WWII America Emerges as a World Power. Leading up to WWII Roosevelt’s good-neighbor policy U.S. pledge not to intervene in Latin America Isolationism.

WWII

America Emerges as a World Power

Leading up to WWII

Roosevelt’s good-neighbor policy U.S. pledge not to intervene in Latin America

Isolationism during the 1930s The Nye Committee and Neutrality Act

A committee in the United States Senate which studied the causes of United States' involvement in World War I.

From this data, it was concluded that the US entered the war because it was in American commercial interest for the United Kingdom not to lose.

U.S. needed to avoid loans and treaties with others Looked to George Washington’s Farewell Address

for support "It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances

with any portion of the foreign world..."

Leading up to WWIIU.S. foreign policy changed from 1938 to 1941

from neutrality to support for Britain

The foreign policies of Japan and the U.S. were chiefly in conflict over Japanese invasion of China

Lend Lease Programthe United States provided critical aid to Great Britain

and the Soviet Union

Atlantic Charter (8/1941)Set goals for postwar: self govt, no terr. changes,

free trade, freedom from fear and want

The War

Swift ending of the Great Depression Decline in unemployment between

1940 and 1941 The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

in 1941 is an illustration of the impact a single event can have on public opinion in a time of crisis

posters

Video Clip

Pearl Harbor (26 minutes)

Play Great Speeches---Dec. of War Against Japan (7 min)

Did we know the attack was coming?The question is, "Did Franklin D Roosevelt know of but do

nothing to stop the Japanese attacking Pearl Harbor because he wanted the USA to enter the Second World War?"

Here are some of the key issues that debate this statement: Roosevelt desperately wanted the US to enter the war, he states to William White, a close friend in 1939; "If Germany or Russia win the war or force a peace favorable to them, the situation of your civilization and mine is indeed in peril..."

However he needed the US publics backing. He spent a total of 12 years in office, completed revolutionary new ideas (Fireside Chats, New Deals) and introduced the first women ever to go to a presidential cabinet (Francis Perkins). He knew he needed the public support. A crisis like Pearl Harbor unites the nation in an act of revenge and war.

Did we know the attack was coming?It is more likely however, that the information critically

needed to know of the Japanese attack slipped through America's nets. Much information on Pearl Harbor was found in the 'pending' boxes of interception offices.

Finally, it is impossible to tell if Franklin D Roosevelt knew of the attacks. But, would he really want the Pacific Fleet destroyed just to make a point?

America had the POTENTIAL to discover the Japanese attacks, however the poor system of sorting information led to the crucial pieces being discarded. And, FDR thought the attack would happen elsewhere Although a terrible tragedy, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor worked in Franklin D Roosevelts favor.

WWIIMain Allies

Great Britain and the Soviet Union

Main Strategies

unconditional surrenderan eventual second front by invading Europe

victory in the European area first.Island hopping in the Pacific Theater.

WWII—expansion of gov’t power

Increase in Civil Workers and agencies to deal with the War.From 1 mil in 1940 to 3.5 mil in 1945

Increases in the military.From 1.5 million in 1940 to 15 million by 1945

The Home Front

Industry moved from civilian to war productionEX. Auto companies stopped making cars in 1942

and started making tanks, jeeps and planes

Office of Price Administration (rations)Slogan---use it up, wear it out, make it do or do

without

Economic boom---wages doubled and unemployment virtually disappeared

Fun Fact

National speed limit of 35 mph was put into law to save gas and tires

The Home Front Selling war bonds not only raised money for World

War II but also contributed to the national debt Increased employment for women Women

work in factories.• 1941 to 1945 6 mil women entered workforce for first

time. 33% were married

establish themselves as a vital part of the economy.

participate in the war effort. 350k in military define a new role in society. Start to see themselves differently

Rosie

Rosie the RiveterRosie the Riveter

•Women manned the

factories while the men went off

to fight.

•This helped lay the foundation for women’s rights in the

work world and helped us win

the war…..

Rosie the RiveterRosie the Riveter

•Women manned the

factories while the men went off

to fight.

•This helped lay the foundation for women’s rights in the

work world and helped us win

the war…..

