Was WWII a just war?

During the beginning of WWII the United States was in isolation from the war. To try to stay out of the war we made the lend-lease Act that allowed for the U.S. that allowed for president Roosevelt to lend weapons to other countries that he feels necessary to protect the U.S. The United States also had the Neutrality Act 1939 that allows other countries to buy supplies from America. We finally came out of isolation when Japan attacked us at Pearl Harbor.
The first idea of a war theory for justice in the war was written by a single person. St. Thomas Aquinas made the Principles of a Just-War Theory. These principles were based on St. Augustine's version that said the war needed to be wage with legitimate authority and have the right intentions and just cause. The Just War Theory uses jus ad bellum, a justification for war, and jus in bello, a justified conduct of war. WWII, using Aquinas's Just War Theorem, is a just war for the United  States both in the justification for the war and the conduct of war.
In the Just War Theory Aquinas uses last resort, right intention and just cause to recognize if the reasons for entering the war were just, jus ad bellum. Last resort says a just war can be waged after consideration of a peaceful outtake. After then a force can be used as a last resort. Right intention is explaining that the intention if the war should be for peace and the use of force should be for justice. Finally Just Cause is that the war should be in response of a wrong doing or self-defense, to correct the inflicted wound. The United States used last resort, right intention and had a just cause for coming out of isolation and into the war.
The U.S. used the last resort against Japan. After trying to negotiate with them they had attack Pearl Harbor. We used just cause to attack them because we needed to use self-defense. Also we declared war on German, because they declared war on the U.S. first. Another thing that we did was made a plan for after we bombed Japan so it wasn't just revenge. The reason that we fought Germany was to try to stop the Nazis from domination.

Attack at Pearl Harbor  7 December 1941

More of the jus ad bellum principles of the Just War Theory was probability of success and legitimate authority. Legitimate authority is saying that a proper authority can wage war not just individuals. Probability of success has to do with a nation has to enter the war with the idea thatcher could win in some way. Otherwise it would not be a just war with a hopeless nation. Once again in part of the U.S.its mostly just.
The United States was a legitimate authority along with Britain, Japan, and the German Nazis. On the other hand with probability of success the nationalism of the country was pretty high, but we were forced in the war. This put pressure on us, but being in isolation made us ready for war. Especially with the home front, weapons, and food.
The Just War Theory also has the principles of being in the war, or jus in bello. They were proportionality and civilian casualties. Proportionality is justifying that for a just war the violence must be equal. A nation should not exceed what is necessary to avoid disproportionate military. Civilian Casualties says that violence must not be inflicted upon civilian lives directly and soldiers should try not to harm civilians. These principles that are showing what's just make the U.S. neutral.
When we bombed Japan with heavy damage against civilian lives. Although we did send in
groups to help with clean up and help for Japan after the war, making it neutral on our part. Also German soldiers were much younger than the United States, making it un proportional.

Two American Soldiers helping clean up Hiroshima 

America was very just compared to other countries such as Germany who killed any civilians possible. The United States has a just cause and a reasonable battles and our damage was backed up with help.

German soldiers squatting over civilians they killed

Why did the United States invade Cuba?

          The United States invaded Cuba to gain the natural resources that they supply all over the world.  Cuba's natural resources were a big factor in the invasion. Cuba exported tobacco, fruit, and sugar to the United States, these are very necessary resources to control. Controlling the natural resources in Cuba allows for the U.S. to control the heartland. Also American investors spent millions of dollars in Cuba.
          Cuba was constantly trying to gain independence from Spain.  The US has given that freedom to many places before and could eventually take control of its government. Spain put Cuba into reconcentration camps for "protection", but ended up being very grotesque and had horrible conditions, "Four hundred and sixty women and children thrown on the ground, heaped pell-mell as animals, some in a dying condition, others sick and others dead, without the slightest cleanliness, nor the least help. . .."( Excerpt from unsigned enclosure included with telegram sent by Fitzhugh Lee, U.S. Consul General in Cuba) Eventually the U.S. was able to control Cuba through the Plat Amendment, which allows for America to monitor the laws that they are passing.

