The Major Eras of Foreign Policy - Assignment Example

 The Major Era’s of Foreign Policy Introduction Foreign policy for the United States has been affected by many things. Each period is important for different reasons. However there are three periods in American politics that affected greatly not only foreign policy but policy in the United States. Those were the three eras of isolationism. This paper will discuss those eras and what they meant to policy both foreign and at home. It will also discuss California State and local governance. 1787-1914 This first period was a very long period of time and many things occurred. Some examples would include the Constitutional Convention, Alien and Sedition Acts, Louisiana Purchase, Battle at Tippecanoe, California Gold Rush, Little Big Horn, and Wounded Knee to name a few. During this time, among other things was the settling of the West and the Indian Wars. The United States signed the Treaty of Guadalupe de Hidalgo in 1848 which gave the Southwestern lands to the United States. This began the migration west and the Indian Wars began. This time was marked by much sadness and death. Most of the western lands belonged to different Indian tribes. All of those tribes depended on their hunting grounds to survive. There was much to lose in the loss of their lands. Life would disappear as they knew it. As the white man continued to move into the area, with them came buffalo hunters and white ranchers. These people killed buffalo by the millions just to get their pelts and trampled the land. The people began to starve and there was no way to feed the women and children of the tribes. The government established treaties with most of the tribes giving them rations of food and clothing to allow pioneers to pass through their lands. Most of these pioneers came with the thoughts that the only good Indian is a dead Indian. The Indians land was taken from them and they continued to be forced onto to reservations that were on land that was mostly worthless. They could not hunt and the land would not support stock or farming. Even those that fought back like Sitting Bull and Red Cloud were eventually defeated. The Trail of Tears which was the removal of five Tribes from Southeast Oklahoma Cherokees were marched to a reservation. The march killed most of the old people and many of the women and children. It was a loss that the Cherokee and most of the white people of today will never let be forgotten but was only one example of the many cruelties that these People withstood. The Battle at Wounded Knee is another. In this case essentially a whole tribe was shot dead in camp. It is hard to see it as a Battle, as it seems it was pretty one sided. 1914-1919 Woodrow Wilson who was known as the President of the people was President at this time. He was the idealistic President and up until the time we entered World War I, the country was isolationist in values. Wilson changed many things in this country during that time. He believed that government should be for the common people and during his first term he helped farmers with the Federal Farm Loan Act and the Warehouse Act. The Farm Loan Act allowed low interest loans available to farmers and the Warehouse Act authorized them to have security loans on staple crops. Social welfare programs were started. Workman’s compensation began to protect workers and the Child Labor Act began. The Child Labor Act only allowed products produced by children 14 or older to be sold. He followed that with the Adamson Act which only allowed children to work an 8 hour day. The Underwood Act established the first income tax and that was felled by the Federal Reserve Act. All of these things happened because of Wilson’s idealist attitude (Ferrell, 2001). Unfortunately the idealistic attitude that helped the country so much also led to it entering World War I. Some say that Wilson had it in mind from the very beginning to enter the war and others say it was because of his pride (Hoover, 2009). We will probably never know the answer to that. Whatever it was though, he felt that the United States was grand and wanted to prove its grandness. He felt there was no question that if the U.S. entered the war it would win. Americans really did not want to enter the War because they were very comfortable in their lives at this time in history. Woodrow Wilson entered the war without even consulting his allies. He stubbornly convinced Congress and this country went to war. Like so many idealists though the country ran into many more problems than were anticipated by this President; There was a lack of ability to mobilize, there were few supplies, Even with the billions he had raised in war bonds, supplies and men dwindled and many men died as many in the U.S. did without. When the war was over, the men returned to race riots and postwar depression. There were no jobs, no money and little else. Wilson had a massive stroke right after accepting the Noble Piece Price in 1919. 1920-1941 This of course was the post World War I period. During this time there was the depression, the stock market crash, Babe Ruth, Satchmo, Amelia Earhart. There was also the Red Scare and the Palmer Reids. G Harding became President after the 1920 election. Then there was the Tepot Dome Scandal. Calvin Coolidge as President followed. This led to limiting immigration, the growth of American industry and the Roaring Twenties. This was a time of what appeared to be richness in the America. The truth was, you were either rich or poor. The stock market crashed in 1929, so even the roaring twenties was short lived. The depression was severe in this country. Many lost homes and farms, there were no jobs and bread lines were normal for the day. Herbert Hoover was now President and won his election in 1928. During this time, he enacted his rugged individualism programs which were meant to help the people out of the depression. Franklin Roosevelt was elected in 1932 with his New Deal program for the people. He also had the famous 100 days in which he set up new programs for farm policy, banking, and unemployment. Foreign affairs brought about a Roosevelt that pledged that the United States was a Good Neighbor and became friends again with allies while remaining in the isolationist attitude. Then came Pearl Harbor in December of 1941. The Japanese attacked the United States by bombing Pearl Harbor and the United States entered World War II. No one knew that this would be a war that lasted so long and killed so many or that ended in such a devastating way. Entering this war essentially ended isolationism for the rest of United States history. Many comment on the possibility of that being our foreign attitude but according to the true meaning of isolationism, it has not happened again. California California State government is complicated at best. It is made up of the State government, county government, city government and special districts. The State is divided into 58 counties. California cities are granted rights and powers over the California constitution to assert jurisdiction over just about anything and they cannot be abolished without a majority vote. San Francisco is the only consolidated city county in the State. The special districts are territories in which special things occur such as schools and fire stations. They cannot enact laws but they can design and implement administrative policy. Many special districts have their own police force. An example of that is Bay Area Rapid Transit. The first two special districts were irrigation districts in Southern California. Conclusion The United States developed an isolationist attitude almost immediately when the colonists arrived in this country, realizing that this was their chance to have the freedoms they did not have in Europe. This attitude lasted for many years. Woodrow Wilson led his country to comfort and was realized as the peoples President even though in the end he led the country into World War I. Post World War I had its devastating and it’s great times. Isolationism reared its head again until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor to end isolationism forever. California has one of the most complicated governments in the country. It was developed in history and has had many difficulties as of late but has endured many things. Presidents, after all, are elected from the California government. References Ferrell, R. (2001). Woodrow Wilson and World War I. New York: Harper and Row pg 346. Hoover, B. (2009). Awakening the spirit of Wilson. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pg 5. Read More