14) Pearl Harbour/Manzanar/Hiroshima

WWII ended the Great Depression because of the defence industry. The US' 'cash and carry policy' allowed the European countries to trade with the US as long as it wasn't for weapons, they paid in cash and they used their own ships. This did end up favouring the British though as they were in a better position to ensure their ships made it home.

After France surrendered, the US realised Britain were now the only country that stood in the way between Germany and the US. The graphic reports arriving from Europe also convinced many they should help Britain win the war. But, they still didn't want to join it.

Roosevelt's land-lease policy meant they leased supplies, including weapons, to help protect the US. The Atlantic Charter was agreed between the US and Britain by the time of Germany's invasion into Russia. In September 1941, 8 out of 10 Americans were still opposed to joining the war, but this all changed in December following the Pearl Harbour bombing.

Japan had been encroaching on China in the search for resources as they were struggling due to their exploding population. 50% of Japan's iron, steel and oil was coming from the US, but they still had their eyes on China as they didn't want to rely on America. In July 1941, Japan seized all of Indochina, so Roosevelt cut off the Panama Canal to the Japanese ships which stopped supplies from going to Japan. They started negotiations to avoid a war. But, the US thought Japan were about to strike Malaya, so only general warnings were sent to Hawaii. This meant there were almost no precautions at Pearl Harbour.

There were 2 waves of planes and the attack lasted for less than 2 hours, but the Japanese had destroyed most of the American planes and had taken 8 battleships, 3 destroyers and 3 cruisers. 2323 US servicemen had been killed. 2 hours later, the Japanese also attacked American forces in the Philippines, destroying a significant number of planes there too.

The day after, Roosevelt asked Congress to confirm if a state of war existed between the US and Japan. But, Hitler declared war on the US instead. So, the US had now joined the war.

The attack on Pearl Harbour left many people scared. Blackout was established across America. In the Battle of LA, someone started shooting believing they saw the enemy even though there was no one there. But, others heard the shooting, and soon there were anti-aircraft guns and searchlights combing the sky. 1400 anti-aircraft shells were fired and 4 or 5 civilians were killed from friendly fire while others died of heart attacks.

There were 127,000 Japanese people living in the US at the time with most living in Hawaii. They were largely integrated into the culture so weren't a threat. But, those on the mainland were targetted and weren't allowed to vote or own land. Those born in Japan (Issei) weren't allowed US citizenship, but those born in America (Nisei) were. Some were farmers, some had landscaping businesses, others had small shops etc, but, "a J ap's a J ap".

Washington suggested the military governor of the islands of Hawaii should consider evacuating as many as 20,000 allegedly dangerous Japanese, but he refused. But, this didn't stop actions in the mainland. Executive order 9066 was created in February 1942 that allowed the exclusion of anyone in the military zones. In practice, this meant the Japanese weren't allowed in the entire west coast. Within a couple of months, Roosevelt agreed that Issei and Nisei should be evacuated. About 9000 people moved on their own, but politicians complained they didn't want them in their states. The military got involved and moved them to holding camps. Japanese citizens received notices saying they had to sell up and meet for relocation. They met at assembly centres where some, like the Santa Anita track in LA, required them to sleep in horse stalls. They were then transported to relocation centres.

There were 10 camps altogether largely located along the west coast in the middle of nowhere. Manzanar was one of the camps but now stands to represent all of them. It was patrolled by armed military guards and there was little privacy. The Nisei were the only ones promoted to positions of power within the camps which degraded their culture as it made the children in charge. They also always placed an importance on etiquette in Japanese culture, but this wasn't respected at all.

There was remarkably very little resistance in the Japanese community though. But, resistance was very difficult. This was the difference between these camps and those in Germany. e.g. Fred Korematsu from California and Gordon Hirabayashi from the University of Washington were both arrested for refusing to report for relocation. Both of their cases made it to the Supreme Court. Although the court did rule against them. There was no evidence of any of the Japanese people in the US having an affiliation with Japan, but they still went down just in case.

The Japanese-Americans had always complied with US laws with 3600 signing up to join the military from the camps, and another 22,000 signing up for the army.

In early 1945, Japanese-American citizens of undisputed loyalty were allowed to return to the west coast, but the last camps stayed in operation until 1946.

America's biggest contribution to the war effort was producing food and war supplies, but they did participate in the fighting too. Hitler's fortunes had taken a turn for the worse before American even joined the war. Stalin was also questioning whether the US and Britain were trying to dismantle the USSR rather than defeat Germany. Roosevelt died in April 1945 and was succeeded by his VP, Truman.

At the Potsdam Conference, Truman received news that the scientists of the Manhatten Project had exploded an atomic bomb. Truman decided to hint that the US had a new weapon, but it turned out Stalin already secretly knew. There were questions of whether to actually use the weapon as the Japanese leadership may be convinced to surrender if they saw a demonstration of its power. Despite Japan nearing defeat, Churchill and Truman insisted on unconditional surrender, so they decided to drop the bomb only giving the Japanese an obscure hint of what was to come. On the 6th August, the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. 130,000 people died. Truman was very happy with the results, and 2 days later, the USSR also declared war on Japan. The following day, a plutonium bomb went off over Nagasaki killing another 60,000 people. Tens of thousands more would also soon die because of radiation poisoning. Japan surrendered 4 days later.

The Americans said they dropped the bombs to end the war quickly. They believed the Japanese would have killed themselves before they surrendered so it was also to stop their suicide. The Japanese surrendered on the condition they could keep their emperor which the allies would have allowed to happen anyway.

Many believed Japan deserved it because of Pearl Harbour even though they didn't target US citizens like the US had done with their bombing.

The bombs were also used to scare the Russians to stop their expansion and stop their aggressive behaviour. The Pacific War seemed to be a war against a people rather than a war against a state. 77% of Americans believe dropping the bomb was the right thing to do with some even being disappointed they didn't drop more.