ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos


U.S. History 1877-Present Videos 173 videos

U.S. History 1877-Present 11: Reconstruction and Black Codes
6413 Views

Have you ever told one of your siblings to stop poking you, only to have them do something like hold their hand right in front of your face instead...

U.S. History 1877-Present 3: John D. Rockefeller
13980 Views

John D. Rockefeller. Greasy robber baron, or philanthropic saint? Why not both? Boy, that's a weird combination... 

U.S. History 1877-Present 3: Native Americans in the Gilded Age
9665 Views

Today we'll learn about plans to assimilate the American Indian population after reconstruction. If you've ever seen Star Trek, you'll know that fo...

See All

U.S. History 1877-Present 6: The End of Isolationism 6628 Views


Share It!


Description:

Shoot our friends, fine...but try to get Mexico to fight us? Ohoho. No way, my good sir. It's war time. And you are not gonna like it one bit. Isolationism is so  last term anyway.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:00

Thank you We sneak in Most people know that american

00:05

isolationism didn't last while if they uh know what the

00:09

word isolation isn't means Anyway just so we're clear Isolationism

00:14

is a policy in which countries don't get involved in

00:16

other countries Politics basically it's the idea that life is

00:20

best when playing alone in one's room Well the u

00:23

s had rolled like that for a while During the

00:25

first years of world war i we held out for

00:27

three years while the old world ripped itself apart But

00:31

our isolation is and just wasn't gonna last When somebody

00:34

makes a mess that big everybody gets splattered Well funnily

00:38

enough president woodrow wilson actually took america the war only

00:41

months after winning an election on the slogan he kept

00:44

us out of war Can we say false advertising there

00:48

Maybe Well technically the slogan wasn't He will continue to

00:52

keep us out of the war You got to read

00:54

the fine print people What changed woody's Mind in the

00:57

minds of most americans Well the first factor was the

00:59

german attack on a british ocean liner The lusitania Now

01:03

that sounds weird because ships were being sunk and shots

01:06

Fired all over the world at this point But the

01:08

lusitania had rial live bona fide americans on board and

01:13

you know how presidents get when their own people are

01:15

killed Ornery that's How the second factor was a sneaky

01:18

little affair in the form of an encoded telegram german

01:22

sent a secret note called the zimmerman telegram to mexico

01:26

and the germans were looking for a little more than

01:28

the world's best taco recipe although that would have been

01:30

a good idea We love because well you know german

01:34

tacos or the pits In the telegram the germans offered

01:37

an alliance against the u s if america got involved

01:40

in the war Well to sweeten the deal germany also

01:42

offered to help mexico reclaim all the territory lost in

01:45

the mexican american war Unfortunately for the germans at least

01:49

the secret note was intercepted And you know how american

01:52

presidents get when european powers try to intervene in the

01:55

americas Ornery that's How at this point germany had done

01:58

just about all the things that are guaranteed to incite

02:00

the ire of america Us claims that american intervention was

02:04

needed to make the world safe for democracy and with

02:07

that wilson sent two million americans to europe over one

02:11

hundred thousand would never return And not because it was 00:02:14.43 --> [endTime] the best euro trip ever get out

Related Videos

Why Does the Constitution Still Work for Us?
5723 Views

Ever heard of a "living document"? They eat and breathe just like the rest of us! They even walk around on their own two legs. Okay, fine—maybe t...

The Puritans and the Division of Church and State
1280 Views

If the Puritans had gotten their way, religion would play a much larger role in lawmaking these days. Want to know more? Watch the video for all th...

Shays' Rebellion
6383 Views

What happened between the creation of the Articles of Confederation and the ratification of the current U.S. Constitution? This video analyzes the...

There's More Than One Way to Crack a Modernist Egg
539 Views

The Modernists thought the world had a lot of problems, and they were intent on fixing them—or at least talking about fixing them. Unfortunately,...

Federalism
2532 Views

This video explains Federalism and the quest for a fair balance between state and national power. It covers the progression and compromises of Fede...