The Tradition of American Isolationism

The discussion revolves around America's historical context of avoiding foreign entanglements, particularly prior to World War II. For over a century, from the 1790s to the 1910s, the U.S. successfully refrained from involvement in European conflicts. During the 1930s, public sentiment increasingly favored isolationism, leading to congressional neutrality laws designed to keep the U.S. from being drawn into another war. This cautious stance was influenced by the prevailing belief that previous interventions had not yielded positive outcomes for the nation.