How was freedom experienced during the war?
First, explain President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms (You may use the textbook, lecture summary, audio lecture, or read the speech in the Supplemental Reading).
Second, pick one group and use the historical information and details to describe their situation at the time.
Then examine the personal stories in the supplemental material. In detail, explain at least one of the personal stories that explain if they experience more or less freedom during World War II. Remember to explain what life was like for the group before the war (the historical portion).
Although delivered well before the United States joined the other Allied Powers to fight in World War II, Roosevelt’s speech remained closely intertwined with the history and legacy of the war. By describing the grave threat facing democratic societies around the world, he gave voice to the fears that permeated daily life in the months before America’s eventual entrance into the war. He did so to emphasize the urgent need to prepare for war, as well as to continue supporting American allies with arms and munitions. Looking ahead to the war’s end, Roosevelt described a world that he saw as “founded upon four essential human freedoms.” The first of the four freedoms was the freedom of speech. The second he listed was the freedom to worship in one’s own way. The third was the freedom from want. Roosevelt explained this freedom as encompassing the economic stability to ensure “to every nation a healthy peacetime” once the turmoil of war came to an end. The fourth freedom was the freedom from fear, which President Roosevelt believed would come with a reduction of armaments worldwide.
Roosevelt saw these freedoms as obtainable in the lifetime of those who, 11 months later, began the march to war. These freedoms—of speech and worship, and from want and fear—gave those who went to war a clear purpose. This speech not only outlined what Americans fought against in World War II, but more importantly, the speech described what was being fought for. Although this speech, delivered in the era of American isolationism, initially received criticism, the ideals Roosevelt put forth cultivated an enduring legacy for the efforts all Americans contributed to the war, both abroad and at home.
In 1942, the artist Norman Rockwell, who had been looking for ways to support the war effort, saw Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms speech as a source of inspiration. Basing each freedom on simple scenes of individuals in town hall meetings, in the midst of prayer, or at home with their families, Rockwell constructed widely successful visual representations of each freedom. The images, originally published in The Saturday Evening Post, proved so popular the US Department of the Treasury sold copies of the paintings to raise money for war bonds. After launching the campaign, roughly 2,000 requests for the posters came in daily. To this day, Rockwell’s illustrations continue to represent glimpses into an idealized American society, inspired by FDR’s aspirations for the postwar world.