The Home Front

Urban Migration

Rural southerners, both black and white, moved north (and west) to cities and war jobs.Ex. 700,000 African-Americans left South for defense jobs

From 4k to 40k in Seattle

During the Great Depression and World War II, Appalachian whites joined black workers in middle western cities like Cincinnati and Detroit. Okies and Arkies left their depressed cotton farms in Oklahoma and Arkansas for new lives in Bakersfield and Los Angeles.

league cartoon1

6 million to work in industry

Baceros, Mexican workers brought to work in US

1.6 million Black families leave the South

Speeded up the assimilation of ethnic groups into American society.

Urban Migration

Not everyone happy with changes

Poor whites and African-Americans faced discrimination

A-A faced race riots in some citiesLargest race riot in Detroit in 194325 blacks and 9 whites killed

The Home Front

Hispanics in WWIIBracero program for farm workers

Developed by gov’t to get enough workers. Can legally come to work and then need to leave

US farms became dependent on Hispanic farm workers and often encouraged illegal immigration

Zoot suit riot in 1943, Los AngelesYears of tension between whites and Hispanics 100 people injured, riots lasted daysSailors attacked Mexican-American teens, Sailor wounded.

Next day 50 sailors start attacking anyone wearing a zoot suit.

Zoot Suit Riots

The zoot suit was one part of the jazz world that visually defied the norms of segregation.

Unwritten rules demanded that people of

color remain unseen and unheard in public spaces, but the zoot suit, with broad shoulders, narrow waist, and ballooned pants, was loud and bold.

Zoot Suit riots

Zoot-suited young men (and some young women) held themselves upright and walked with a confident swagger that seemed to flow from the very fashion itself.

This particular demographic, zoot-suited or not, came to be singled out and associated with criminality and gangsterism by Los Angeles authorities. Racial profiling became rampant.

As the riots subsided, the governor ordered the creation of a citizens' committee. Its charge was to investigate and determine the cause of the riots.

In 1943 the committee issued its report; it determined racism to be a central cause of the riots.

At the same time, Mayor Fletcher Bowron came to his own conclusion. The riots, he said, were caused by juvenile delinquents and by white Southerners. Racial prejudice was not a factor.

The “Pachuca,” the female counterpart of the Pachuco, The Pachuca’s hairstyle tended to be a high “coif” (a more pronounced version of the typical hair style of the time), sometimes using hair

grease.

Zoot suit riots video—51 min

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwINn5DEL1c

The Home FrontMarriages and births upDivorces up

1940: 16 per 1001945:27 per 100

High school enrollment dropped as teens went to work in factories

Juvenile delinquency increased 5XSociety began to fear ‘breakdown in societal values”

Fun Fact

Divorce rates in 2009:

Divorce rate in America for first marriage: 48%Divorce rate in America for second marriage: 67%Divorce rate in America for third marriage: 74%

Americans are very optimistic about marriage…they’ll keep trying until they get it right!

The Home Front

25k Native Americans served in WWII

Some Navajos served as “Code Talkers”Japanese never broke Navajo code

Many Native Americans left reservations for the first time to work in defense plants

Fun Quote

Toward the close of the New Deal, a number of the nation's leading specialists on urban growth summed up the promise of urban America in a report called Our Cities: Their Role in the National Economy (1937).

"The city has seemed at times the despair of America," it said, "but at others to be the Nation's hope, the battleground of democracy. … The faults of our cities are not those of decadence and impending decline, but of exuberant vitality crowding its way forward under tremendous pressure—the flood rather than the drought."

Uniting the country

All members of society were encouraged to mobilized for warChildren—collect scraps, indoctrination by cartoons

Tin can colonels or Uncle Sam Scrappers

Women---into the labor force, Victory gardens, USO, entering the military

Men---volunteering, draft, air raid wardensBonds---everyone was encourage to purchaseRationing of food and supplies

The Four Freedoms

Goals articulated by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt on January 6, 1941. In an address known as the Four Freedoms speech (technically the 1941 State of the Union address), he proposed four fundamental freedoms that people "everywhere in the world" ought to enjoy:

Freedom of speech and expression Freedom of religion Freedom from want Freedom from fear

His inclusion of the latter two freedoms went beyond the traditional US Constitutional values protected by its First Amendment, and endorsed a right to economic security and an internationalist view of foreign policy that have come to be central tenets of modern American liberalism.

