NEH Summer Teacher Institute 2004 Final Lessons

U.S. Entry into WWII and Changes in Dissension Attitude

Martha Graham

Grade level: 11

Discipline: AP U.S. History

Standards addressed

New Jersey Social Studies 6.4.J.5

Compare and contrast key events and people involved with the causes, course, and consequences of World War II.

Objectives

Students will describe the causes for dissent ion prior to US involvement in WWII.
Students will explain the causes for US entry into the war.
Students will synthesize the change in the attitudes in some dissenters during the war.

Resources

Song(s) used in lesson:

“Ballad of October 16” (1940) performed by Almanac Singers on That’s Why We’re Marching: World War II and the American Folk Song Movement, Smithsonian Folkways, 1996. Lyrics at http://www.geocities.com/Nashville/3448/oct16.html
“What Are We Waitin’ On?” (1942) performed by Woody Guthrie on That’s Why We’re Marching: World War II and the American Folk Song Movement, Smithsonian Folkways, 1996. Lyrics below.
“Citizen CIO”(1944) performed by Josh White, Tom Glazer, and Bess Lomax Hawes on That’s Why We’re Marching: World War II and the American Folk Song Movement, Smithsonian Folkways, 1996.
“I’m Gonna Put My Name Down”(1944) performed by Tom Glazer on That’s Why We’re Marching: World War II and the American Folk Song Movement, Smithsonian Folkways, 1996.

Other resources:

Recordings:

That’s Why We’re Marching: World War II and the American Folk Song Movement, Smithsonian Folkways, 1996.

Books:

Dunaway, David King. How Can I Keep From Singing?: Pete Seeger. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1981.

Faragher, John M., et al. Out of Many: A History of the American People. Upper Saddle, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2005.

Seeger, Pete. Where Have all the Flowers Gone? A Singer’s Stories, Songs, Seeds, Robberies. Bethlehem, PA: Sing Out Corporation, 1993.

Web Sites:

“Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives” http://www.woodyguthrie.org/

“Teaching With Documents Lesson Plan: ‘A Date Which Will Live in Infamy’ – The First Typed Draft of Franklin D. Roosevelt's War Address,” NARA

http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/day_of_infamy/day_of_infamy.html

“Public Opinion and Isolationism,” Faculty of the Arts, Sydney, Australia, taken from Michael Leigh, Mobilizing Consent: Public Opinion and American Foreign Policy, Greenwood Press, Westport, 1976, 32 – 33.

http://teaching.arts.usyd.edu.au/history/hsty3080/3rdYr3080/Callous%20Bystanders/isolationism.html

Song History

Ballad of October 16

Words by Millard Lampell and Lee Hays; music adaptation of “Jesse James,”(1940)

What Are We Waitin’ On?

Words and Music Adaptation by Woody Guthrie (music based on “John Henry”) (1942)

These two songs, both sung by the folk group Almanac Singers, express opposite sentiments regarding war. “Ballad of October 16” was written in 1940 to protest FDR’s movement toward war. The passage of a conscription law in September 1940 was evidence to Communist Party members, which included many members of the Almanac Singers, that FDR was lying when he had vowed to stay out of the European war. As a result of this scathing criticism, FBI files were opened on Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie and followed them for decades. “What Are We Waitin’ On?” written in 1942, demonstrates an abrupt about-face that can be explained only in the context of the German invasion of the Soviet Union and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Procedure

Prior to lesson, give students the following list to place in chronological order and indicate dates and results of action:

German U-boat attacks Kearny
Germany invades USSR
Battle of Britain
Non-Aggression Pact
Neutrality Act 1939 repealed
Nye Report
Germany sinks Robin Moor
Germany invades Poland
Destroyer for Bases Deal
Neutrality Acts
Phony War
Neutrality Acts
Germany invades France
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor
Munich Conference
Lend Lease Act
German U-boat sinks Reuben James
1st Peacetime Draft in US

Introductory learning activities:

What is dissent ion? Opposition to the policies of those in power
Is dissent ion desirable in a democracy? Explain your answer.
How can people express opposition? Protests, editorials, strike, music

Give examples of what has happened to dissenters in times of crisis? Arrested for violating Alien & Sedition Acts, suspension of habeas corpus during Civil War, strikes broken by state & federal troops in 1890s

Song discussion questions and activities:

1. Play “Ballad of October 16” (lyrics at http://www.geocities.com/Nashville/3448/oct16.html)

What is the message of this song?
Why did the author oppose the draft?

