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Brian Booth
World War II, aside from being the bloodiest conflict the world has ever witnessed, was also a major watershed for numerous long and short-term historical trends. Of immediate impact were the technological innovations scientists and inventors accomplished in just a few short years. Advances in civilian transportation, communications, production, and energy were all unequivocally accelerated in the effort to win the war. The topics of the companion activities, however, deal with the long-term implications of the war.
Activity One
The first activity highlights the prewar domestic debate between the advocates of isolationism and of intervention as presented in the political cartoons of two leading Chicago newspapers, The accompanying three cartoons highlight the arguments used in the "war of the colonels." Isolationists, soured by the experience of World War I and its aftermath, believed that the price of involvement in the European conflict was too costly both economically and in terms of human life. Interventionists, on the other hand, believed it was the duty of the United States to assist its allies in the war against insatiable fascists. After the war became real for the United States at Pearl Harbor, of course, the debate was moot. Interventionists shouted I told you so, and isolationists were left holding a not easily seen conspiracy theory that Roosevelt knew about the attack in order to draw the United States into the war.
Without a doubt, this would be the last time the concept of isolationism would be a topic of serious debate. In the years following the war, the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics emerged to replace Western Europe as the prevailing world powers, and the hysteria over communist domination would forever separate the American military moth from its cocoon. There was simply no going back. Overt campaigns in Korea, Vietnam, Libya, Iraq, and Serbia as well as numerous covert operations, highlight American willingness to protect its interests in all corners of the globe. The debate shifted from not whether to be a significant participant in world affairs but the degree to which intervention should take place. At the end of the twentieth century, the United States stood alone as the dominate world power. As a result, a new interventionist policy is currently being defined. Activity Two The second activity looks at the domestic economy over a ten-year period. Students will use raw statistics to create visuals that will help them interpret the data and draw conclusions. The gross national product, unemployment rate, government finances (surplus/debt), personal consumption, and personal savings from the years 1938, 1943, and 1948 will highlight the economic reality of northeastern Illinois and trace the developments that led to the booming, balanced economy that characterized the post-war period. Students will discover that during the Depression high unemployment, minimal consumer spending or saving, low production, and little government spending prevailed. During the war, however, employment, consumer savings, production, and government spending grew rapidly while shortages caused by the war held consumer spending to a moderate growth. Lastly, students will look at the balanced post-war economy where production, and consumer spending increase, while savings, unemployment, and government spending moderate. Activity Three
The third activity addresses the war's affects on the civil rights movement. While a small but devoted group of civil rights advocates had staunchly pushed for a more legal and economically equal America since before the Civil War, the well-being of African Americans had, in general, gained very little. As an active participant in the war, the African American community shared the same hardship and loss of life as other ethnic and racial groups. After the war, a great number of African Americans who were radicalized by
the experience began to ask what the American dream looked like for their community. Moreover, leaders began to question why America was willing to launch a massive crusade against injustice abroad but it was unwilling to do the same at home. Of course, in hindsight, we know now the profound impact those questions had ten years later when the civil rights movement began rolling at full steam. The Chicago Defender was one of the leading African American publications for most of the twentieth century. In this activity, students will use two editorials from the paper to discover how African Americans were beginning to translate their involvement in the war effort into expectations for a more just and equitable United States. The editorials are from the first papers published by the Defender after VE Day and VJ Day. Connection with the Curriculum These materials are most appropriate for a U.S. and Illinois history classroom but parts could also be tied into an economics and American Studies class. The activities may be appropriate for the Illinois Learning Standards 14. D. 2, 14. D. 5, 14. E. 2, 14. E 5, 15. A. 2c, 15. A. 3a, 15. A. 3b, 15, A. 3C, 15. A. 3D, 15, A.4A, 15. A. 4B, 15. A. 4B, 15. A. 5A. 5C, 15. B. 4B, 15. B. 5A, 15.E.4A, 15. E.5B, 16. A. 2C, 16. A.4A, 16. A. 5A, 16. A.5B, 16. B. 3D,16. B.5B, 16. C. 5A,and16.C.5B. Teaching Level
Grades 11-12 as independent or group activities. Students analyze and discuss results as a class.
Materials for Each Student
• A copy of the narrative portion of the article
Objectives for Each Student
• Identify key elements of the debate between isolationists and interventionists using political cartoons.