          Lastly "Spain" exploded the warship Maine, a great American vessel, at Havana harbor.
It was an accident that could be blamed on the Spaniards for reason to go to war. The probability of it being an accident was unreasonable, because it's hard to blow up a ship from the inside. Also the probability of it being Spain was very slim, knowing that they didn't have the time or materials to accomplish this, "He [Capt. Schuley]was not prepared to believe that the Spanish or Cubans in Havana were supplied with either the information or the appliances necessary to enable them to make so complete a work of demolition, while the Maine was under guard…." (Excerpt from New York Times, February 17, 1898) The Spaniards had no reason to blow up the Maine, and in doing so they would be beat in war easily. Although there is reason to believe that it was the U.S. that made it explode to start the war to gain control of Cuba, this is a more probable answer to who blew it up.

The U.S. Invaded Cuba on therms of gaining natural resources and the heartland. Cuba was already trying to win independence from Spain, and struggling doing so. Another good point is the fact that they imported goods around the world, and has so many precious resources. All of these thing made it so that America wanted to gain control over them. After the Maine blew up, the U.S. blamed it on the Spaniards and war had begun. It wasn't hard to beat them and gain control over Cuba. In the end they had their own government and independence, but the Plat Amendment made so they America can decide what amendments and laws can or cannot be passed. The United States accomplish the goal of winning independence for Cuba and gaining trust with them.

Statue of Liberty Change of Meaning

          151 feet tall, 22 stories high, 225 tons is what is now know as the Statue of Liberty. Though the meaning of this iconic symbol has changed over the years. When it was first built by Fredrick-Auguste Bartholdi it was seen as liberty from America. People of Rome believed it was the goddess Libertas, in classical Rome meaning liberty and freedom. It was also a symbol of slavery and opposition. After the Spanish American War it was American Might. Not until the 1900's was it seen by Immigrants as a welcome and a symbol of hope. In 1883 Emma Lazarus's donated her poem, "The New Colossus" for the Statue of Liberty. This poem drove immigrants there, saying that it offered refuge to immigrants. 

 The Judge:The Proposed Emigrant  Dumping Site

Not all people saw the statue as a good symbol. To the middle class American the newspaper posted this political cartoon.This cartoon shows the Statue of Liberty as an Immigrant dumping ground. It shows European garbage ships dumping immigrants onto the Statue of Liberty. This cartoon also shows the Lady Liberty pulling up her robe because of the immigrants, as she has a stern face. At the bottom it states, "If you are going to make this island a garbage heap, I'm going back to France."

         September 11, 2001 changed the meaning of the statue in a big way. The Eighth Avenue and West 48th Street fire department was the first to respond to the collapsing of the Worlds Trading Center. This department lost 15 of their men in this devastating event. A Statue of Liberty replica stood at this station, it was unknown who put it there. People put messages, pictures, flags, and other memory's from their loved ones. http://ladyliberty.911memorial.org/#/Explore/1  In this website is an interactive picture of the famous Statue of Liberty replica.

        After 9 11 the Statue of Liberty was closed until 2004 the lower deck opened back up. The statue was seen as a place of attack during these times. Especially since July 30, 1916 when Germans caused a explosion damaging the statue at $2 million damage. It was always closing and opening due to fear of attack.
          The Statue of Liberty has always been a powerful figure throughout history. No matter what it was symbolizing at the time it had a meaning. It was hope, a goddess, pointless, a place for freedom, a dumping site, a place of attack, but it was always liberty.


