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Effects on japan after ww2
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Have you ever seen a place so devastated by something, that the place changed dramatically. Well that’s how Hawaii was after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Hawaii was Scared, empty, sad, uncertain, and even Un-trustworthy. First off, Hawaii was scared and uncertain of why they were bombed. It was a tragic event for families to watch and be apart off. Hawaii was caught off guard. They were brought into the war after that. Hawaii didn’t know what to think. They still had to recover from the bombing. So they decided to hide not knowing what to do. In addition Hawaii was Un-trustworthy. Hawaii did not know who to trust after the bombing. Americans and even Japanese. Policeman and Army workers went around arresting every Japanese man that
Previous to the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour on December 7th 1941, tensions had been forming between the USA and Japan in the pacific. The US had cut of 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 Harbour still shocked and outraged the American nation and affected the American psyche. After being assured that “a Japanese attack on Hawaii is regarded as the most unlikely thing in the world”(1), the sudden mass destruction of the U.S Navy’s Pacific fleet and deaths of roughly 2400 U.S soldiers and civilians as a result of such an attack undoubtedly lead to confusion and racial hatred amongst many US citizens. The assumption on the War Department’s behalf that Japan’s Navy were incapable of launching a full scale assault on the US Navy’s chief Pacific base was more than inaccurate. As a result, the US Naval base was unprepared and was quickly taken out. A hidden bias would soon become evident in both average civilians and higher positioned government officials. This bias against Japan aided in the formation of the Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) on February 19th 1942.
On December 7, 1941 the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, leading to the United States entrance into World War II. A couple months after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered that all persons of Japanese decent must be secluded. The Japanese were sent to internment camps outside of the pacific military zone, due to the fear Americans had of Japanese espionage. The attack on Pearl Harbor was a major shock for America, and it created extreme fear and paranoia that the Japanese-Americans would help Japan win the war. There was a widespread stigma of anti-Japanese attitudes and racism; therefore, the government concluded it was easier to seclude them from the rest of America. The
... the Japanese were unpredictable. If Harry Truman had not dropped the bombs over Japan it would have only brought on further casualties.
The racial conflict with Japanese-Americans began when the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. On December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, a military naval base located in the state of Hawaii. “Behind them they left chaos, 2,403 dead, 188 destroyed planes, and a crippled Pacific Fleet that included 8 damaged or destroyed battleships” (“Attack” 1). The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on the Empire of Japan. The fear that resulted from the attack on Pearl Harbor caused many white Americans to hate the Japanese-Americans. Many Japanese were accused of being spies and were arrested without proof. “Rabid anti-Japanese American racism surfaced the first days after Pearl Harbor. The FBI and the military had been compiling lists of "potentially dangerous" Japanese Americans since 1932, but most were merely teachers, businessmen or journalists” (Thistlethwaite 1). In February of 1942, all of the Japanese on the West Coast of the United States were sent to internment camps.
Year’s prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor the United States Government intercepted and decoded secret messages from the Japanese Islands and the Japanese Government. During that time the relationship with the Japanese Government and the rest of the world, especially the United States, was extremely tenuous. To avoid a war, which had begun to loom in the waters of the Pacific, off the coast of the Hawaiian Islands, a territory of the United States, Great Britain, the United States and other countries of the world called for all trade to the Japanese Islands be halted and assets to be frozen, which ultimately caused a near collapse of the Japanese economy. In the early Fall of 1941 the U.S. Government, knowing a possible war approached, secretly requested that those Japanese immigrants and the large population of Japanese- Americans (those born in the United States) be questioned as to their loyalty. “The President of the United States ordered a special intelligence finding investigation to be conducted” (Armor and Wright, 13-14).
This sharp decrease in morale amongst the Japanese people after the dropping of the atomic bomb coincided with an increase in Japanese fear of American and Allied power in future battles. For example, according to survivors of the bombing, whenever a lone American plane was seen over a Japanese city, people would “rush into their shelters,” and “They went in and out so much that they did not have time to eat. They were so nervous they could not work.” Prior to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki most Japanese were only scared of American aircraft if there was a large group, but after the dropping of the atomic bomb any individual plane could wreak havoc on Japanese cities, as Elona Gay did to Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945. The use of the atomic bomb was able to spread fear amongst the Japanese people so much that after the droppings of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki many people fled the cities to the countryside fearing more attacks of the same magnitude from the Allied powers.
