“...history has taught us a lesson that should never be forgotten: America must be prepared to defend freedom whenever it is threatened. Should the occasion again arise when armaments are necessary- and history says it will- America shall be ready and so shall Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant” (Sunflower: War Arsenal). Many kids these days are wrapped up in their friends and the newest technological devices that they fail to read about rich history that helped shape the world they live in. The quote above brings me a sense of pride for the amazing state I live in; it makes me think of a time when internet sensations didn’t exist and neighbors would ban together under the American flag to crush any foe that stood in their way. The state of Kansas is a wonderful state with a rich history that we, Kansans, only know part of. One example of this is the old Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant (SFAAP) that is located near DeSoto and Eudora, Kansas. SFAAP existed in a time of great growth and prosperity that has been forgotten by the majority of Kansans.
After World War I the United States hoped to avoid future world-wide conflicts and public opinion shifted in favor of isolationism in expectation of an enduring peace. This isolationism lead to the decline of military supplies, equipment, and facilities. The nation then fell into the Great Depression in 1929 and lost all hope of investing in military build-up. Benito Mussolini established a fascist dictatorship over Italy, the Nazi Party seized control of Germany under Adolf Hitler and Japan fell under the control of militarists who wished to expand into China. The Nation had been split in two. Some people wanted to stay isolated while others fought for military action. Hitler then invaded ...
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Kearney, Paul W. "Hell's a-Poppin' in Kansas."Reader's Digest Apr. 1945: 35-37. Print.
"Largest Rocket Plant Grew Fast." Lawrence Daily Journal-World 27 Sept. 1945: 1-2. Print.
National Park Service, Department of the Interior. Historical American Engineering Record. By Robert Ferguson. Technical ReportNo. KS-3. Washington, DC: Department of the Interior, 1984. Print.
SFAAP. Historical Summary. De Soto: n.p., 2000. Print.
Spaar, Tony. Commanders Representative, US Army. "General Process Descriptions of Production Areas at the Former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant." File last modified on 17 Mar. 2008. Digital file.
Stutz, Thomas. "Fact Sheet" Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant, 7 July 2000: 1. Print.
"Sunflower: War Arsenal on the Prairie" Album Johnson County Museum Apr. 2005: 1+. Jocomuseum. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. .
Battles have been fought since the dawn of time. Weapons have gradually become more technological and sophisticated each and every time. People learn from their mistakes, as did the Indians in the late 1700s, as well as the Confederate troops from the Civil War. The Union was victorious in this war for freedom, and to this day, the north is more the heart of the country’s economy.
Thank you Mr. Wiesenthal for letting me be able to read and respond to your book The Sunflower. The Sunflower has showed me how ruthless it was for Jewish people in the Holocaust. In your book Karl, an SS solider, tries to get your forgiveness for the wrong he has done to the Jewish population. For a person to ask for forgiveness means that they have realized that they have done wrong and want to repent for their mistakes. The big question in your book was “What would you do?” I would’ve done exactly what you did I wouldn’t have granted the solider my forgiveness because he didn’t deserve it.
world at that time were so closely related to the wellbeing of our own country, that it was vital the United States was prepared and willing to fight off any country that was coming to threaten our status as a democracy. World War II was an unfortunate war that seems to be so easily prevented if only there was less ignorance in dictators' minds and more cooperation and alliances between countries.
...f becoming the great arsenal of democracy, they provided Britain and China with military supplies in the fight against Germany and Japan. The United States faced Japan’s ruthless strategies that incited fear towards anyone of the Japanese ethnicity. As a result, Americans felt that the war should end quickly in order to avoid further bloodshed. Following that statement, the United States bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. By the end of World War II, there was a production of radical redistribution of world power. Japan and Germany, two dominant military powers in the beginning, has surrendered. Furthermore, Britain and France, though victorious were weakened, leaving the United States and Soviet Union to project significant influence beyond their national borders. Overall, the United States military demonstration during WW2 proved that it was clearly the dominant power.
World War II was an exceptional war for the United States. The United States emerged from the war as a world superpower and protector of all other nations. There were many reasons why the United States entered World War II, however President Franklin Roosevelt was in some way directly connected to every reason. Roosevelt wanted to enter World War II as soon as it started for political and economic needs. However, the American people did not want to enter in another war, such as World War I, that costs so many lives and money. Therefore, Roosevelt schemed a plan to enter the United States into World War II that would change the minds of the American people, including the direct aiding of Great Britain, the German bombing of a United States warship, and the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Roosevelt paved the United States’ path from isolation to power. When World War II broke out in Europe, the country was largely isolationist. “Isolationist rhetoric reflected real public sentiment, as Roosevelt knew” (Renka, The Modern Presidency…). Roosevelt, however, seemed a step ahead of the nation. He stood firmly against Hitler and strove to align the United States with Western democracies and to strengthen the military (Greenstein 20). In 1938, Roosevelt’s foreign policy speeches began to reveal an obvious swing away from isolationism (Renka, Roosevelt’s Expansion of the Presidency). When Churchill reported in 1940 that the United Kingdom could no longer afford to pay for American weapons, Roosevelt used this opportunity to increase the United States’ influence in European affairs and lean his country slightly away from isolationism. Knowing Congress would oppose a loan to the United Kingdom, he created an entirely new program he called “lend-lease” (Greenstein 20).