The article and activities should be placed in their historical context before the lesson begins. As most history classes are chronological, a simple review of past topics can achieve this. Opening the Lesson • Inform students of the lesson objectives and outline. • Show the video "Remembering Chicago Again". The video contains personal recollections of Chicago during the 1940s and 1950s. All or only the part pertaining to the 1940s can be shown. • Explain the concept of a historical watershed. That it is a turning point in history. Some examples are: Columbus's discovery of the new world, the American Revolution, and the Emancipation Proclamation. Developing the Lesson Have students read the accompanying article and ask if they can identify any watersheds from the text. Discuss why they may have selected those as watersheds. If they found the three (end of isolation, the relatively stable and balanced economy that has shaped the last fifty years of the twentieth century, and the beginning of the civil rights movement) from the activity, highlight them as the ones you will be studying. If they do not, point them out. Activity One
Warm up: Ask students and discuss whether it is ok to get into someone else's business? Are there special circumstances when that is permissible? For example, when there might be a fight if you do not. Also ask when it is appropriate to help a friend. Would you give them money? Fight for them? Main Part: Review the section of the accompanying article that addresses the "war of the colonels" as well as the term isolationist and interventionist. Distribute copies of the political cartoons from the Chicago Daily News and Chicago Tribune. Have students analyze political cartoons and complete accompanying questions. Discuss their responses as a class. During that discussion add the concept of lend/lease. Ask if this may have provoked the Axis powers into attacking the United States. Conclusion: Remind students that Pearl Harbor ended the foreign policy dispute without really ending the debate. Have students use events since World War II, especially current events such as those in Iraq and Kosovo and Osama bin Laden's activities. Compare the weapons available before World War II and today as the basis for a position paper on current United States foreign policy. What guidelines should we use today for intervention? Activity Two Warm up: Ask students which is worse and why: To have no money but there are lots of things to buy or lots of money but there is nothing to buy? Is there a difference? Main Part: Review the general causes of the Great Depression including the basics of the business cycle. Next, explain to students how the following statistics are derived and why they are significant economic indicators: gross national product, unemployment rate, government finances (surplus or deficit), personal savings, and personal consumption. Hand out blank graphs or have students create their own in Excel and have students plot the line for 1938 first. Next, plot the year 1942 and 1947. Once all three years are complete, have students fill in the third column in the graphic organizer and answer the questions for Activity Two. Conclusion: Discuss responses as a class or in small groups. Collect activity for assessment. Activity Three Warm up: Ask students if they know what age they have to register for selective service. Ask them if it is fair that someone who is old enough to fight and die for their country army not have all of the rights of a citizen. Tell students that it was not until the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, ratified in 1971, that 18 to 20 year olds had the right to vote yet they were eligible to be drafted at the age of 18. Main Part: Review with students the general condition of African Americans before World War II. Be sure to mention segregation, economic disparity, and Jim Crow. Have students red the two articles from the Chicago Defender and answer the questions on the worksheet for Activity Three. Conclusion: Discuss responses as a class or in small groups. Collect activity for assessment. Concluding the Lesson Bring up the topic of watershed again and have students select one more topic from the accompanying article they think is a watershed. Have students write a brief paper on the topic before, during, and after the war. Extending the Lesson Activity One Have students design and complete an oral history interview of a relative or neighbor about their position on intervention before the war. These may be tape recorded or video taped. Share interviews with the rest of the class or have the class make one final video together. You may also find a current event where papers take opposing views and have students analyze it. Activity Two Have students research the same five economic statistics from the years 1990,1995, and 2000, Ask students to decide which type of economy we currently have. With older students this would be a good time to introduce some advanced economic theories and trends—supply side, Keynesian, classic, the growth of the service sector, for example. Activity Three Have students analyze the early speeches of the famous civil rights leaders of the 1950s and 1960s and the present. Have students write a paper comparing the demands made in the Chicago Defender with the demands made in those speeches. Assessing the Lesson
The students' learning of this lesson can be assessed in many ways. Each of the activities can be assessed to assure the students understand the important concepts. A written examination or other summative assessment could be used as well. Activity 1 - Political cartoons appearing in newspapers are always a good way of discovering the editor's opinion about an issue or event. For this activity you will be given three cartoons from the Chicago Daily News and two from the Chicago Tribune that were published just a few weeks before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Please answer the following discussion questions. In the cartoons 1 and 2, who does Uncle Sam represent? The use of sarcasm is common in political cartoons. Identify two uses of it from any of the cartoons. Is cartoon number 1 isolationist or interventionist? What makes you think this?
Is cartoon number 2 isolationist or interventionist? What makes you think this?
Is cartoon number 3 isolationist or interventionist? What makes you think this?
From the arguments presented in these cartoons, would you have been an isolationist or an interventionist?
Activity 1 - Continued
10
Activity 2 — Economy Graphic Organizer —
Compare the statistic for the three given years. Use the terms Very Low, Low, Medium, High, and Very High in relation to each other. For example: in the number series 1, 3 and 9, 1 would be Very Low, 2 would be Low and, 3 would be High.
Source: The Statistical History of the United States (Stanford, Conn: Failfield Publishers, 1965).
Using your textbook or other source, find three pictures from the Great Depression.
Using the article on Chicago in World War II, give three examples that identify what the statistics for 1942 are showing is true.
Many Americans feared that after the war, the depression would resume. Using the statistics from 1938 and 1947 identify whether that happened and why you think the way you do.
11 Activity 3 -The Chicago Defender
The Chicago Defender once heralded itself as "The World's Greatest Weekly." The Defender did not use the words "Negro" or "black" in its pages. Instead, African Americans were referred to as "the Race" and black men and women as "Race men and Race women." The newspaper was read extensively in the South. Black Pullman porters and entertainers were used to distribute the paper across the Mason-Dixon line. The paper was smuggled into the South because white distributors refused to circulate the Chicago Defender, and many groups such as the Ku Klux Klan tried to confiscate it or threatened its readers. The Chicago Defender was passed from person to person, and read aloud in barbershops and churches. It is estimated that at its height each paper sold was read by four to five African Americans, putting its readership at over 500,000 people each week. The Chicago Defender was the first black newspaper to have a circulation over 100,000, the first to have a health column, and the first to have a full page of comic strips. (http://www.pbs.org/blackpress/newsbios/defender.html) The two editorials that accompany this sheet were written by the editor of the Chicago Defender in the publications immediately following the surrender of Germany and Japan. Please answer the following questions. Be sure to use all of your knowledge and think beyond the editorial. In the editorial titled "And Now The Battle For Peace": What D-Day does the editor think is the grimmest of them all? Why might he think that way?
Why might he think that peace will be harder fought than war?
What does he claim America has to do to become the key to world peace?
In the editorial titled " "Splitting The Atom Of Race Hate":
What does the editor see as the best way to prevent the wars of the future?
What argument does the editor use for spending billions to improve conditions for the poor?
12 Activity 3 - Continued
Courtesy: Chicago Defender 13 Activity 3—Continued
Courtesy: Chicago Defender
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