History-America+in+World+War+II

celina: #1-2 emily: #3 mike: #4-5 **__World War II and America__**

**History** //__ 1. The attack on Pearl Harbor __// 1931 : Japan leaves the League of Nations. July 1937: The Japanese Army invaded North China from Manchuria, and eight years of combat with the Chinese began. Being an island nation with limited natural resources, the Japanese wanted to build an Asian empire they called the “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.” The U.S. was concerned, because they had always believed in the principle of the “Open Door” for trade in China. FDR sends money to China, and the leader of the resistance, Chiang Kai-Shek. December 1937: The gunboat USS Panay, while on routine duty on the Yangtze River, was attacked by Japanese aircraft on December 12. Two Americans died. We do not know if the attack was intentional or an accident. Nothing became of this incident because the Japanese government apologized, paid $2 million for damages, and promised to protect American nationals. However, relations had been irreversibly damaged. October 1938: President Roosevelt asked Congress for $500 million to increase America's defense forces. This action was taken because Germany was a threat to the U.S. The Japanese saw this build up as a direct threat to their Empire because the U.S. was the only country in the Pacific which could impede their expansion. July 26, 1939 : The U.S. State Department tells Japan that in six months, the U.S. would end the Japanese-American Commercial Treaty. Congress would then end all trade with Japan, including war materials. Japan had carried out the conquest of China with weapons purchased from the U.S. 1940 : Japan formed an alliance with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Germany and Italy pledged to support Japan’s conquests in Asia. As World War II began, Japan attacked and conquered many of the weakly-guarded colonies of Allied nations like France, Britain, and the Netherlands. July : Trade sanctions followed by a trade embargo were imposed resulting in increased ill-will and additional political problems with Japan. These trade actions were imposed because Roosevelt was attempting to stop Japanese expansion. 1941 Summer: Throughout the summer, Japan and the United States attempted negotiations. As it ran out of precious supplies, the most important one being oil, Japan attempted to reopen trade with the U.S. the U.S. demanded that Japan leave China in return. Faced with the choice of surrendering their dreams of empire or going to war with the United States, the militarists of Japan chose war.
 * · The deteriorating relationship between Japan and the US throughout the 30s and early 40's: **

Fall : Since the U.S. had broken Japan’s diplomatic code, it knew that Japan was planning to attack, but they did not know where. It appeared that they may strike at the Philippines. However, after months of secret training, on November 26, a Japanese convoy left Japan for Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

· ** The events of the morning of December 7, 1941: ** Japan attacked Pearl Harbor A telegram was sent out to Pearl Harbor from Japan saying that Pearl Harbor was going to get bombed, but that part of the telegram was not received until it was to late. While the Japanese thought the Americans were aware of the attack, the Americans were completely surprised and unprepared.
 * · The reasons for America’s lack of preparation: **
 * · The FDR controversy: did he provoke Japanese aggression?: **
 * PROS: **
 * Japanese dropped out of the League Of Nations**
 * CONS: **
 * Japanese tried to set up a meeting with FDR, and he denied them **

//__ 2. Japanese American internment __// · ** Executive Order 9066: ** President Roosevelt issued this order that forced over 110,000 Japanese Americans to leave their homes in California, Washington, and Oregon and live in one of ten detention camps in desolate parts of the United States.

The bombing of Pearl Harbor
 * · Reasons for eliminating Japanese Americans from the west coast: **

** · ** **Life in the internment camp:** The people forced into camps were deprived of their liberty, and a basic freedom of the American Constitution. The government called these camps "relocation centers." Surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by armed soldiers, families lived in poorly built, overcrowded barracks. The barracks themselves had no running water and little heat.

//__ 3. Government gets ready for war __// · War Powers Act Gave the President enormous authority to execute World War II in an efficient manner. Passed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941, it gave the President the choice to censor all forms of mail and communication between the US and foreign countries.

· Office of War Information and propaganda Created in 1942 and served as an important U.S. government propaganda agency during World War II. During 1942 and 1943, the OWI contained two photographic units: a section headed by Roy Emerson Stryker and the News Bureau. The photographers in both units documented America's mobilization during the early years of World War II, concentrating on such topics as aircraft factories and women in the workforce.

· James Byrnes and the OWM

· Military expansion

· Office of Civilian Defense and the contributions of everyday Americans

· War Production Board · “The miracle of production” · Paying for the war: taxes and war bonds · Inflation, rationing, and the Office of Price Administration

//__ 4. The Greatest Generation: How the war affected everyone __// · Daily routines- recycling. bringing the grease on the pan to the butcher to be made into bombs · Work experiences - most people were working for the wor king for the war effort · Relationships and family life - friends an family were being shiped off to war · Popular culture and entertainment- many singers sang about the war. most pop culture related to the war · Sacrifices and lifestyle changes - many people in america completely changed thier life style in order to help out thier lifetyle

//__ 5. The impact of the war on specific social groups __// Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps > called these camps "relocation centers." Surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by armed soldiers, families lived in poorly > built, overcrowded barracks. The barracks themselves had no running water and little heat. > formally apologized for its wartime imprisonment of these innocent people and awarded each of 80,000 survivors a $20,000 payment.
 * The people forced into camps were deprived of their liberty, and a basic freedom of the American Constitution. The government
 * None of the Japanese Americans had been charged with a crime against the government. Two- thirds had been born in the
 * United States, and more than 70 percent of the people forced into camps were American citizens
 * Almost 50 years later, the American Congress passed and President Ronald W. Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which