The "Japanese Problem" of WWII - a with the Axis and Became a Very Real Threat in the Pacific

to the rest of America. Name Except for occasional incidents of racial bias, Japanese Americans lived in harmony with their non-Japanese neighbors. Then came the dawning of World War II. The nation of Japan joined The "Japanese Problem" of WWII - A with the Axis and became a very real threat in the Pacific. Questions began to swirl in the minds of many Americans. With which country Struggle of Fear and Freedom did the hearts of U.S. Japanese lie? By Toni Lee Robinson Weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt had asked the U.S. State Department to find answers to that question. In early December, 1941, Agents collected intelligence on resident aliens and Japanese Japanese and American Americans on the west coast and in Hawaii, where they comprised ambassadors faced each other 37% of the territory's population. over conference tables in Washington, D.C. The two Curtis B. Munson summed up the mission's findings. The Issei, countries negotiated to resolve he stated: conflicts over Japanese "...have to break with their religion, their god and Emperor, their encroachment in the Pacific. On family, their ancestors and their after-life in order to be loyal to the Sunday, December 7, word United States...Yet they do [make the] break, and send their boys off came of the devastating strike to the [U.S.] Army with pride and tears. They are good neighbors." on Pearl Harbor by Japanese bombers and submarines. The attack left America stunned and Of the Nisei, Munson wrote: grieving. "... they are inclined to enlist before being drafted. The Army is extremely high in its praise of them... The Nisei...are very American Throughout the entire U.S., the atmosphere was tense. It seemed and are a proud, self-respecting race..." clear America was dealing with a treacherous enemy, one who would strike without warning or mercy. The lesson Americans took The report concluded: from these events was simple-don't trust anybody, especially the "The story [of all groups of U.S. Japanese] was all the same. Japanese. One group bore the brunt of this fear and suspicion. There is no Japanese 'problem'... There will be no armed uprising of Japanese [Americans]." (Munson Report, November 7, 1941) More than 112,300 people of Japanese descent called the U.S. home. Most lived in the Pacific coast states-Washington, Oregon, Exactly a month later, bombs fell on Pearl Harbor. In the weeks and California, and of course, Hawaii. Some of the U.S. Japanese that followed, Munson's assurances were forgotten. Good neighbors were resident aliens. They were the Issei (ee SAY), the generation or not, Japanese immigrants and their American-born children came that had come from Japan. These people, typically 50-65 years old, from the same ethnic background as the enemy that had struck so tended to live in their own sections of U.S. cities. They clung to their cruelly. Could the U.S. afford to make assumptions about their native language and culture, although many expressed a desire to loyalties? What about the potential for sabotage? What about become naturalized citizens. (U.S. immigration laws at the time spying? prevented them from doing so.) As a new year dawned, the U.S. still reeled from what President Their children, the Nisei (nee SAY), had been born in the U.S. Roosevelt had called the "unprovoked and dastardly attack" on and thus held U.S. citizenship. This second generation was more like Hawaii. The island paradise mourned over 2,400 dead. Bombed out other young Americans. They rejected staid traditional ways and buildings and piles of destroyed planes still smoldered. In the harbor, adopted popular mainstream ideas. These young adults embraced the hulls of sunken battleships rested uneasily, tombs for hundreds of their U.S. citizenship. Japan was nearly as foreign to them as it was American sailors who had been trapped inside. The "Japanese Problem" of WWII - A Struggle of Fear and Freedom Name Questions 1. Why were Japanese ambassadors in Washington, D.C., at the Meanwhile, the Japanese military rolled like a tidal wave over the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor? Explain how this helped Pacific. In the U.S., fear escalated into frenzy. All people of set the stage for an undercurrent of suspicion in the U.S. Japanese descent were classified as "enemy aliens." They were subject to more and more restrictions, curfews, and travel limits. California Congressman Leland Ford sent a telegram to Washington calling for expulsion of all U.S. Japanese from the West Coast. In January 1942, Japanese Americans in the U.S. military were dismissed or removed from active duty and reassigned to menial jobs. In mid-February, Executive Order 9066 was signed into law. This measure allowed military authorities to exclude enemy aliens from 2. What do the terms "Issei" and "Nisei" mean? Why are these such areas of the U.S. as were deemed militarily sensitive. This specific designations important in the discussion of the included the entire west coast area where most U.S. Japanese lived. loyalties of Japanese Americans? "Ouster of All Japs Near!" West Coast newspaper headlines screamed. Soon, the rhetoric became reality. Resident aliens and Nisei U.S. citizens alike were told to move. Still, American Japanese were eager to prove their loyalty. Their civic organizations published pledges of cooperation. One such pledge declared that the group's members endorsed "...cheerful and willing cooperation by the [Japanese American] community with the government agencies in carrying out of the evacuation proceedings." 3. Summarize the conclusions of the Munson Report of When they were moved, deportees were allowed to take only November 1941. what they could carry. Property and belongings had to be sold quickly, for a fraction of market value. Most families were left with little but the clothes they wore. They were taken to camps hastily set up in remote areas, many surrounded by barbed wire and patrolled by armed guards. There they lived out the duration of the war, virtual prisoners in the land of the free. 8. Imagine you are one of the Issei living on the U.S. West Coast Name in 1941. How would you feel about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor? About Executive Order 9066? Would you feel any differently if you were Nisei? Why or why not? 4. Two major factors contributed to the mounting fear of Japanese Americans in 1941-1942. They were: A. The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and subsequent Japanese aggression in the Pacific. B. Japanese Americans were becoming increasingly hostile and refusing to serve in the U.S. military. C. Japan declared war on the U.S. and joined the Axis. D. The discovery of Japanese American spies in the U.S. along with plans for large-scale sabotage 5. President Roosevelt described the attack on Pearl Harbor as "dastardly," meaning: A. Dishonorable and morally wrong B. It was carried out by renegade pilots without the permission of the Emperor. C. Costly in terms of life and materials D. Well-executed 6. An enemy alien is: A. A citizen of a country at war B. A hostile being from another planet C. A person living in a country with which his country of origin is at war D. A Japanese person 7. Explain the main provision of Executive Order 9066 and how it affected Japanese Americans..

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