During the 1930s, the Americans desire to avoid foreign entanglements became a priority for congress. Therefore in the beginning of 1935, lawmakers passed a series of Neutrality Acts that banned travel on ships and the sales of arms to countries at war. This policy was formed in hopes to avoid Japanese and German aggression. However during December 1940, Roosevelt announced the United States would become the “great arsenal of democracy (Foner 857),” providing Britain and China with military supplies in their fight against Germany and Japan. In addition to forming an alliance with Britain and China, president Roosevelt froze Japanese assets in the United States, halting all trade between the countries, including the sale of oil vital to Japan. Little did the United States realize, their contribution to the war efforts only involved them in the war, but why did the U.S policymaker decide to use the atomic bomb? One reason was that they wanted to be sure that the USSR did not occupy Manchuria, secondly the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor created fear and racism towards Japanese nation’s ominous power, and lastly due to Japanese demoralizing strategy of human bombs, it fueled the Americans’ hatred, further motivating them to end the war efforts quickly.
In the United States prejudices against Japanese descendants was common. However following the shocking attack on Pearl Harbor (November 1941) that resulted in 2,300 casualties, twelve sank ships, nine damaged ships, 160 destroyed aircraft, and 150 damaged ships, produced an unprecedented hatred of Japan. The disaster of Pearl Harbor’s bombing termed December 7th “a date which will live in infamy” quoted by Franklin D. Roosevelt (Foner 858). Ultimately lead to Congress declaration of w...
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...f becoming the great arsenal of democracy, they provided Britain and China with military supplies in the fight against Germany and Japan. The United States faced Japan’s ruthless strategies that incited fear towards anyone of the Japanese ethnicity. As a result, Americans felt that the war should end quickly in order to avoid further bloodshed. Following that statement, the United States bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. By the end of World War II, there was a production of radical redistribution of world power. Japan and Germany, two dominant military powers in the beginning, has surrendered. Furthermore, Britain and France, though victorious were weakened, leaving the United States and Soviet Union to project significant influence beyond their national borders. Overall, the United States military demonstration during WW2 proved that it was clearly the dominant power.
It was no secret that when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, countless Americans were frightened on what will happen next. The attack transpiring during WW2 only added to the hysteria of American citizens. According to the article “Betrayed by America” it expressed,”After the bombing many members of the public and media began calling for anyone of Japanese ancestry။citizens or not။to be removed from the West Coast.”(7) The corroboration supports the reason why America interned Japanese-Americans because it talks about Americans wanting to remove Japanese-Americans from the West Coast due to Japan bombing America. Japan bombing America led to Americans grow fear and hysteria. Fear due to the recent attack caused internment because Americans were afraid of what people with Japanese ancestry could do. In order to cease the hysteria, America turned to internment. American logic tells us that by getting the Japanese-Americans interned, many
Fighting a war against the oppression and persecution of a people, how hypocritical of the American government to harass and punish those based on their heritage. Magnifying the already existing dilemma of discrimination, the bombing of Pearl Harbor introduced Japanese-Americans to the harsh and unjust treatment they were forced to confront for a lifetime to come. Wakatsuki Ko, after thirty-five years of residence in the United States, was still prevented by law from becoming an American citizen.
The potential use of atomic weapons against the Japanese was appealing to the United States because it was seen as a dramatic and decisive way to end the war (Walker, ). Prior to the decision to use nuclear weapons, Japan and the United States were at odds over the terms by which the Japanese would surrender to the Americans, which did nothing but prolong the military conflict (Walker, ). Japanese leadership had expressed its desire to end the war to third parties, but could no...
using the bombs during WWII not only to defeat the Japanese, but also to intimidate the Soviet Union and prove their power to the world. The U.S. knew Japan would surrender soon without the use of a destructive weapon. The Soviet Union definitely had some influence on the military decision made by the American government. As Professor Stoff mentioned in one of his lectures, Churchill believed Stalin was more dangerous than Hitler. Although the Soviet Union was an “ally” to America, they never really had an actual relationship. It was more of an alliance of convenience. The U.S. has always wanted to prove itself to be the best. Being the first country to have and use a nuclear weapon was a huge deal. As a result, President Truman told Stalin that we had a weapon and Stalin told us to use it. The U.S. also announced to Japan that we would use a weapon that would cause massive destruction and the majority of citizens ignored it. At the time, there was a threat that Russia would become a problem after the war. The U.S. dropped the bombs in Japan to end the war as quickly as possible to prevent Russia from gaining land in Asia. Therefore, the use of the bombs was not purely to defeat the
In 1945, the United States was facing severe causalities in the war in the Pacific. Over 12,000 soldiers had already lost their lives, including 7,000 Army and Marine soldiers and 5,000 sailors (32). The United States was eager to end the war against Japan, and to prevent more American causalities (92). An invasion of Japan could result in hundreds of thousands killed, wounded and missing soldiers, and there was still no clear path to an unconditional surrender. President Truman sought advice from his cabinet members over how to approach the war in the Pacific. Although there were alternatives to the use of atomic weapons, the evidence, or lack thereof, shows that the bombs were created for the purpose of use in the war against Japan. Both the political members, such as Henry L. Stimson and James F. Byrnes, and military advisors George C. Marshall and George F. Kennan showed little objection to completely wiping out these Japanese cities with atomic weapons (92-97). The alternatives to this tactic included invading Japanese c...
