The New Deal create a public works innovation where many Americans found work making roads, dams, airports and housing. Economic development became the way that people identified freedom. Roosevelt felt that the government should make it possible for everyone to be economic success. The New Deal was seen by Roosevelt as an alternative to Capitalism, Fascism and Socialism. Upon entering the White House his first move was to confront the banks. The banks had invested funds in the stock market and were failing. He provided funds to the failing banks through the Emergency Banking Act. Due to what happened with the banks there were a number of actions that took place. These included laws that prevented banks from buying and selling stocks. The law also established the FDIC which helps to ensure the accounts of people. Roosevelt took the US off of the gold standard. This saved the economic system and increased the government’s control over it. Roosevelt pressured Congress into passing laws that would stimulate the economy. The National Industrial Recovery Act was his most important as the act established industry codes that were meant to prevent companies from forcing each other out of business. The Act recognized the right of Americans to create unions. The NIRA failed to create the change that Roosevelt had wanted. Roosevelt created a number of government funded jobs for the unemployed. New homes were beginning to be built again as he worked to protect people from foreclosure. He also had a number of low income housing made in order to help people were struggling. In 1935 the Supreme Court which was predominately Republican began to strike down New Deal Laws. They declared the NIRA unconstitutional because it gave too much power to the President. During Roosevelt’s first four years the New Deal brought many benefits to the American people by putting rules on employers, passing Social Security Act, helping people find jobs and helped with housing. Women were given positions in the labor market and the government. However, women were relieved of their positions in order for unemployed men to have jobs, while women were put back into domestic roles.
After America entered World War II the United States changed in many ways and led to the Four Freedoms. Unemployment was ended and women and migrants found employment. The reach of the government was expanded. It was decided that America’s security depended on their international role in the world as in was felt that America had to establish its global dominance. Europe in the 1930’s was a land of violent upheaval as Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco came into power. America took a stand with isolationism in order to keep from being drawn into the events going on in Europe. In 1940 America decided that they would provide weapons to England. Once the United States entered the War, the victory of the Allied Forces was not quick. There were a number of setbacks before they arrived in Europe and Normandy.
The war changed that role of government. Roosevelt created new war time agencies. The number of federal workers grew by 3 million, unemployment disappeared, housing was built for workers, automobile companies built tanks for the war, the gross national product doubled and the money spent in the was more then what had been spent in the last 150 years. The government sold war bonds, hiked taxes and started taken income taxes. Ties between corporations and the government grew closer as many heads of corporations found themselves gaining positions in federal agencies. Organized labor found that its influence was expanded in the United States. While women were allowed to work during the war. They were expected to return to the traditional way of life once the war was over.
The Cold War which occurred between 1945-1953 is the most obvious result of America’s involvement in World War II. It was the result of America and the Soviet Union becoming the two most powerful countries in the world after the war. the Soviet Union promoted Communism, while the US was about Capitalism and Democracy. These two differing views came into conflict. Truman responded to the Soviet Union’s difference in governing by deciding that they could not be treated as a “normal” government. He decided that he had to implement a policy of containment and created the Truman Doctrine, which is how many Americans understand the events of the postwar. There was also the creation of the Marshall Plan which was a promise that America would give billions of dollars in order to help in the economic recovery that was occurring in Europe. It put a positive spin on containment and was the most successful programs providing foreign aid in history. General Macarthur helped Japan create a constitution based on Democracy, and the US helped with the economic rebuilding of Japan. In 1948 the Soviet Union decided to block the road and rail travel from the Allied Zones of occupied Germany. This blockade extended into Berlin. This action resulted in an 11-month airstrike by the Allied Forces. The Warsaw Pact was created in 1949 after the Soviet Union tested the first atomic bomb. There was a civil war in China in 1949 which the Soviets won. This resulted in America deciding to issue a crusade against Communism around the world. Then there was the Korean War which started in 1950. The army of North Korea had invaded South Korea because they wanted to bring both parts of the country under Communist leadership. America troops under MacArthur did the majority of the fighting to prevent North Korea from gaining its objectives.
Both World War II and the subsequent Cold War had a profound effect on American life. This was because the advocacy of freedom that the government used to justify their actions lead to a refinement of America’s own freedoms. The UN passed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. However, there were still a number of tensions over what constituted human rights. This led to many people seeing human rights in a new way, which led to the Civil Rights Movement, the Women’s Liberation Movement, etc of the 1960’s.
The 1960’s which was a time of great social change in the United States due to a number of prominent demands for change. Leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X fought to gain equality for African American people. King sent African American school children into the streets of Birmingham where they were met by armed response. This action forced Americans to decide which side they were on. King later put together the March on Washington in which millions of African American men and women along with many white supporters marched on Washington in order to protest the inequality that plagued America’s social and economic systems at the time.
When Kennedy came to office he also aimed to counter Communists. He also created the Peace Corps and the Space Program, but failed in removing Castro from power. In 1962 it was discovered that the Soviet Union had missiles in Cuba that were able to reach the United States. This led to Kennedy trying to ease the tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. When Lyndon B. Johnson took office after the assassination of Kennedy he took a number of positive steps in regards to equal rights for Africa Americans. The Civil Rights Act was passed by Congress in 1964. In 1965 the federal government took action against violent protesters, who sought to prevent King and his demonstrators from walking peacefully from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
The change in Civil Rights for African Americans led people to feel that it was necessary to look pass race when it came to creating policies. This led to Immigration Reform. Johnson created the New Society Deal which was a plan to eradicate poverty. The idea was to give the populace the skills that they needed to obtain employment.
In conclusion, America can legitimately be seen as liberators, especially after World War II. Their arrival into the War no doubt brought it to a quicker end. However, it was the way that America responded after the war in which they can be seen as Liberators. America had come out of the War, one of the two most powerful countries in the world along with the Soviet Union. The leaders of the United States were afraid that the Soviet Union would challenge their position of power in the world. Due to this the United States decided to target the Soviet Union using their communist beliefs as justification. Nevertheless, the Soviet Union had been involving themselves in issues that were happening globally and Communism had started to spread. The United States sought to maintain freedom and to prevent another dictatorship from gaining too much power, when they prevented Communism from taking control of South Korea and Vietnam. They also helped to keep the power of the Soviet Union in check. In America itself the war resulted in many social changes as many marginalized groups now sought the rights that had so long been denied to them.
Works Cited
Benjadonnelly. (2014, April 17). Chapter 21: The New Deal, 1932-1940 Part 1 and 2 [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVwOah1iUT4
Benjadonnelly. (2014, April 17). Chapter 22: Fighting for the Four Freedoms: World War II, 1941-1945- Part 1 and 2 [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI24wnJGorI
Benjadonnelly. (2014, April 17). Chapter 23: The United States and the Cold War, 1945-1953- Part 1 and 2 [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVx8CdDFgxQ
Benjadonnelly. (2014, April 17). Chapter 25- The Sixties: 1960-1968- Part 1 and 2 [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLnUZVo7XOo
