Question

During World War II, were the goals of the United States overseas consistent or inconsistent with its goals on the home front?

Accepted Answer

This can be argued both ways.
On the one hand, WWII can be seen as a war against racism and intolerance.  This was particularly true of the war in Europe and American propaganda tended to emphasize the intolerant and evil nature of Hitler’s regime.  One can argue that this was somewhat inconsistent with the racism that was still prevalent in the United States at the time.  The internment of Japanese-Americans, the Zoot Suit Riots, and the segregation of African Americans, even in the Armed Forces, can be seen as examples of racism that were inconsistent with the idea that the US was fighting racism abroad.
However, the United States was nowhere near as oppressive towards minorities as Germany or even Japan.  The US did not kill any racial minorities on a systematic basis.  It did not, as the Japanese did in their empire, use people who were seen as racial inferiors as slave labor.  The US was clearly more tolerant than its enemies. 
Finally, we should note that the true goal of the US overseas was to stop the expansion of authoritarian powers.  If we understand that this was the true goal of the war, the war becomes completely consistent with American goals on the home front.  The US was not (the post-war Red Scare notwithstanding) anything resembling an authoritarian state.  It was a democratic and liberal society, which was very much consistent with the idea of opposing Japanese and German authoritarian and fascist regimes.

Answer

If we are discussing goals rather than what actually occurred in the messiness of reality, yes, the goals of the United States overseas were consistent with its goals on the home front at that time.
Overseas, the goal of the United States was to stop the spread of dangerous totalitarian regimes in Europe and Asia. These regimes threatened democratic and humane values, replacing them with—and attempting to spread—tyranny, racism, genocide, and terror. Although the United States had traditionally followed the path of isolationism, the threat became dire enough for us to become heavily involved militarily in these conflicts over how the world should be organized.
At the same time, the domestic goals of the Roosevelt administration were to spread democracy and the humane values of economic security, opportunity, and freedom throughout American society. Clearly this did not happen to the extent one might have wished, as racism was shamefully flagrant and prevented minority groups from participating fully—if at all—in the American dream. However, Roosevelt did believe a rising tide raises all boats and with his new economic policies, such as minimum wage and Social Security, hoped he would eventually help all racial groups. He fought off organizations on the domestic front such as America First which wanted to keep the US out of World War II. His vision of an America was of a democratic culture, which was his hope too for nations abroad oppressed by tyranny.
The United States was not an ideal player during this period, interning the Japanese, fire bombing Dresden, and dropping atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, its international goals—democratic and egalitarian—were overall consistent with its domestic goals.

Answer

The primary goal of the American government on the home front was to keep the country safe. Unfortunately, the methods it used to achieve that objective were often inconsistent with the values for which American troops were fighting and dying abroad. The most notorious example of such methods would be the internment of Japanese-American citizens.
In the wake of Pearl Harbor, there was widespread suspicion of anyone remotely associated with Japan, even those who had pledged their loyalty to the United States and had proved themselves to be patriotic, hard-working Americans. In such a toxic environment of hatred and suspicion, the government chose to remove Japanese-Americans from the strategically important West coast and move them further inland, where they would be housed in squalid internment camps.
Although the US government claimed that this drastic measure was necessary for the purposes of defending the home front, in actual fact there was no danger whatsoever that Japanese-Americans presented any kind of security threat to the country. But given the prevailing levels of racism at all levels of American society, the government pressed ahead with their plan, thus writing one of the darkest chapters in American history.
In doing so, it detracted from the noble enterprise of fighting and destroying the threats to world security from Hitler's Germany and the racist ideology on which it was based.

Answer

The primary goal of the United States in WWII was to stop the spread of totalitarianism.  The home front was also mobilized in this endeavor even before the war with rhetoric such as Franklin Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union Address in which he mentioned four freedoms:  freedom from want, freedom to worship, freedom of speech, and freedom of fear.  When the United States officially joined the war in December of that year, these words energized the public to stand up to totalitarianism.  
The United States at the time did not entirely live up to these four freedoms mentioned in the speech.  Black people throughout the South still faced discrimination and it took the federal government to stop segregation in war industries.  This was the first national effort at desegregation.  Free speech was sharply curtailed by anti-communist and anti-immigrant groups of people were not perceived to be "true patriots" in favor of fighting the Axis powers.  There were still strains of Antisemitism in the United States; the country turned away a boatload of Jewish refugees from Germany before the war began.  Many people would not believe the Holocaust was officially happening until American troops were liberating the camps late in the war.  While many groups in the United States faced discrimination, persecution, and poverty to some extent, it was nothing like what was being experienced in Germany, Italy, or Japan during the war.

World War II

During World War II, were the goals of the United States overseas consistent or inconsistent with its goals on the home front?

Expert Answers

Unlock This Answer Now

Related Questions

How did the United States prepare for World War II?

Why did the United States drop the atomic bombs in World War II?

What were the consequences of World War II for the United States?

How did the United States enter World War II?

Positive effects of World War II.