The Change And Influence Of American Jews' Political Status In Franklin D.Roosevelt Era (1933-1945)

It is during the Franklin Roosevelt era that the fate of American Jews has changed.This period is very distinguished by the Great Depression,the Holocaust,the World War II and many other events which all bring challenges for the survival,establishment and development of American Jews.Meanwhile,this era is also full of opportunities for American Jews,especially Roosevelt's New Deal policies that brings the substantial change for American Jews' political rise as well as the completely turn of American Jews' fate.Having resisted the pressure from American society,The Roosevelt Administration adopt the policies favoring to American Jews which serves as the catalyst for the change of political status of this ethic group.The Jews gradually step to the center of the political arena from the edge of U.S.society,and they get rid of the dilemma that providing them little political power,even few opportunities to get involved in the political arena.Since then,American Jews turned into the elite group with strong power in U.S.society,having the rights of discourse and vote in the general election,and their political strength even can influence U.S.government's domestic and foreign policies.Many factors caused American Jews' political strength grew from weak to strong,and their political situation changed from low tide to high.American Jews plays a more important role at home and abroad after their political rise.Before World War II,the Jews' active participation in U.S.domestic affairs embodies their political rise.After the outbreak of World War II in the 1940 s,American Jews expanded their political influence to international affairs.American Jews especially bear the responsibility of helping European Jewish refugees and playing a significant role in promoting the establishment of the state of Israel.The success of American Jews in politics has won the attention and praise to this minority group in the United States both at home and abroad.The elite group among them has also become the leaders in various fields of U.S.society until now,which brings positive impact.The success of American Jews also provides an example for other American ethnic minorities to fight for national rights.The main line of this thesis focuses on the changes of American Jews' political status during Roosevelt's presidency in 1930 s and 1940 s and its resulting impact.This thesis contains three parts: the introduction,the main body,and the concluding remarks.The reasons to choose this topic,its significance,the literature review,its key points and innovation points and the research methods are presented in the introduction.The main body is divided into four chapters.The basic structures are as follows:Chapter 1 traces and combs the history of American Jews before President Roosevelt came to power,aiming to explain the reasons why American Jews immigrated to the United States before the 1930 s,the obstacles they encountered in the process of four major immigration tides and the gradual enhancement of the strength of American Jews after immigrating to the United States.The Jews finally settled down in U.S.and laid the foundation for their future rise;Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 are the key section of this paper.Chapter 2 focuses on the Roosevelt Administration's specific policies towards American Jews thus caused their political rise,highlighting how American Jews achieved political rise by participating in the New Deal and presidential election in the 1930s;Chapter 3 mainly discusses how American Jews root their influence in U.S.foreign policies in 1940 s after becoming an important pole in domestic politics.Hitler's Holocaust arises the national consciousness and the sense of suffering of American Jews.They realized that it was urgent to save their Jewish compatriots in Europe and begin to put the reconstruction of national homes into action.American Jews influenced President Roosevelt's attitude towards European Jewish refugees through Group lobbying and political donation,and they finally accepted the Zionism,then actively promoted the establishment of Jewish homeland;Chapter 4 mainly explains the domestic and international influence brought by the change of American Jews' political status,and to further highlights the spirit of non-submission and resistance of American Jews which bring the change,then we would have more thinking.In the concluding remarks,it is pointed out that the successful experience of American Jews' political rise can be used for reference by Chinese Americans to improve their political status,which is also the practical significance of this topic.