Following major historical events, architects construct memorials to help generations remember and reflect on the past. In 1973, American architect Louis Kahn designed a park on the southern tip of New York City's Roosevelt Island that is an abstract representation of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Four Freedoms. When I visited the park, I noticed that Kahn intentionally avoided revealing Roosevelt's four core ideals until the very end of the memorial. In fact, it took me around three minutes to walk to the end of the park, where Kahn quotes Roosevelt's Four Freedoms. Kahn depicts Roosevelt's Four Freedoms Park in a subtle way, which takes a deeper look to unveil the hidden symbols in his design to authentically convey the ideas behind President …show more content…
Each tree in both pathways is positioned an equal distance from the next tree. Walking through the park, I quickly felt the impact of one walkway converging with the other at the end, and they ultimately formed four lanes. These pathways represent Roosevelt's Four Freedoms. Because Roosevelt believed that governments should comply with all of the Four Freedoms, the four lanes show that each freedom is as important as the next and all four are imperative. Regarding the initial two tree-lined pathways, one could potentially represent America's Republican Party, while the other could symbolize the Democratic Party. By designing the two tree-lined pathways to meet at Roosevelt's image, Kahn may be implying that both parties have to unite to protect the Four Freedoms even though they may disagree on many issues. In addition, Kahn deliberately designed the pathways to seem that they are never-ending because the battle to ensure that the Four Freedoms remain available to everyone is a fight that must take place over many …show more content…
President Roosevelt declared, "We Americans are vitally concerned in your defense of freedom. We are putting forth our energies, our resources and our organizing powers to give you the strength to regain and maintain a free world. We shall send you, in ever-increasing numbers, ships, planes, tanks, guns. This is our purpose and our pledge." Roosevelt believed such aid was necessary to defend freedom, which was threatened by Germany’s Hitler. I do not think it was a coincidence that Kahn designed Roosevelt's Four Freedoms Park on an island that strikingly resembles the shape of a ship. Fittingly, the park looks out on the United Nations headquarters in New York City. The ship symbolizes the fact that Roosevelt believed that U.S. freedom was linked to the fates of countries on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean and that we needed to work closely with our allies. Another interpretation of the boat shape of the island is that it represents the millions of immigrants from around the world who fled their home to come to America to build new lives based on Roosevelt's four
The 1940 elections showed that both the Republicans and Democrats supported building up strong the navy and air forces as means of upholding the 1823 Monroe Doctrine, which stated that any European colonization of North or South America would be considered an act of aggression (Document E). Although neither American party was in full favor of the involvement in the war at this time, both advocated military defense so that America would not be completely helpless in a potential international conflict. The build-up of the military for defensive shows how the US slowly moved away from an isolationist approach to foreign affairs. Roosevelt also contributed to pulling America out of isolationism by consenting to the 1940 Destroyer Deal, which promised to give Great Britain 50 destroyer vessels in exchange for British bases in North America. This, however, was done without permission from Congress (Source F). It showed America’s shifting perspective on the war. Although America was not officially in the war, its actions seemed to indicate an indirect retaliation against the Axis powers by militarily supporting the Allies. Not only was the United States building up its defense to be better prepared in case it did have to go to war, but, in addition to other policies that provided aid to Allies, such as the 1939 Cash and Carry Policy and the 1941
Assuming the Presidency at the depth of the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt helped the American people regain faith in themselves. He brought hope as he promised prompt, vigorous action, and asserted in his Inaugural Address, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Despite an attack of poliomyelitis, which paralyzed his legs in 1921, he was a charismatic optimist whose confidence helped sustain the American people during the strains of economic crisis and world war.
Theodore Roosevelt’s legacy as a great president, lives on today through his policies. The Panama Canal now saves ships thousands of miles, and National Parks inspire people to conserve the resources of this earth. His social justice policies keep businesses honest and force them to be fair. But like all humans he had flaws. One of his major weaknesses was he thought anyone who did not agree with him was un-American, and during World War One was suspicious of German Americans. While on state Legislature, he tried to fire a judge based on corruption because he reached a verdict Roosevelt did not agree with. But Roosevelt’s great intelligence, strength, and curiosity outweighed his flaws, and it is not surprise he is considered as one of America’s greatest presidents.
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.