2. Explain the background of the Almanac Singers and the Communist Party: The American Folk Song Movement was instrumental in the growth of the unions during the 1930s, and foremost among these musicians was a group called the Almanacs, which included such artists as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Tom Glazer, and Josh White; they were closely affiliated with Communist Party, which took direction from Moscow.

Based on the communist view of war, what will their position be? Opposed because war benefits capitalists
Who else opposed war? Quakers, Amish, conscientious objectors
Do you think most people considered this song unpatriotic in 1940?

3. Show Gallop poll – isolationism still strong http://teaching.arts.usyd.edu.au/history/hsty3080/3rdYr3080/Callous%20Bystanders/isolationism.html

4. Check homework: time line/graphic organizer

1934	Nye Report	Blamed American capitalism for involvement in WWI
1935-37	Neutrality Acts	Restricted U.S. trade with belligerence
Sept. 1938	Munich Conference	Allies give Hitler Studentland
Aug. 1939	Non-Aggression Pact	USSR & Germany; ACP conflicted
Sept. 1939	Germany invades Poland	Great Britain & France declare war
	Neutrality Act	European democracies may buy armament cash only
Oct '39- April '40	Phony War	No significant military action
June 1940	Germany invades France	France surrenders; Dunkirk evacuation
Aug. 1940	Battle of Britain	German air attacks on Britain
Sept. 1940	Destroyer for Bases Deal	U.S. aids Great Britain
	1st Peacetime draft in U.S.	Within 1 month 16 million men registered [Ballad]
March 1941	Lend Lease Act	US aids Great Britain; German: US not neutral
May 1941	Germany seeks Robin Moor	unarmed American merchantman
June 1941	Germany invades USSR	[ACP change attitude toward war]
Oct. 1941	German U-boat attacks Kearny	11 died
Oct. 1941	German U-boat sinks Reuben James near Iceland	100 died
Nov. 1941	Neutrality Act of 1939 repealed	Armed merchant Ships; War with Germany expected
Dec. 1941	Pearl Harbor	U.S. declares War

5. Put song on time line

6. Play "WHAT ARE WE WAITING ON?" by Woody Guthrie

(Lyrics Below)

How does the sentiment expressed in this song differ from the first song?
Looking at the timeline, what might have convinced labor and the Communist Party to support war? Jobs, the Fascist attitude towards unions and communism, German invasion of USSR (most important for American Communist Party), German U-boat attacks on US ships, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

7. Use the NARA lesson at http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/day_of_infamy

Read FDR’s Infamy Speech, complete NARA worksheet, discuss responses
Listen to recording of speech, complete NARA worksheet, discuss techniques employed to gain public support for war

8. Desire to defeat fascism led Communist Party to urge labor unions to make no strike pledges for the duration of the war.

Play short segments of “Citizen CIO” and/or “I’m gonna put my name down” to illustrate their continuing commitment to labor
Despite this apparent unity, dissent ion still existed in 1943. Labor strikes increased between 1942 and 1944 (Faragher, p 780)

Were these strikes unpatriotic at this time?

How might a striker justify his/her action?

Was it wrong to ask for higher wages from employers?

9. Strikes did not necessarily reflect real opposition to the war; such opposition did, however, exist.

What groups remained pacifist throughout times of war? Religious groups, CO
Is it fair that a person can declare himself a conscientious objector and exempted from service?

