Role Of Isolationism In Ww2

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History 21 December 2012 World War 2 The United States had taken the position of isolationism during the war. They were staying out of it completely. They were sending weapons, supplies and men to help fight. The Japanese Attacked Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941. America realized that this was indeed a world war and a nation as powerful as America would have to choose a side. Naturally they wanted to attack Japan in retaliation, but decided that Germany and Europe was more important. They sent the bulk of the armed forces there, but kept enough to take back the Pacific and destroy Japan. The United States was basically shocked into action. The attack forced a permanent end to isolationism in US Foreign policy. The Sunday morning attack caused…show more content…
This change was due to executive order 8802 put out by President Roosevelt in response to pressure from civil rights activists A. Philip Randolph. Even with changes in the military it still was enough. Black soldiers were told that they are fighting to defend democracy but as stated in document #1 "Our war is not to defend democracy, but to get a democracy we never had." What was going on in Europe was a life changing experience because for years the Jews were being tortured and killed for various different reasons. As stated by Leon Bass in doc 8 " If the Holocaust can happen here, it can happen anywhere...and nobody raised a voice." This was the beginning of realizing that the worse thing that could happen already happened. African Americans were not the only group of people being mistreated in the United States during World War II. After the attack Pearl Harbor, all Americans of Japanese descent became targets of suspicion, and hatred. Fear of another possible Japanese invasion, General John DeWitt, commander of the U.S. forces on the West Coast, acting with the approval of the President, ordered…show more content…
"The assembly center was filthy, smelly and dirty" stated in doc #6. This forced 112,000 Japanese Americans to leave their homes, jobs, businesses, and farms which caused improbable amount of misery and economic loss. Such a major disregard of the constitutional rights of American citizens was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1943. One evacuee felt that "As a result human beings were being put behind put being put behind fences just like the one on the farm (doc #6)". Some Japanese Americans, were allowed to enlist in the army, just like African Americans, were also racially segregated. Nevertheless, many fought with distinction and bravery; the 442nd Regimental Combat Team fought in Italy and won the most medals of any U.S. combat unit. Over fourteen million American men served in the armed forces during World War II, which was a resulted in a shift of women in to the labor force. Millions of women filled the non-traditional jobs, eventhough they received less pay than men. In addition, over 215,000 women served in the four branches of the armed forces during the war. The army established a
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