Isolationism in 1900’s

 The United States made attempts at isolationism between the years of 1919 to 1941, as Americans were weary from World War I, and wanted to maintain peaceful, neutral ties with Europe, Asia and the rest of the world. Isolationism was the resounding anthem of Americans from the college campuses to the Veterans groups, and the government largely listened, until tensions in Europe and Asia, and the formation of the Axis powers made involvement in the second World War imminent.

After World War I, “instead of asserting the role of world leadership its resources and power commanded, the United States retreated from involvement with other nations” (Divine, 779). Involvement in Caribbean nations became less authoritative, as the United States relinquished control of its protectorates, as shown on the map of the United States in the Caribbean from Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers, Inc. While the United States became more isolationist in releasing control of the countries indicated, the isolationism was not so complete that the United States was willing to relinquish economic control. In fact, the Good Neighbor policy during the Roosevelt (FDR) administration increased trade and investment opportunities in Latin America post-Great Depression (Divine, 781).

Relationships with European countries were less friendly after the war. During the 1920’s, Americas economy boomed, while the other Allied countries struggled with the high price of American imports and being able to repay their debt to the United States. Their resentment toward the United States allowed the U.S. to be more isolationist. Relations with the Soviet Union centered around trade at the beneficence of both countries, until the Soviet Union demanded fewer U.S. goods, at which time President Franklin Roosevelt made efforts to establish diplomatic ties with them.

Further acts of isolationism were agreements between the United States and Japan as they began to siege control of Asian regions. Article 3 of the Nine Power Pact signed in 1922 clearly indicates that trade and industry in China shall not be interfered with by any of the nations signing the pact. In 1921, the United States agreed to keep military forces out of the Philippines and Guam if Japan agreed to decrease their naval fleet, but did nothing to protect China when Japan seized Manchuria in 1931 (Divine, 782).

Domestic policies such as the National Origins Quota Act of 1924 drastically cut immigration rates from 810,000 in 1920 to 150,000 Europeans in 1924, and a complete ban on Asian immigration (Divine 736-37) were the government’s answer to the growing resentment Americans had toward the rest of the world. An excerpt from a pamphlet from the New Jersey KKK reveals the attitudes many Americans had after the war about other countries and immigration. “Our religious and political foes are not only within our gates, but are coming by the hundreds and thousands, bringing the chaos and ruin of old European and Asiatic countries to un-Americanize us and destroy our nation…” These domestic policies furthered the isolationist movement.