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.
While walking down the beach, the white, warm sand mushes between your toes. The sun’s radiant rays beam off your glowing skin. The sound of waves crashing blocks out the external world. There is no other place like the gorgeous tropical islands of Hawaii. The wide range of flowers, cuisine, and wildlife makes it one of the most picturesque places on Earth. It also leads the United States with the highest racial minority rate making it the most diverse state. However, there are numerous hidden dangers of Hawaii, and not all ethnic groups get along causing sharp tensions across the island.
Eventually, the expansion to this area became imperialistic. Pearl Harbor, on the island of Oahu, offered one of the most attractive natural bases in the Pacific. Soon other Americans followed to become sugar planters and to establish profitable businesses. Americans were busy building huge plantations, warehouses, railroads, dry-docks, banks, hotels, and stores. They soon dominated the island's economy, and they were able to influence its government as well. Americans created and controlled Hawaii's legislature and cabinet, and they limited the power of the native king. As the century began to come to a close, disputes arose between the Kanaka and those of foreign descent. "Hawaii for Hawaiians" became the slogan of people who sought to restore the traditional ways of the kingdom. Others called for the annexation of Hawaii by the United States. Annexation would eliminate the recent trade restrictions on sugar and revive the island's faltering economy. The imperialistic was taking over the islands.
December 7, 1941 was a military accomplishment for Japan. Japanese Bomber planes had flown over the island of Hawaii and bombed the American naval base Pearl Harbor. After the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, many Americans believed that the Japanese Americans, were disloyal and were sabotaging the United States Government. There were rumors that most Japanese Americans exchanged military information and had hidden connections with Japanese military. None of these claims were ever proven to be true but believed by many at the time. The United States Government became concerned about National Security and demanded action. On Thursday, February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt issued the Executive Order 9066, which called for an evacuation of Japanese Americans on the west coast with the excuse of a “military necessity.” The government’s enforcement of Executive Order 9066 in reaction to the public resulted in the creation of internment camps.
Only residents living in California, Oregon, and Washington were subject to internment, while most Japanese were left alone in Hawaii. Japanese were interned on the west coast because they lived near the ocean, so why not in Hawaii, a region much closer to Japan, and surrounded by ocean? The only plausible reason could be that in Hawaii, the Japanese made up about 40% of the population. In other words, they were nearly the majority. Whereas on the west coast, there were only about 120,000 out of the millions of the total population (Relocation and Incarceration). They were more influential in Hawaii due to the fact that they made-up a large portion of the region’s workforce. Relocating that many people would hurt the economy, and slow down production during war. That wasn’t the case on the west coast. The Japanese were an overwhelming minority which meant that they would be easy to replace in the workforce. Removal on the west coast was definitely racially motivated. When you don’t have much experience with a group of people it is a lot easier to group them all into one bubble. The Japanese on the west coast were subject to negative stereotypes, and their small numbers prevented them from having a voice in their communities to defend themselves. Hawaii housed a much larger Japanese population by percentage, so it was easier for them to speak out, and be recognized as vital to the community. Those on the west coast were not so familiar with the Japanese, only with stereotypes. This created tension causing a higher demand for removing them from the west
Allen, Thomas B. Remember Pearl Harbor: American and Japanese Survivors Tell Their Stories. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2001. Print.
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
The attack on Pearl Harbor was one of the biggest offenses on the United States of America and was the trigger for the United States to jump into War World II. The United States had been in a period of isolation for the duration of the war up until the point of the attack. The Japanese had been making advances in the Pacific which was making the Roosevelt administration very uncomfortable. On the day of the attack more than just the harbor was attacked, from air fields to bases the island of Oahu was busted up. Franklin D. Roosevelt had been campaigning isolation and staying out of the war for good, but some historians and a large number of Americans believe that he knew about the attack. The majority of Americans were very angry with Japanese
On December 7, 1941 Japan launched a surprise attack on a U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii with the possibility of forcing the U.S. to join World War II. About 2,400 Americans were dead, 21 ships had been sunk, and 188 aircraft were destroyed. On August 6 and 9 of 1945, the U.S. retaliated and dropped two atomic bombs called Fat Man and Little Boy on the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The U.S. was not justified in dropping the atomic bombs on Japan because of the locations that were bombed, the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, and the lack of previous bomb testing. Firstly, the bombings were unjustified because of the locations where the bombs were dropped.