They also anticipated what would become known decades later as the "human security" paradigm in social science and economic development.

posters

posters

posters

posters

posters

posters

posters

Infamy9

posters

posters

posters

posters

posters

posters

Video—play all

WWII cartoons by DisneyEducation for death (10 min), for adults Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips, 1944 (8 min), for kidsCommando DuckThe Spirit of ’43Der Fuhrers faceOut of the frying pan and into the firing line

Discussion

Justify how each cartoon tried to make American citizens support the war effort.

Explain 2 – 3 examples of exaggeration used in each cartoon that would have convinced the American public to support the war effort.

Rank the order what you think was the most effective cartoons in getting the American public to “buy” into the war effort

Civil Liberties and FDR

Franklin D. Roosevelt had conflicting record.In 1936, he secretly authorized FBI chief J. Edgar

Hoover to investigate suspected fascists and communists, a task that Hoover undertook with relish.

In 1940, Roosevelt signed into law the Smith Act, which required resident aliens to register with the federal government; streamlined procedures for deportation of any deemed undesirable; and made it illegal for any person to “advocate, abet, teach the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing any government in the United States by force.”

Civil liberties and FDR

Once the war began, Roosevelt pressured attorney general, Francis Biddle, to go after elements of the dissident press that were attacking him, asking, “When are you going to indict the seditionists?”

Shortly thereafter, arrests of the “seditionists” began.

Civil Liberties and FDRDuring the Holocaust, anti-Semitism was a factor that

limited American Jewish action during the war, and put American Jews in a difficult position. 

In America, anti-Semitism, which reached high levels in the late 1930’s, continued to rise in the 1940’s. 

During the years before Pearl Harbor, over a hundred anti-Semitic organizations were responsible for pumping hate propaganda throughout the American public. 

The military was rife with anti-semitism, Jewish refugees were rejected and even Congress allowed anti-Semitic speech (John Rankin)

Civil liberties and FDR

A. Phillip Randolph--African-American labor leader demanded equal employment opportunities for blacks during World War

Executive Order No. 8802 required defense industries to make jobs available without discrimination based on race, creed, color, or national origin.

President FDR authorized the internment with Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, which allowed local military commanders to designate "military areas" as "exclusion zones," from which "any or all persons may be excluded."

Korematsu v. U.S. the Supreme Court upheld the government’s practice of placing Japanese Americans in internment camps

After Pearl Harbor Americans of Japanese decent were targeted and felt compelled to put up signs

Amache Camp, Colorado

Manzanar, California

Executive 9066

Executive 9066

Play Video

Japanese-American relocation propaganda 10 min

Internment Camps

During the spring and summer of 1942, the United States Government carried out, the movement of 110,000 people of Japanese descent from their homes in an area bordering the Pacific coast into 10 wartime communities constructed in remote areas between the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Mississippi River.

People lost virtually all of their possessions when they had to move to the camps

Internment CampsAt first the gov’t just asked people to move

from the coastsOnly 8K did (no money, no desire, no place to

go)So, the gov’t, through the WRA (war relocation

authority), decided to move people to ‘relocation centers.’

2/3 of all people who entered were American born

Never a proven case of a Japanese-American spy

Official gov’t idea about interment camps

“The relocation centers, however, are NOT and ever were intended to be internment camps or places of confinement. They were established for two primary purposes: (1) To provide communities where evacuees might live and contribute, through their work, to their own support pending their gradual reabsorption into private employment and normal American life; and (2) to serve as wartime homes for those evacuees who might be unable or unfit to relocate in ordinary American communities. Under regulations adopted in September of 1942, the War Relocation Authority is now working toward a steady depopulation of the centers by urging all able-bodied residents with good records of behavior to reenter private employment in agriculture or industry.”

Interment campsIn 1988 Pres. Reagan signed legislation which

apologized for the internment on behalf of the U.S. government.

The legislation stated that government actions were based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership".

Over $1.6 billion in reparations were later disbursed by the U.S. government to Japanese Americans who had either suffered internment or were heirs of those who had suffered internment. 20k each

Crew that dropped “little boy”

Fat Man

Hiroshima cloud after “little boy” was dropped

“Fat man” mushroom cloud over Nagasaki

The energy released was powerful enough to burn through clothing. The dark portions of the garments this victim wore at the time of the blast

were emblazoned on to the flesh as scars.