Sources
http://history1800s.about.com/od/tothenewworld/f/Statue-of-Liberty-and-Immigration.htm
http://www.nps.gov/stli/historyculture/the-immigrants-statue.htm
http://ladyliberty.911memorial.org
http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1897552,00.html
http://ladyliberty.911memorial.org/#/Explore/1

Kansas-Nebraska

     The Kansas Nebraska act lead to bleeding Kansas which is an event that sparked the tension for the civil war. The Kansas Nebraska act, 1854, splitted the Nebraska territory into two states. These two states governed themselves.
     Stephen Douglas as a US senator mandated Popular sovereignty in these states. This meant that the states got to decide whether or not their state will be a free or a slave state. This went against the Missouri Compromise saying that anything above _____is free and below is Slave. Except Missouri which is a slave state. The congress made popular sovereignty in these states because they could not decide themselves. It got so difficult that the congress almost split I to two, but instead they handed the decision to the people.
     At this time there were two different kinds of settlers. There were the pro-Slavery settlers which were later known as the southern Whigs. The southern Whigs then became the party known as the Democrats.  They wanted slaves to use for the railroads that they where going to use the new land for. The other was anti-slavery settlers also known as northern Whigs. The northern Whigs became the  Republican party later on. They didn't believe that slaves were moral.
     It was a hard decision and brought much tension. These two groups of settlers, like congress did not come up with a decision to be free or slave. They started physically fighting in the streets about wether or not they should be free or a slave state. This is known as Bleeding Kansas.

Example:
     In the photo above you see the northerners wanted to use this new land for farming, on the other hand the southerners wanted to use the land to become rich from making a railroad. But to build this train track the southerners needed their slaves. So they ask if there are slaves allowed. When this happened the northerners and the southerners righted about it and handed the decision to congress. As congress discussed about it they couldn't come to a verdict so they made popular sovereignty to give the settlers the power of the decision. In a result they start fighting again, because they couldn't decide.

The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow

"The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow", by Washington Irving, is a story we all know even if we haven't read it or have seen it. It's a piece of Literature commonly known to people as the story of the headless horsemen. This story takes place in the US and can only be understood in the US based on financial, economical, historical situations. Sleepy Hollow has a powerful meaning behind it both metaphorically and realistically. Sleepy can mean that the town is quiet and there's nothing much going on. Hollow is a small wooden ravine on the Hudson River and metaphorically looking toward a community under a spell.
This story is about a man named, Ichabod Crane a school teacher, coming to this town in New York from Connecticut. He is a timid person yet loves scary stories. He finds himself in his own scary story. Everyone around him in the town scares him for different reasons. The one person not scary to him is his love Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter of the rich Dutch Farmer. He is invited to her party and he goes to the party and has a good time, but in the end he finds out her affections are not the same. On his way home he runs into the "Headless Horseman" in the woods, later finding out it was actually another guest from the party scaring him. They had told stories and then pulled a prank on Ichabod, on his way home, making it seem like he encountered the Headless Horseman like in the stories they had told. After that day nobody ever saw Ichabod crane, they said he had left for a distant country.
Irving's beliefs and personality really show in this piece of literature. It also shows the time period by the fact of social classes and the era that it had been written in.

This book has been made into several scary stories and movies. Disney has made a movie and a cartoon based of the book. Also the Halloween story "Headless Horseman" came from this piece of literature. There are much more versions of the story and different cartoons and movies made. It is truly an American classic. 

Star-Spangled Banner

The Star-Spangled Banner History

A poem by Francis Scott key called "the defense at fort McHenry" is now out national anthem, "Star spangled Banner". This poem was make September 18, 1814 after the battle at Fort McHenry when the British fleas and the US put up the national flag. Francis Scott key witnessed this battle and was inspired to write about it. The poem was put to a famous english bar song "To Anacreon in Heaven" by John Stafford Smith. It turned into the national anthem March 13, 1931.

This is the original lyrics for the song "To Anacreon in Heaven" by John Stafford Smith it was London's Anacreonic Society song that used to be sung in bars.

 This is today's national anthem "Star-Spangled banner" lyrics by Francis Scott Key.