Gavin's AP American Blog

In 1947 President Truman made a speech to both houses of Congress in a successful attempt to win support from Republicans, who controlled both of them. This address would become known as the Truman Doctrine and establish American policy during the Cold War. The Truman Doctrine was originally created with the goal of preventing the spread of communism into Greece and Turkey. At the time of its creation, Greece was in the middle of a civil war, and many believed that if the United States failed to send aid to these areas it would inevitable that they would fall to communism and Soviet influence. In his speech to Congress, Truman made it clear that it would be impossible for Greece to recover economically unless a large amount of American support was provided, because no other nation was able or willing to provide them with the support that they desperately needed. In a more general sense, this policy was about the containment of communism. As a direct result of this, America adopted a po...

In Executive Order 9066, President Roosevelt allowed Secretary of War Henry Stimson to declare areas as military zones. This would allow for the interment of Japanese Americans in these military camps. As described in "Home Was a Horse Stall, conditions in these camps were absolutely horrible, with large numbers of people being forcefully relocated and made to stay in tiny, unsanitary living conditions. Roosevelt justified these actions by saying that it was necessary to protect against espionage and sabotage to ensure that the nation was secure. Soon after the order was signed, around 125,000 Japanese Americans, almost all of whom fully supported the United States in the war against Japan, were evicted from there homes and forced to live in these interment camps. In my opinion, this executive order was too extreme. While spies were certainly a threat, imprisoning over 100,000 Americans in the faint hope of being able to find a few spies was unnecessary and overkill. While it woul...

In the first line of his speech, Roosevelt calls December 7th, 1941, as "a date that will live in infamy." Roosevelt starts his speech out by making it clear that the United States had been looking to maintain peace, but had still been attacked by Japan. Roosevelt noted that Japan had attacked American troops and civilians throughout the Pacific, including a naval base at Pearl Harbor. He continues by saying that Americans were completely unaware of this incoming attack, despite the fact the peace negotiations with Japan had been ongoing at the time. As a result of this, Roosevelt concluded that the people of the United States understood how serious the situation was and that the nation was in danger. As Commander in Chief, Roosevelt had ordered the Army and Navy to take all necessary measures to defend the country. He also asked that Congress formally declare war on Japan as a consequence to the unprovoked attack. Jeannette Rankin, the first female member of Congress, was th...

Sox was born in 1918. Despite being originally named Tsuyako, everyone called her "Sox" because they were unable to pronounce her given name. Sox and her sister were very upset when they heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor. Eventually, her and her family were forced to relocate. They were only allowed to pack a small amount of things. Families often burned Japanese heirlooms, because they might raise suspicion. At their new home, they were forced to live in army-style barracks. In every building, there were two back-to-back rows of ten stalls. Each stall was only 9 feet by 20 feet. Some people felt humiliated by these horrible conditions, which were so bad that these interment camps can be compared to the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. This was all allowed because of Executive Order 9066. This order, signed into law by President Roosevelt in 1942, allowed the military to imprison Japanese Americans, German Americans, and Italian Americans. As a direct result, aroun...

Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address was very important because the country was in the depths of the Great Depression, and the country was looking for guidance from their new president. In one of his first lines, Roosevelt stated that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." By saying this, he meant that unnecessary anxiety about the state of the country was not helpful, and could only cause more harm. Roosevelt went on to talk about the stock market crash and the Great Depression. Roosevelt emphasized that money is not the sole cause of happiness and people should sometimes focus on things other than profits. He went on to criticize bankers who had been a major factor in the cause of the crisis. Roosevelt said that he had plans to address the extremely high rate of unemployment, as almost one in four Americans were unable to find a job. Roosevelt promised to address the financial crisis quickly and successfully and to return the country to its previous state of ec...

The Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact was signed in Paris in 1928. While it aimed to prevent another global conflict, it ultimately failed to stop World War II, but has had some success. It was originally crafted by Frank Kellogg, the American Secretary of State, and Aristide Briand, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs. The pact was originally signed by 15 nations, including France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Japan. Since then, it was signed by 31 other countries. The pact was first truly tested in 1931, when the Japanese invaded Manchuria (also called the Mukden Incident). No action was taken to enforce the pact because of the Great Depression and the fact that no countries really wanted to go to war to protect China. One key flaw in the pact was that it failed to clearly define what "self-defense" is, so it was easy to ignore the pact entirely. Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact Synthesis: The Covenant of the League of Nations, another international ...