to certain events during the time are regarded. After this, an analysis of in which ways America was isolationist, and which ways it was internationalist, is then made, and a conclusion is drawn. An evaluation is made of the origins, purposes, values, and limitations of two important sources of this essay, which include Modern America; The USA, 1865 to the Present, written by Joanne de Pennington, and President Roosevelt’s “Quarantine Speech” in 1937. However, this evaluation…show more content…
Roosevelt, the president from 1933 onwards, 20 it became evident he sought to maintain neutrality and defensive measures as war became more imminent in the latter half of the 1930s.21 In what is fittingly called the “Quarantine Speech,” he states instead of directly attacking enemy nations, he will instead only quarantine them.22 This notion of neutrality was prominent in the face of war at the time, and was furthered by the Neutrality Acts, which were passed in 1933 and 1936 restricted America from supplying arms or giving loans to any participants in a war.23 This was repealed in 1937, when a ‘cash and carry’ principle was instituted allowed a country to purchase weapons from America only if they were paid for and then taken by the…show more content…
Bibliography
Brendon, Piers. “America in Isolation” The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s. New York: Knopf, 2000.
De Pennington, Joanne. “Internationalism or isolationism” Modern America; The USA, 1865 to the Present. London: Hodder Murray, 2005.
Grabner, Norman A. Ideas and Diplomacy: Readings and Intellectual Tradition of American Foreign Policy. New York: New York Oxford University Press, 1964.
Karl, Barry D. The Uneasy State: The Stated Unites from 1915-1945. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985.
Kennedy, David M. “Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
La Feber, Walter. The American Age: United States Policy at Home and Abroad 1750 to the Present. New York: W. W. Norton, 1994.
Reynolds, David. “Reading History: American Isolationism.” History Today 34.3 (1981): 16 pars. 14 Feb. 2009. <http://www.historytoday.com/MainArticle.aspx?m=12690&amid=12690>.
Roosevelt, Franklin D. “Quarantine Speech.” Chicago. 5 Oct.