earA Rhetorical look at Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation Given by Franklin Delano Roosevelt David Thayer English 112 This speech was in relations to the horrible and reprehensive attack on Midway. It was the start of the Unites States in World War II (WWII). The influence this speech had on the American people was of great importance to the acceptance of our entrance to the war. It showed that by allowing the people to know the gravity of this incident it would get their approval. President Roosevelt used Pathos and Logos to attract the nation to the idea that if we did not act swiftly with force we would get attacked again and many more innocent lives would be taken.
What could have caused these events to occur during WWII? Wartime hysteria was a rather symptom that many people of the US experienced during WWII. Wartime hysteria was the paranoia about the residents/citizens of Japanese culture, wondering whether they would turn on the US or not. Because of the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Empire on December 7th, 1941, wartime hysteria made sense. There were false reports of the Japanese spying and planning the Pearl Harbor attack, so the hysteria pushed the US government to start relocating innocent residents into camps.
This quote pulls at the heart strings of what Japanese-Americans faced in the aftermath of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The book Stubborn Twig by Lauren Kessler, gives a unique insight into the lives of one Japanese-American family during World War II. Kessler’s book also raises some very distinctive questions about America’s history. One such question is whether the Japanese-American internment camps were the result of deep seeded racism or simply war hysteria at an all-time high? Through the book it is clear that it was a large mixture of both racism and war hysteria, but I think it is more apparent that this was caused by racism that was given an excuse to be blatantly obvious.
American Propaganda During World War Two Many of us are familiar with the day that will live in infamy. On December 7th 1941 the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and launched America into the second world war. Before that fateful day many Americans were against the country joining in on World War Two, But after most felt a patriotic call to duty and enlisted, but what about the civilians left behind and how was our nation going to afford the war. Uncle Sam had the answers and they came in the form of propaganda. Propaganda is defined as the process of spreading information or ideas in a way that is meant to make people except them.
Conflict arises when we assert ourselves. When Wing takes the initiative and seeks out medicine for Mrs Roberts’ malaria, the Japanese assert their dominance and right to rule over the prisoners (POW’s) by punishing Wing. The punishment Wing receives for this transgression is death by fire, the Japanese take Wing from the group and in full view of everyone they set her alight. The will of the Japanese and their clash with Wing perhaps best exemplifies within the text the conflict which can arise when people assert themselves. Wing asserting herself and the women by seeking out Malaria medication and the Japanese asserting themselves by punishing her and the women for this transgression.
It was like Eliane represented France and Camille represented Vietnam; Eliane was trying to control and in a sense, manipulate Camille to conform to French custom. One thing that is very noticeable throughout the film is how concerned the French are with the spread of communism. You see one scene where the police chief has arrested one man accused of being a communist and then he interrogates his son, who he assumes will follow in his father’s footsteps. The French are very paranoid and afraid of the communism spreading from the North that they become almost oppressive to the Vietnamese citizens. This was also due to the fact that Japan did not like the French presence in Vietnam and they were collaborating with Viet Minh to try and overthrow the colonial presence (The Viet Minh was a group of communists and Vietnamese nationalists under Ho Chi Minh).
The government’s quick implementation of Executive Order 9066 in reaction to the public’s panic, not only was unconstitutional and violated Japanese American rights, but also resulted in needless effort and attention towards the internment camps, making this an act of racism, not a military necessity. The United States government did not hold the right to intern Japanese Americans because of their ethnic background. People argued that the Japanese immigrants in the United States posed as a threat but fact is, 127,100 Japanese-Americans, about two thirds of whom were American born citizens, were evacuated (Powell). The Japanese-Americans had the same rights as any other American citizen, yet they were still interned. The public went straight to the conclusion that all people of
Gar Alperovitz, another revisionist, says that Truman’s main purpose in dropping the bombs was to demonstrate its power in order to intimidate the Russians (127). Even American generals, such as Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur and Curtis LeMay have stated that the A-bombs were unnecessary (Dower 92), arguing that Japan could have been forced to surrender by conventional means. If these charges are true, than Truman committed a war crime against Japan and its people. However, the historical record shows that in the summer of 1945 Truman was concerned only
There are many themes in this novel; however racism is the most powerful theme in the book. Throughout the book, the audience encounters several examples of racism. A lot of the example of racism is seen from the white Americans; however the Japanese are not only the victims. The Japanese also was very racist toward the American. The main plot which is seen as Kabuo’s trial reveals a lot of discrimination from the community.
Like a Shepherd herding cattle, the U.S government was easily able to direct public opinion into a scathing irrational hatred of the Japanese, though given the nature of Japan's savage pre-war crimes this dehumanization may not have been any less due than that of the Nazis. By the time the government was done meddling in public opinion, private sectors were hopping on the racist bandwagon, publishing comic strips such as one in American Legion Magazine wherein a soldier asks "What would you druther do - exterminate bug-insecks or Japs!?" A Squad mate spraying bugs replied there wasn't much of a difference, "but slappin' Japs is more satisfyin'!" (91) Though I can understand how dehumanization is such a key factor for a government to successfully orchestrate a war, the dangers of such dehumanization have been seen by millions of innocents killed by German Gas just as they have been seen by hundreds of thousands of innocents killed by the American Atom. Having failed once, there's now no reason to allow racism to reach