During the early stages of World War II America was constantly being called to fight on European soil. American opinion on this matter was split. Many knew how horrific and costly World War I was and were hesitant to start another war. Others felt obligated to help their allies against oppression.
Then, on December 7th Pearl Harbor was bombed and opinions flew radically in favor of war. December 8th saw more enlistments than any other day in American history. This act was considered "the birth of American spirit". "We did not quit fighting,
because the determination [that] 'They're gonna pay' was so high. It
was felt by everyone in this country, whether they were old people or
young people, men or women, whether they were of British descent or
African descent or Norwegian descent—wherever they came from, that
determination that 'We're never going to let this happen. And we're
going to come back, whatever the price.' And they did." Wrote one historian Stephen Ambrose. Because of that bombing Americans felt that it was now their war, they had a duty to their country to fight against the enemy, a threat to democracy.
Then came news of the Holocaust, horrific descriptions and images were spread through America. And with a little help from propaganda American's for the first time saw this as a true fight of good and evil. The ratio of enlistees to draftees was 3:5 with 10 million soldiers drafted and 6 million volunteers, one of the highest volunteer ratios in the US. Boys would often lie about their age to get a chance of fighting in the war.
Overall, the war sentiment was largely positive and created the first idea of "American spirit" for the war.
Sources:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2001/05/world-war-ii-gave-birth-to-american-spirit-says-historian-ambrose/
https://ecommons.luc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1996&context=luc_theses
I think that it is very interesting that boys lied about their age to go fight in the war. This really shows how much the American people were determined to enter the war after Pearl Harbor. You highlighted that on December 8, 1941 the most Americans ever enlisted in the army. This was also the day that the US declared war on Japan and officially entered the war, starting the US involvement in not only the Pacific but also in Europe.
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This post was very well written! The pattern of enlisting in World War II is yet another instance that confirms what really boosts pro-war thought: a cause. Before the war applied to them, Americans did not care about it whatsoever. They didn't want to wipe out a generation if they didn't have to. But once Pearl Harbor was attacked, so many Americans jumped on board and wanted to fight back. Although this theory does make sense economically, Americans were basically being self-centered and didn't care about helping the British or the French. All they wanted was to get revenge and defend the strength and power associated with the "American" title.
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