In the beginning of the 1930’s the U.S had no desire to enter another world war or involve themselves in European foreign affairs. The U.S policy of isolationism was extremely popular not only with citizens but with government officials as well. With this being said, what factors could have contributed to the U.S involvement in World War II? . Pearl Harbor was the main factor that led to the U.S involvement in World War II despite the fact that the fact that the overwhelming majority of the country wanted nothing to do with the war in Europe. (Foner 856) “December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” These were the words spoken by President Franklin D Roosevelt to Congress when asking them to declare war on the Empire of Japan just one day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. That same day, December 8th, 1941, Congress indeed, declared war on the Empire of Japan (Pearl Harbor).
We tend to take for granted the history of the west. Most view the west with romanticism. This could be the furthest thing from the truth. The author's experience has helped me appreciate the conditions in the west. Carrington's extremely useful portrait of Colonel Fetterman and the events has added to our understanding nineteenth century conditions in the west. Her work is historically valuable. Moreover, her care to place the Fort Kearny experience in a domestic context has enriched the story.
After World War II began in 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt announced the neutrality of the United States. Many people in the United States thought that their country should stay out of the war. The people wanted the Allied Forces to have the victory. President Roosevelt also wanted an Allied victory because an Axis victory might endanger democracies everywhere. The United States equipped nations fighting the Axis with ships, tanks, aircraft, and other war materials. The Axis did not like this. Japan wanted to take over China, but China refused. China was led by Chiang Kai-Shek at the time. Japan wanted the United States to stop sending China supplies, but the United States refused. The United States opposed the expansion of Japan in Asia, so they cut off important exports to Japan.
Mendoza, Alexander, and Charles David Grear. Texans and War New Interpretations of the State's Military History.. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2012.
World War I may not have made the world safe for democracy, but it did help to lay the groundwork for a decade of American economic expansion. The war began in Europe in 1914, and the United States entered the fray in 1917. The 1920s saw the growth of the culture of consumerism. A significant reason for United States involvement in the war was the nation’s economic links to the Allied Powers, and especially to Great Britain. American soldiers returned home in May 1919 with the promise of a prosperous decade (Baughman 197).
In George Washington's farewell speech he warned the American people to beware "the insidious wiles of foreign influence." Though it was never put into law, this statement has played a major role in the American foreign policy of isolationism. American isolationist sentiment stems from the fact that America is geographically isolated from the rest of the world. American isolationist sentiment was at its peak in the years following World War I. "In the war of 1914-1918 that had set the stage on which Hitler now strutted, no people had been more reluctant combatants, and few more disappointed with the result, than the Americans"(Kennedy, 385). After losing more than fifty thousand young troops in a war that was viewed to be unnecessary, the American people began to view neutrality as the best policy. The reasons for American intervention into World War I, which included the sinking of the Lusitania and large foreign investments, were to be avoided at all cost in the unstable 1930s. The Great Depression and the New Deal promoted insulation from foreign trade in order to improve the economy. Extreme isolationist sentiment shaped and hindered Franklin Roosevelt's foreign policy in the late 1930s. The Neutrality Acts of the 1930s were designed to maintain neutrality by first eliminating the causes of World War I. As the War ripped through Europe, the American isolationists slowly began to view intervention as a necessary evil.
The United States, at the time of World War II, was facing an economic depression which concerned the American public and President Roosevelt because they knew that America’s involvement with the war was inevitable. Most resources state that “the United States entered World War II largely unprepared” (America and Word War II 610). However, due to the fact that while preparing for the war there was an increase in economic growth, African Americans and women became more involved in industry and the military, and President Roosevelt incorporated several acts and embargos that encouraged Americans to produce more supplies as well as permitted Britain and France to purchase goods from the United States, it can be argued that America was in fact prepared for its entry into World War II. The external threads of continuity, such as economic, social, political, and geographic factors, had a greater impact on the United States preparedness for war, which resulted in the overall success of the Allied Powers.
We've come a long way since the early styles of warfare seen in the American Revolution and the Civil War. World War I was the first war where the United States proved to the world we were a formidable power. Made up almost entirely of immigrants, America sent to Europe an armed force the fight against the Germans. The war brought a divided nation together as one. It represented pride and unity. The World War I victory portrayed the United States as a world superpower. Americans living in the early 1900s saw the war as a "just cause", and supported our actions abroad. World War II came just 20 years later. This time it was a single attack that drew us into the war. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor led us into World War II. The country furious with the cowardly assault; rallied, and stood behind the President's decision to send troops to the South Pacific and Europe. The American view on the war was very supportive. The country went to work manufacturing equipment offsetting the economic failure of the depression the United States was dealing with previous to the war.
World War II was based on the idealistic view of Americans, especially concerning the people’s perspectives on how America was being perceived, and how they wanted to be seen. The American public, witnessing foreign tragedy worked to push against suppression in order to rise in equality. Coming out of the Great Depression America was extremely cautious about intervention in foreign affairs spurring an isolationist view. When determining their entrance into World War II America thought about the immense amount of casualties brought from World War I and the lack of positive consequences. Much of the changes enveloping society were a continuation of the new deal policies.