An Epidemic of World Lawlessness

11/23/21 • 23 min

In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt inherits a nation amidst The Great Depression, but around the world, fascist powers gain footholds. FDR begins to shape foreign policy through a series of addresses that connect the American people to the president in an unprecedented way, threading the needle between readying the nation for war and appeasing isolationists.

This week’s episode, hosted by Museum Historian Dr. Stephanie Hinnershitz and produced by Digital Content Manager Bert Hidalgo, examines the lead-up to World War II through the lens of American policy as FDR attempts to prepare a nation for war.

Referencing the dangers the Axis powers contained and threatened humanity as a whole, the title for this week’s episode comes from FDR’s 1937 speech following reports of brutality by Japanese troops in China.

Previous Episode

33 Months

In the months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, suspicions around Japanese American citizens began to grow, so much so that in February of 1942, FDR signed executive order 9066, which was used to justify the forced removal of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans from their homes and incarcerated them in camps in California, Utah, New Mexico, Arkansas, and other states. Despite a complete lack of any evidence of wrongdoing, these Americans remained incarcerated through the duration of the war, until the last camp closed on March 20, 1946. After 33 months of incarceration, Japanese Americans could return to their homes. Unfortunately for many, they no longer had homes or jobs to return to, and while a series of legislative victories followed in the immediate postwar years, it wasn’t until decades later after the Redress Movement gained momentum that there was any formal apology or reparations paid for what these families endured.

Next Episode

A Day of Infamy

President Franklin D. Roosevelt wins his third term bid for president, but a foreign crisis brews in the Pacific. Contending with an isolationist movement in America, he maneuvers policies and naval fleets in preparation for war, all the while convincing the US public the importance of becoming the “arsenal of democracy.”

This week’s episode, hosted by Museum Historian Dr. Stephanie Hinnershitz and produced by Digital Content Manager Bert Hidalgo, follows up on Part 1 “An Epidemic of World Lawlessness” where tensions between The Empire of Japan and The United States come to a head.

The title for this week’s episode comes from FDR’s famous speech to Congress in 1941, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.