Frustrations with Japan December 8, 1941 was a solemn day. The day after Japan dropped the bomb on Pearl Harbor, the people of the United States mourned. If ever there was a time when Americans wanted to enter World War II, it was then. The United Sates had been deceived by the Empire of Japan, with whom they thought they were at peace. Franklin Roosevelt's speech to Congress, asking for permission to declare war on Japan, shows the resentment and despair of the American people. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, many Americans felt a lot of resentment against Japan, and the Japanese. Much of this resentment arose because Japan gave the United States a false hope of peace between the two countries. Also, from the evidence, it appeared that the attack was premeditated. Because of the distance between Japan and Hawaii, it was found that the attack had been planned days, possibly weeks beforehand (Roosevelt, 170). During the time before the attack, the Japanese had deceived the United States into believing they were at peace with one another. Because of the bombing by Japan, the American people were mourning the loss of their soldiers' lives. They also were angry with the destruction of the naval and military forces, along with the attacks on Hong Kong, Guam, the Philippine Islands, Wake Island, and Midway Island all within hours of each other. The American people, along with the government, wanted nothing more than to destroy Japan, and win the war. In the Monica Sone document, I belief that the frustrations that the Americans were feeling are expressed in their entirety. The American people were so angry with the Japanese people, and so afraid that the Japanese would attack again, that the Americans basically rejected anyone that looked Japanese. To the Americans, regardless of whether you were native born, if you looked Japanese you were the enemy. The American government did not want to take chances, so they gathered all the people of Japanese decent and made them live under military law. They even had to live in military camps. How horrible for all those innocent people to be assumed the enemy when they had lived as Americans their whole lives. In the Monica Sone document, it is evident that, at first, the government was looking to only interview the important people in the Japanese community to ensure none of them were spies. However, things got out of control and the United States government declared that all
Previous to the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941, tensions had been forming between the USA and Japan in the Pacific. The US had cut most supplies to Japan with the fear of Japanese expansion. The conflict that had been escalating between Japan and China since 1937 had the US treating Japan with great cautiousness. They had been monitoring Japanese Americans in anticipation of a surprise attack. However, the attack on Pearl Harbor still shocked and outraged the American nation and affected the American psyche.
When they were captured, one survivor reports that they were told. ‘You are the guest of the Japanese. You will be spared but not your country. We are going to conquer the world, annihilate your people, and every household will have a white slave.’ (www.riv.conz).
Forced to relocate into internment camps, Japanese-Americans were feared and considered the enemy. With anti-Japanese prejudice existing for years (prior to WWII), the military actions of Japan, erupted the hostility
FDR explained Japans deceitfulness to the US government as they wrote “false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace”(Roosevelt) in a letter delivered to the United States government shortly after the attack. The note didn't contain any information in regards to the recent attack, but the revelation of this information enforced Roosevelt’s creditability because this specific type of information isn't easily accessed. With the use of ethos in Roosevelt’s speech, he greatly influenced the citizens’ and governments will to enter the
While Japan was greedy for more land and industrial materials, no one believed that the Japanese would start war with America by planning an attack on American soil. Another reason that the United States thought that the attack wouldn’t happen so close was because they were confident that Japan would try and take over the the Dutch East Indies, or French
In 1941, the number of Japanese Americans living in the continental Unites States totaled 127,000. Over 112,000 of them lived in the three Pacific Coast states of Oregon, Washington, and California. Of this group, nearly 80% of the total resided in the state of California alone (Uchida 47). In the over imaginative minds of the residents of California, where the antipathy towards the Asians was the most intense, the very nature of the Pearl Harbor attack provided ample-and prophetic-proof of inherent Japanese treachery (Uchida 68). As the Imperial Army chalked up success after success on the Pacific front, and also as rumors of prowling enemy subs ran rampant throughout, the West Coast atmosphere became charged with the fear that there was an impending invasion. They had an unbelievable suspicion that Japanese Americans in their midst were organized for a coordinated undermining activity (Uchida 90). For the myriad of anti-Oriental forces and the influential agriculturists who had long been casting their eyes on the coastal area of the richly cultivated Japanese land, a superb opportunity ...
During 1941 many Americans were on edge as they became increasingly more involved in WWII. On December 7, 1941 the Japanese decided to take matters to their own hands. They attacked the naval base Pearl Harbor and killed 68 Americans in order to prevent the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with their military. After this surprise attack, the Americans officially entered the war, which caused many people to become paranoid (Baughman). Many people feared the Japanese because they thought they were spies for Japan, and because of this the Executive Order 9066 was signed and issued by FDR which sent many Japanese Americans to live in internment camps (Roosevelt). This caused the Japanese to become a scapegoat of America’s fear and anger. The Issei and Nisei who once moved to this country to find new opportunities and
The attack was well organized and the Japanese were prepared. The continental United States was receiving telegrams warning them that there would be an attack. Unfortunately, people in Hawaii were not warned; they were living their normal lives, doing things they were accustomed to doing such as going to parties, writing letters home, and just doing things that a man stationed in Hawaii would do. Many men wrote letters home to their girlfriends or parents or kept a journal. The following letter is an example.
General Hideki Tojo was the Premiere of Japan. He and other Japanese leaders did not like the fact that Americans were sending war supplies to China and other countries in Asia. A surprise attack was ordered by Japan on December 7, 1941. The target was the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. 360 planes bombed the naval base killing about 3,000 people and destroying many warships, aircraft carriers, and submarines. This was a catalyst that brought the United States into World War II.
In 1945 Japanese-American citizens with undisrupted loyalty were allowed to return to the West Coast, but not until 1946 was the last camp closed. The government of the U.S. tried to blame the evacuations on the war, saying they were protecting the Japanese by moving them. The government made statements during this time that contradicted each other. For example, Japanese-Americans were being called “enemy aliens” but then they were encouraged by the government to be loyal Americans and enlist in the armed forces, move voluntarily, put up no fight and not question the forced relocation efforts (Conn, 1990). Stetson Conn (1990) wrote “For several decades the Japanese population had been the target of hostility and restrictive action.”
Japanese immigration created the same apprehension and intolerance in the mind of the Americans as was in the case of Chinese migration to the U.S at the turn of the 19th century. They developed a fear of being overwhelmed by a people having distinct ethnicity, skin color and language that made them “inassimilable.” Hence they wanted the government to restrict Asian migration. Japan’s military victories over Russia and China reinforced this feeling that the Western world was facing what came to be known as “yellow peril”. This was reflected in the media, movies and in literature and journalism.4 Anti-Oriental public opinion gave way to several declarations and laws to restrict Japanese prosperity on American land. Despite the prejudice and ineligibility to obtain citizenship the ...
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.
American society, like that of Germany, was tainted with racial bigotry and prejudice. The Japanese were thought of as especially treacherous people for the attack on Pearl Harbor. The treachery was obviously thought to reside in ...
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
With the amount of oil that the americans had this led to the second reason why Japan attacked the Americans. In 1937, the Japanese