America’s history-both good and bad-has much to teach us. Taking down, destroying these monuments is erasing, rewriting the physical symbols of the nation. This type of cultural whitewashing is inglorious. We can treat these monuments as a cautionary tool to remind ourselves what we are and what we are not. The cost forebears paid for the freedom of the nation should be remembered; therefore, people should retain these statues to remind of themselves what these monuments represent.
In 1938, FDR 'set out to align the United States with the Western democracies, embarking on a sustained effort to educate his nation to his views and build up its military capacity' (Greenstein 20). This creation of the United States as a world power helped boost the need for a more modernized presidency. As a result of establishing the presence of the United States, FDR was called upon to aid Britain during Germany's invasion. Because of FDR's charismatic ways, the 'lend-lease bill' was created under the explanation of lending your neighbor your garden house if his home caught on fire. FDR said as long as the neighbor later returns it; everything is the same as it was before (Greenstein 20). By using simple analogies and drawing upon public support, FDR succeeded in basically giving Britain weapons to use free of charge. This action also helped establish an alliance with Britain for the future. Though FDR did not realize it at the time, building up the military to establish the United States as a world power, would later lead to the realization of the United States as a superpower.
America had to counter and move towards freedom. Kennedy said that America had to be as strong as possible to keep the world moving in the right direction.... ... middle of paper ... ... And I believe it.
Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms speech are different forms of text, however both serve the common purpose of entertaining and inspiring their contextual audience. Particularly in Roosevelt’s speech, he needed to be an inspiring, rock solid leader as a majority of American’s believed in isolationism and the belief that the United States should continue to stay out of war. However, through the “Four Freedoms”, Roosevelt dictated such convincingl...
Theodore Roosevelt is known as one of America’s best presidents for a reason. He created many national parks to help preserve wildlife by issuing the Newlands Reclamati...
From September 1, 1939 to September 2, 1945, the world was witness to the most fatal war in our history. During this six year period, an estimated 78 million died. In 1940, The US, despite not having joined the war at the time, was at risk of being invaded. Franklin D. Roosevelt realized that without the help of the US, the war efforts of Great Britain and the rest of Europe were futile. However, American citizens were opposed to joining the war because of the horrors of World War 1 and the idea of those horrors being repeated. In an effort to convince the American public to take action, Roosevelt addressed the country on December 29, 1940. Roosevelt’s use of repetition and pathos within his speech, “The Great Arsenal of Democracy,” illustrated
What does freedom really mean? Many people today are aware that they have a right to freedom, but do not know what that really means. Religion, speech, press, assembly and petition are the five freedoms that the First Amendment specifically speaks about. Let’s take a look at the definition of each of the five freedoms, what the government says about our freedom, how it is acted out and portrayed in America, and a few case studies involving the different aspects of the First Amendment.
During Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms” speech a war was occuring over in europe. World War 2 to be exact. Beginning at 1939 to 1945 war was about, with Adolf
11 months before the United States of America would declare war on Japan, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered a speech to the American people known as the “four freedoms” on January 6, 1941.1 The main purpose of this speech was to rally support to enter World War 2, however in order to declare war the United States Of America had to abandon the isolationist policies that emerged out of WWI. These four freedoms would establish human rights after the war, but more importantly they would resonate through the United States for decades after the war. Some of these freedoms have remained the same and some of these freedoms have changed throughout the years. We will be looking at three periods and comparing how the freedoms varied from each of the three periods.
Eisenstaedt’s photo reflects the elation that U.S. citizens felt after President Truman declared that World War II was over and they had won victory over Japan. The black and white coloration of the photo shows that this is an older, yet classic photo. Set in the heart of Times Square, this photo captivates the observer and captures a...
The right to Life, Liberty, and Security, is one of the most important citizen rights that you can have. With the right to life, it means that any individual has the right to live, and shouldn’t be killed by anyone. With the right to Liberty, it means that we have the right to be free, and do almost anything we want. Lastly, the right to security means that you are guaranteed to be protected the best way possible, while you are in that country. Even though it is just one of many rights, they all fall under the right to freedom. Which everyone just wants the right to do what they want, and to stand up for what they believe in. Everyone should have the right to freedom, as well as the right to life, liberty, and security.We felt that this right was the most important because it summed up the rights that we need as citizens. Like the right to not be enslaved, can count as the right to Life and Liberty. So in our opinion, the right to Life, Liberty, and Security, is the one that should be one of the first applied rights to our lives. The next few paragraphs will describe how we feel on these particular rights, as well as examples of how these rights are being violated all over the world.