Before the bomb After the bomb

Two Hiroshimas—70K died that day. 200k by 1950

Only surviving building closest to blast---now a peace memorial

The Atomic Bomb

Consequences of Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb against Japan

the surrender of Japan the end of WWII destruction of two Japanese cities the deaths of thousands of civilians

A-Bomb lesson---what would you do?

My Japan—play video

Read decision to drop the Bomb documents

Trinity and Beyond—play videos Trinity test Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Bomb Discussion Should we have dropped the bomb?

The following are documents that involve the United States decision to drop the atomic bomb on the Japanese. Read and analyze them and try to understand why the United States did it, as well as where we did it.

Doc AThe following selection is a pamphlet dropped over major cities in Japan prior to the dropping of the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki.

To the Japanese People:America asks that you take immediate heed of what we say on this leaflet.We are in possession of the most destructive explosive ever devised by man. A single one of our newly developed atomic bombs is actually the equivalent in explosive power to what 2000 of our giant B-29’s can carry on a single mission. This awful fact is one for you to ponder and we solemnly assure you it is grimly accurate.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.Before using this bomb to destroy every resource of the military by which they are prolonging this useless war, we ask that you new petition the emperor to end the war. Our president has outlined for you the thirteen consequences of an honorable surrender: We urge that you accept these consequences and begin the work of building a new, better, and peace-loving Japan.You should take steps now to cease military resistance. Otherwise, we shall resolutely employ this bomb and all our other superior weapons to promptly and forcefully end the war. EVACUATE YOUR CITIES

Doc B This selection is a memo given to General Leslie Groves including a summary from

the target selection committee. 6. Status of Targets A. Dr. Stearns described the work he had done on target selection. He has surveyed possible

targets possessing the following qualifications: (1) they be important targets in a large urban area of more than three miles diameter, (2) they be capable of being damaged effectively by a blast, and (3) they are likely to be unattacked by next August. Dr. Stearns had a list of five targets which the Air Forces would be willing to reserve for our use unless unforeseen circumstances arise. These targets are:

(1) Kyoto - This target is an urban industrial area with a population of 1,000,000. It is the former capital of Japan and many people and industries are now being moved there as other areas are being destroyed. From the psychological point of view there is the advantage that Kyoto is an intellectual center for Japan and the people there are more apt to appreciate the significance of such a weapon as the gadget. (Classified as an AA Target)

(2) Hiroshima - This is an important army depot and port of embarkation in the middle of an urban industrial area. It is a good radar target and it is such a size that a large part of the city could be extensevely damaged. There are adjacent hills which are likely to produce a focusing effect which would considerably increase the blast damage. Due to rivers it is not a good incendiary target. (Classified as an AA Target)

(6) The possibility of bombing the Emperor’s palace was discussed. It was agreed that we should not recommend it but that any action for this bombing should come from authorities on military policy. It was agreed that we should obtain information from which we could determine the effectiveness of our weapon against this target.

B. It was the recommendation of those present at the meeting that the first four choices of targets for our weapon should be the following: Kyoto Hiroshima Yokohama Kokura Arsenal

Doc C President Truman recorded in his diary on July 25, 1945, that he had

approved the use of an atomic bomb on Japan. Truman hoped that the bomb would be dropped on a “purely military” target, so that “military objectives and soldiers and sailors [would be] the target and not women and children.”

We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world. It may be the fire destruction prophesied in the Euphrates Valley era, after Noah and his fabulous ark.

Anyway we “think” we have found the way to cause a disintegration of the atom. An experiment in the New Mexico desert was startling- to put it mildly. Thirteen pounds of the explosive caused the complete disintegration of a steel tower 60 feet high, created a crater 6 feet deep and 1,200 feet in diameter, knocked over a steel tower ½ mile away and knocked men down 10,000 yards away. The explosion was visible for more than 200 miles and audible for 40 miles and more.

This weapon is to be used against Japan between now and August 10th. I have told the Sec. of War, Mr. Stimson, to use it so that military objectives and soldiers and sailors are the target and not women and children. Even if the Japs are savages, ruthless, merciless, and fanatic, we as the leader of the world for the common welfare cannot drop that terrible bomb on the old capital or the new.