For homework, prepare a statement for assigned character on his/her position on the war:

50-year-old labor union member
American Communist Party officer
22-year-old male
46-year-old mother of 3 grown children
Conscientious objector, such as Quaker or Amish

Follow-up learning activities:

Debate: It is January 1, 1942 -- Should the U.S. be involved in the war?

Everyone assigned to the same character shall meet in a group to compare position papers and prepare strategy for debating the above question. Choose 1 person to speak, though others should assist speaker during debate.

After debate:

Compare to the present war in Iraq.

What are the differences?

Assessment

Position paper and debate using rubric below.

Assessment criteria and performance descriptors

Scale Criterion	10-9	8-7	6-4	3-0
Position Statement	Position is clearly stated and consistently maintained. Clear references to the issue(s) are stated	Position is clearly stated and consistently maintained. References to the issue(s) at hand are missing.	Position is stated, but not maintained consistently throughout the work	Statement of position cannot be determined
Supporting Information	Evidence clearly supports the position; evidence is sufficient	Evidence clearly supports the position, but there is not enough evidence	Argument is supported by limited evidence	Evidence is unrelated to argument
Organization	Structure of work is clearly developed	Structure developed reasonably well, but lacks clarity	Some attempts to structure the argument have been made, but the structure is poorly developed	There is a total lack of structure
Tone of Essay	Tone is consistent with argument and enhances persuasiveness	Tone enhances persuasiveness, but there are inconsistencies in the argument	Tone does not contribute to persuasiveness	Tone is inappropriate to purpose
Sentence Structure	Sentence structure is correct with less than 2 grammatical mistakes	Sentence structure is generally correct. Some awkward sentences do appear and/or 3-7 grammatical mistakes	Work contains structural weaknesses and 8-12 grammatical errors	Works pays little attention to proper sentence structure
Punctuation & Capitalization	Punctuation and capitalization are correct	There is one error in punctuation and/or capitalization	There are two or three errors in punctuation and/or capitalization	There are four or more errors in punctuation and/or capitalization
Respect for Other Team	All statements, body language, and responses were respectful and were in appropriate language	Statements and responses were respectful and used appropriate language, but once or twice body language was not.	Most statements and responses were respectful and used appropriate language but there was one sarcastic remark	Statements, responses and/or body language were consistently not respectful
Information	All information presented in the debate was clear, accurate, and thorough	Most information presented in the debate was clear, accurate, and thorough	Most information presented in the debate was clear and accurate but was not usually thorough	Information had several inaccuracies or was usually unclear
Organization	All arguments were clearly tied to an idea (premise) and organized in a tight, logical fashion	Most arguments were clearly tied to an idea (premise) and organized in a tight, logical fashion	All arguments were clearly tied to an idea (premise) but the organization was sometimes unclear or illogical	Arguments were not clearly tied to an idea (premise)
Rebuttal	All counter-arguments were accurate, relevant and strong	Most counter-arguments were accurate, relevant, and strong	Most counter-arguments were accurate and relevant, but several were weak	Counter-arguments were inaccurate and/or irrelevant

Lyrics

“What Are We Waitin’ On?”

There’s a great and a bloody fight round this whole world tonight

The battle the bombs and the shrapnel rain

Hitler told the world around he would tear our union down

But our union’s going to break them slavery chains

And our union’s going to break them slavery chains

I walked up on a mountain in the middle of the sky

Could see every farm and every town

I could see all the people in this whole wide world

That’s the union that’All tear old Hitler down

That’s the union that’ll tear the fascists down

When I think of the men and the ships going down

While the Russians fight on across the dawn

There’s London in ruins and Paris in chains

Good people, what are we waitin’ on?

Yes I thank the Soviets and the mighty Chinese vets

Allies the whole wide world round

To the battling British thanks

You can have 10 million yanks

If it takes them to tear the fascists down down down

If it takes them to tear the fascists down

But when I think of the ships and the men going down