Even before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government began targeting Japanese-American businessmen and placing them under arrest. Following Pearl Harbor, the efforts expanded beyond businessmen and targeted the whole of the Japanese community. Executive Order 9066 "set into motion the exclusion from certain areas, and the evacuation and mass incarceration of 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast, most of whom were U.S. citizens or legal permanent resident aliens." (Children of the Camps). The conditions faced by these people absolutely contravened the principles of liberty that underlined American participation in the war; they were incarcerated without due process, lost their jobs, had to leave their homes, had inadequate medical care, and were surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards, despite the fact that there was no evidence to suggest than even a single Japanese-American was aiding Japan in the war effort. (Children of the Camps). While the government and the war effort may not have benefited from the internment of Japanese-Americans, it is easy to see that other groups would have. For example, rival business owners would have benefited from the internment of Japanese-Americans, as would have real estate speculators.
Knowing what motivated anti-Japanese propaganda does not wholly explain the success of posters like "Murdering Jap." To understand the success of propaganda, one must look to the reasons why people like to believe in propaganda. For anti-Japanese propaganda, the largest motivator may have been fear, because the Japanese attacked on U.S. soil. However, the poster used fear in another way; by equating "Japs" with torturers, that propaganda suggested that there was something even more fearful than death at the hands of the Japanese: torture at the hands of the Japanese.
Miller and Minsky identified a second type of propaganda, the glittering generalities. With this, the propagandist "identifies the race, nation, policy, program, candidate, with virtue by the use of virtue words - words that instead of making us fighting made, as the bad names do, put us into a kind of rosy glow." (Miller and Minsky). Specifically, they warned against the use of the word "democracy" because it would be "the key word of any propaganda campaign to get [the United States] into war or to keep [the United States] out of war." (Miller and Minsky). By remembering the four key components of democracy: political democracy, economic democracy, social democracy, and religious democracy; one can examine propaganda to see if it truly supports democracy.
The war poster that is captioned Half-slave, Half-free, uses the concept of democracy, though it couches it in even broader terms by using the word "freedom." The poster has a very moving depiction of slave-like conditions. People, including children, cowering from a shadow-figure that is dressed like a Nazi. The shadow-figure holds a whip, and is raising it towards the cowering people. The image is moving, and it clearly intends to encourage U.S. involvement in a war against a country that has not aggressed against the United States at all. However, the poster uses the glittering generality of "freedom" in a very interesting manner; one that did not portray the reality of life in America, but instead portrayed an idealized version of American life. This poster's use of a glittering generality was logical, given that it appealed to national pride, one of the key reasons that people believe in propaganda, and Americans prided themselves on celebrating freedom.
However, at the same time as this poster's publication, African-Americans in the United States were still living with the vestiges of slavery. For example, though slavery had officially ended, blacks were expected to act in a specific and subservient manner. "This racial etiquette governed the actions, manner, attitudes, and words of all black people when in the presence of whites. To violate this racial etiquette placed one's very life, and the lives of one's family, at risk." (Davis). Blacks were expected to act subserviently when encountering whites in public, by stepping off the sidewalk, removing their hats when speaking to whites, and to bring their own implements when dining from a public restaurant. (Davis). Therefore, this call to freedom belied the truth of what was going on in the United States. At the same time, however, the image of the whip was probably meant to resonate with an African-American population that was not yet a lifetime removed from slavery. While African-Americans had not attained substantive freedom, they had attained nominal freedom and were no longer subject...
American Involvement in International Affairs Between 1890-1905: The United States of America emerged as the world's super power in the decade of the 1890s and has exercised that power throughout the 19th Century. Since the beginning of the 19th Century, the United States has continued to be the world's super power through which it is considered as the pre-eminent power and country across the globe. The main reason for the country's
World War Analysis WWI analysis examining the significance and impact of WWI on U.S. history In the early 20th Century, a general fear existed that a huge war would break out due to the circumstances existing at that time and therefore every small incident was considered deadly. However the triggering factor was the assassination of Austrian Archduke Ferdinand in June 1914 resulting in World War I (WWI) or the Great War. WWI
Xenophobia against people from the ethnic groups America was fighting rose in intensity. Much as French Fries became Freedom Fries for a brief period during the contemporary 'war on terror,' so frankfurters, a German dish, became the more America-sounding hot dog. More seriously the Red Scare, the Palmer Raids, anti-immigrant and anti-African-American sentiment as a result of new migrations of people within the United States created the paradox of
World War II broke out, Russia was not prepared, nor did she manage to be the military threat she could have been, because the nation was weakened by lack of industrialization, the defeat by Japan in 1905, and a lack of support by the people for involvement in this new war. What seems clear is that Russia was not prepared when the war began and had to work to
World War II drew to a close, and the planet was forced to recalibrate in unprecedented proportions, the United States began its long emergence as the most expansive super-power that had yet been known. Its influence that would compete virulently with the post-war Soviet influence for half a century, has since disseminated into every facet of the geopolitical theatre. As such, American support can operate as the determining factor
These men represented a number of virtues and standards that were in accordance with those core, basic elements of humanity that the war threatened. The affection that the author feels for the old breed, in their attempts to help him and others ultimately win their own personal wars against debauchery, are alluded to in the following quotation. War is brutish, inglorious, and a terrible waste. Combat leaves an indelible mark
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now