isolationism - What impact did the First World War have?

what was Harding’s as well as many other people’s view after the war?

the USA should be supportive of other nations, but not become 'entangled' with them. The USA had to focus on itself - buy American' became a significant watchword.

was ‘isolationism’ attached to any ideology?

Isolationism had supporters, and opponents, among both Republicans and Democrats.

what did isolationism introduce?

trade tariffs that favoured US businesses; not joining the League of Nations; not setting up colonies.

what did isolationism also mean in terms of immigration?

cutting back on the numbers of immigrants coming into the country. The 1921 Emergency Quota Act restricted immigration to 357,000 a year. This was revised to 150,000 a year in 1924, with quotas within this of immigrants from different countries.

what did congress also pass between 1936 and 1939?

a series of Neutrality Acts that restricted the help the USA could give to other countries if they went to war.

was the USA entirely isolationist?

The USA was not entirely isolationist. It helped Europe rebuild economically and brokered the Washington Conference of 1921-22, which set limits on national navies.

what is the involvement of the great depression?

It is possible that, without the Great Depression of 1929, the USA would have become more internationalist; the Depression forced many people to focus on the problems in their own countries instead of looking outwards.

tariffs

Tariffs on imports, such as the Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act, did encourage people to buy American'. As parts of the economy prospered, so did consumerism. New technology produced consumer goods far more cheaply; hire purchase allowed people to buy these goods over a perioa of time. All this contributed to a 'boom' period that suggested that Republican policies were working.

what was the the early 20th century USA?

a wealthy, expansionist world power, protected by the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, with weaker neighbours to the north (Canada) and south (Mexico).

what did US economic interests sometimes stimulate?

a wealthy, expansionist world power, protected by the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, with weaker neighbours to the north (Canada) and south (Mexico).

what did Woodrow Wilson suggest during WWI

measures to improve the postwar world, including collective security through the League of Nations.

what did Wilson however fail to win?

full domestic support for his post-war peace settlement of 1919 and America entered into a period sometimes characterised and isolationist.

what was the reasons for a commitment to isolationism? - ‘entangling alliances’

The traditional American suspicion of ‘entangling alliances’ was reinforced by a general conviction that WWI was the result of rivalries between corrupt inhabitants of the Old World who had dragged innocent Americans into their nasty war. American journalists blamed American arms dealers (Merchants of Death for having tied the United States to Britain and France

what was the reasons for a commitment to isolationism? - Coolidge

Many Americans agreed with President Coolidge when he told the nation
'our main problems are domestic problems' and emphasised the importance of cutting military spending to help balance the budget. I hose considerations grew more important during the Depression.

what was the reasons for a commitment to isolationism? - Europe

Americans became increasingly irritated by European reluctance to repay wartime debts owed to the United States.

what do some historians consider isolationism to be?

However, some historians consider the supposedly isolationist policies of the three Republican Presidents a myth, for example, George Herring has written of 'involvement without commitment' (2008).

what areas was isolationism supposedly a myth in? - international agreements

Harding, Coolidge and Hoover initiated, encouraged and participated in international agreements to discourage expensive arms races and wars. For example, the Harding administration masterminded the Washington Treaties (1922), in which America, Britain, France, Italy and Japan agreed to limit the naval arms race.

what areas was isolationism supposedly a myth in? - Europe

The United States recognised that a stable Europe was important to American trade and intervened repeatedly to aid German financial stability.

what areas was isolationism supposedly a myth in? - Wilson

President Wilson had made repeated military interventions in Latin America. Harding, Coolidge and Hoover sought to end such interventionism, although Coolidge sent Marines into Nicaragua in 1926, telling Congress 'American investments and business interests' were at stake.

what areas was isolationism supposedly a myth in? - Philippines

The United States still retained imperial possessions such as the Philippines. The Philippines was considered a useful market for American manufactured goods and an example of how the USA could civilise other peoples.

what areas was isolationism supposedly a myth in? - American commerce overseas

The three Republican administrations worked with business interests to promote American commerce overseas, For example, the State and Commerce departments helped US companies gain access to Middle Eastern oil.