Marcile Davis, high school junior, wrote to her senator, Arthur Capper. Whether or not he personally read the letter is unclear, however the letter was preserved on the Kansas Memories Website. In her letter, she discusses the propaganda of the time, her concerns with starting a war, and her disapproval of any war at that time. To further analyze, it would be wise to consider any outside factors that went into her background as a small-town Kansan girl from Clay Center, her view on numerous issues could have been shaped by the isolationist viewpoint so common in her country. She could have wanted the money that would be spent on war to be spent on something her area would see the impact of, like more work programs made by FDR.
Marcile Davis appears to have written this not only for herself, but maybe for a group or school group as well, as evidenced here, “…We are writing to you expressing our desire for peace,” (Davis 1939). As to when she sent her letter, it was on May 1st, 1939, nearly two years before Pearl Harbor, and only a few months before the Second World War officially started. Looking at where the letter was written, it could be assumed that she had an isolationist attitude. She lived in Clay Center, Kansas, a
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Her will would have been for her country to remain at peace and not enter war for several reasons. One, Davis’s and her classmates education was at stake, and she knew that education would lead to greater success later on in life. Secondly, because the propaganda surrounding them was misleading, and would benefit people outside of the United States, or just a select few inside the US who were pushing towards war for profit, not a defense of liberties. The main point of this letter was that there was support for the war, if there was a reason to fight for one, not just a petty land battle or a scheme for a few men to acquire riches on the backs of other men’s