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was one of the most atrocious attacks to have ever happened on American soil, starting with disagreement on the Potsdam declaration. Japan’s greed for more land and industrial materials led the Japanese to make a plan to keep the United States out of the war, which consisted the use of kamikaze pilots and bombs to destroy our aircraft carriers and boats in an attempt to control the Pacific. While leaving the drowning, and dead bodies of thousands of American seamen and battleships at the bottom of the sea, seemed to be a good idea to the Japanese; America joined World War II and introduced the first nuclear weapons as reprisal for the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Had the Japanese agreed to an unconditional surrender and end to militarism during the agreement on the Potsdam declaration, the introduction to nuclear weapons and the death count wouldn’t have been so high and devastating on both the American and Japanese sides.
The United States of America’s use of the atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has spurred much debate concerning the necessity, effectiveness, and morality of the decision since August 1945. After assessing a range of arguments about the importance of the atomic bomb in the termination of the Second World War, it can be concluded that the use of the atomic bomb served as the predominant factor in the end of the Second World War, as its use lowered the morale, industrial resources, and military strength of Japan. The Allied decision to use the atomic bomb not only caused irreparable physical damage on two major Japanese cities, but its use also minimized the Japanese will to continue fighting. These two factors along
Autonomy and Responsibility: Why the United States Entered World War II World War II was an exceptional war for the United States. The United States emerged from the war as a world superpower and protector of all other nations. There were many reasons why the United States entered World War II, however President Franklin Roosevelt was in some way directly connected to every reason. Roosevelt wanted to enter World War II as soon as it started for political and economic needs. However, the American people did not want to enter in another war, such as World War I, that costs so many lives and money.
Before the United States entered WW II, President Franklin Roosevelt signed a series of documents known as the Neutrality Acts. These acts were passed and followed between the years 1935 and 1941 and were used to keep the U.S. out of the war.1 The Neutrality Acts limited weapons sales to countries not involved in the war, gave the U.S. power to keep its citizens off of ships of, or travelling to nations involved in the war, and outlawed loans to countries currently in war and countries who had not paid back previous loans.2 These acts also outlawed American ships to carry weapons to nations in the war. The U.S. believed that if a nation in war knew that a ship had weapons on it, this ship would be a prime target for that country, therefor drawing the U.S. into another war. The Neutrality Acts helped keep the U.S. out of WW II until the bombing of Pearl Harbor, at which point the U.S. helped the British through a "Lend-Lease Program". The Lend-Lease Program allowed the U.S. to give arms and...
America’s initial response to the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 was that of disbelief and shock. This attack took place on a Sunday morning and what surprised many was the fact that a tiny island nation situated in the Asian mainland could bring out that kind of a feat thousands of miles away from its actual homeland. A major part of this shock and disbelief was based mainly on the stereotypical view that the Americans had on the Japanese people – short people with oriental features that appeared exaggerated.
The bombing on Pearl Harbor impaired America, which brought an increase to racial tension. However, this impairment brought all nationalities together. “Thirty-three thousand Japanese Americans enlisted in the United States Armed Forces. They believed participation in the defense of their country was the best way to express their loyalty and fulfill their obligation as citizens” (Takaki 348). Takaki proves to us that the battle for independence was grappled on the ends of enslaved races. The deception of discrimination within the military force didn’t only bewilder Americans that sensed the agony of segregation, but also to the rest of world who honored and idolized America as a beam of freedom for
World War II was a time of deliberate hate among groups of innocent people who were used as scapegoats. Japanese-Americans were persecuted due to the fact that they looked like citizens of Japan, who had attacked the United States on December 7th, 1941 at the naval base, Pearl Harbor. This hatred toward the group was due to newspapers creating a scare for the American people, as well as the government restricting the rights of Japanese-Americans. The Japanese-Americans were mistreated during World War II for no other reason than being different. These men, women, and children were loathed by the American public for looking like the people of the Japanese army that had attacked the United States. These people were only hated by association, even though many had come to the United States to create a better life for their family.
On December 7,1941 Japan raided the airbases across the islands of Pearl Harbour. The “sneak attack” targeted the United States Navy. It left 2400 army personnel dead and over a thousand Americans wounded. U.S. Navy termed it as “one of the great defining moments in history”1 President Roosevelt called it as “A Day of Infamy”. 2 As this attack shook the nation and the Japanese Americans became the immediate ‘focal point’. At that moment approximately 112,000 Persons of Japanese descent resided in coastal areas of Oregon, Washington and also in California and Arizona.3
Inevitably, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, that began World War II, Japanese-Americans were frowned upon and stereotyped because of their descent. However, Japanese immigrants contributed to economic expansion of the United States. Whites resented the Japanese immigrants, but reaped economic profit from the Japanese-American residents’ discipline and hard work. Japanese-Americans of this time seem to be attacked; however, they choose to uphold their disconnection with the rest of the Americans. Many Japanese felt they had superiority over Americans, creating tension and disconnection.
The United States gained supremacy by using the atomic bomb as a threat to force their enemies to surrender. After Japan led an attack on Pearl Harbor, the American forces retaliated by dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and then threatening to do the same on Nagasaki. “We have just begun to use this weapon against your homeland. If you still have any doubt, make inquiry as to what happened to Hiroshima when just one atomic bomb fell on that city” (Department). This shows how the atomic bomb was used as a means of intimidation; the use of the atomic bomb forced other countries into submission by threatening them with nuclear attack. Furthermore, the United States made it clear to its enemies that they had alternative options for reconciliation before nuclear attacks were to take place. The President of the United States explained “thirteen consequences of an honorable surrender,” and urged that Japan “accept those consequences and begin the work of building a new, better, and peace loving Japan” (Department). This demonstrates the use of an ethical appeal by the United States because it arrouses ones sense of duty to preserve peace. While war was inevitable, the U.S. hoped that the threat of nuclear destruction would force other countries into negotiating peace instead of fighting. Evidently, by using nuclear threats as a form of intimidation, the U...