#702 World War II: ​U.S. entry into World War II and Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms"

Today's goals:

• Examine the immediate context in the period leading up to U.S. entry into World War II.
• Draw connections between our previous discussions of the New Deal and the “authoritarian alternatives.”
• Understand the importance of the “Four Freedoms” address in the context of this debate.

Debating U.S. entry into World War II

Examine this selection of primary source documents (Google Doc) that highlight different dimensions of the debate on entry into World War II from the late 1930s through December 1941. In teams of 3-4, identify:

• Which documents support which side of the debate over U.S. entry into World War II.
• Use these to identify the key arguments for and against U.S. entry into World War II in the years before the 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.​

Primary Sources (Google Doc)

The Four Freedoms

Questions for guided discussion:

• What do you think President Roosevelt is aiming to accomplish by delivering this speech?
• What does he ask from Congress? Why does he need to ask this of Congress?
• What specific policy actions does he propose? Do you view these actions as consistent with the neutral status that the United States had adopted at the time?
• Closely examine the Four Freedoms by analyzing the text of the speech together with the paintings by Norman Rockwell created in 1943 (note that the text above and below each image was not part of his original work). As we examine these Four Freedoms, consider how these are both similar and different from the Bill of Rights we examined at the beginning of the year.