He and I are in accord. The target will be a purely military one and we will issue a warning statement asking the Japs to surrender and save lives. I’m sure they will not do that, but we will have given them the chance. It is certainly a good thing for the world that Hitler’s crowd or Stalin’s did not discover this atomic bomb. It seems to be the most terrible thing ever discovered, but it can be made the most useful…

Doc D The following selection is Truman’s public announcement on August 6, 1945, of the dropping of the atomic bomb.

His comments were directed as much to the political and military leaders in Japan as they were to the American public. Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima, an important Japanese army base.

That bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of T.N.T. It had more than two thousand times the blast power of the British “Grand Slam,” which is the largest bomb ever yet used in the history of warfare.

The Japanese began the war from the air at Pearl Harbor. They have been repaid many fold. With this bomb we have now added a new revolutionary increase in destruction to supplement the growing power of our armed forces. In their present forms these bombs are now in production and even more powerful forms are in development. It is an atomic bomb. It is a harnessing of the basic power of the universe.

The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed against those who brought war to the Far East. Before 1939, it was the accepted belief of scientists that it was theoretically possible to release atomic energy. But no one knew any practical method of doing it. By 1942, however, we knew that the Germans were working feverishly to find a way to add atomic energy to the other engines of war which they hoped to enslave the world. But they failed…The battle of the laboratories held fateful risks for us as well as the battles of the air, and seas, and we have now won the battle of the laboratories as we have won the other battles…

With American and British scientists working together we entered the race of discovery against the Germans. The United States had available the large number of scientists of distinction in the many needed areas of knowledge. It had the tremendous industrial and financial resources necessary for the project and they could be devoted to it without undue impairment of other vital war work. In the United States the laboratory work and the production plants, on which a substantial start had already been made, it would be out of reach of enemy bombing, while at that time Britain was exposed to constant air attack and was still threatened with the possibility of invasion.

For these reasons Prime Minister Churchill and President Roosevelt agreed that it was wise to carry on the project here. We now have two great plants and many lesser works devoted to the production of atomic power. Employment during peak construction numbered 125,000 and over 65,000 individuals are even now engaged in operating the plants. Many have worked there for two and a half years. Few know what they have been producing…

What has been done is the greatest achievement of organized science in history. It was done under high pressure and without failure. We are now prepared to obliterate more rapidly and completely every productive enterprise the Japanese have above ground in any city. We shall destroy their docks, their factories, and their communications. Let there be no mistakes; we shall completely destroy Japan’s power to make war.

It was to spare the Japanese people from utter destruction that the ultimatum of July 26 was issued at Potsdam. Their leaders promptly rejected that ultimatum. If they do now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth. Behind this air attack will follow sea and land forces in such numbers and power as they have not yet seen and with the fighting skill of which they are already well aware…

The fact that we can release atomic energy ushers in a new era in man’s understanding of nature’s forces. Atomic energy may in the future supplement the power that now comes from coal, oil, and falling water, but at present it cannot be produced on a basis to compete with them commercially. Before that comes, there must be a long period of intensive research…

I shall recommend that the Congress of the United States consider promptly the establishment of an appropriate commission to control the production and use of atomic power within the United States. I shall give further consideration and make further recommendations to the Congress as to how atomic power can become a powerful and forceful influence toward the maintenance of world peace.

Alternative Video

10 days that changed America---Einstein’s letter

For and against

Supporters of the bombings generally assert that they caused the Japanese surrender, preventing massive casualties on both sides in the planned invasion of Japan: Kyushu was to be invaded in October 1945 and Honshu five months later. Some estimate Allied forces would have suffered 1 million casualties in such a scenario, while Japanese casualties would have been in the millions.

Others who oppose the bombings argue that it was simply an extension of the already fierce conventional bombing campaign and, therefore, militarily unnecessary, inherently immoral, a war crime, or a form of state terrorism

The atomic bomb was more than a weapon of terrible destruction; it was a psychological weapon.”

Former U.S. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, 1947

WWII Meetings/Conferences

Atlantic Charter 1941 statement that declared that both

nations would support self-determination, freedom of the seas, joint disarmament, and territorial integrity for all after World War II ended.

Yalta (Feb. 4-11, 1945) Hold free elections in the countries of

Eastern Europe The Soviet Union agreed to enter the war

against Japan once Germany was defeated.

Fun Fact

Yalta Conference was also called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference

What’s an argonaut = a band of heroes!

We Win….or do we?