Document Workshop, Mon 11/2
by Dr. H - November 3rd, 2014
Assignment for Today: Your group will address one of these questions below, using documents from your assigned part of our textbook. By midnight tonight a representative from each group should leave a comment on the course website, responding to your assigned question USING primary source EVIDENCE.
For class viewing (from 1951):
Question 1: Using the evidence in Documents 23.1 – 23.5, which of these is the more persuasive statement and why?
World War II transformed racial and gender relations in the US.
World War II reinforced traditional racial and gender relations in the US.
Question 2: How should the end of the war be remembered? Whose point of view needs to be acknowledged, respected and included? Try writing a brief account of the end of the war that follows your own advice. Use Documents 23.6 – 11
Question 3 (laptop based): What physical resources, and what moral reasoning, did official American messages employ to build support for the conflict? How did war promotional materials construct World War II as a just, or even a “good†war? What kinds of commitments were being asked of the American people? Use any of these media documents:
WW2 Radio and Film Propaganda Examples (requires Windows Media Player)
Internet Archive: Films Made by the Office of War Information
Internet Archive: Audio recordings w/ keyword “World War II: Homefront”
“It’s Everybody’s War” (20th Century Fox)
Produce for Victory: Posters on the American Home Front
Question 4: After 1945, the new postwar context included both the reality of atomic weapons, and a deep ideological standoff between “the West†and the USSR. How did this context affect understanding of foreign affairs and the US’s role in them? Use Documents 24.1 – 5
Question 5: In the 1940s and early 1950s, many Americans feared internal threats as well as those in international relations. Using Documents 24.6 – 10, answer these questions: In what different ways would HUAC and the witnesses appearing before it have defined “un-American� What gave HUAC and the broader cultural movement now termed “McCarthyism†so much power at the time?
Noelle Grudziecki
Jenna Cears
Olivia Gardiner
Joanna Phinney
Tim Kmiec
Question 3
1. What physical resources and moral reasoning did official American messages employ to build support for the conflict?
The government used many types of physical resources to build support for the conflict; some being radios featuring public service announcements, posters, and movies. The moral reasoning of the official American messages were to show that we should fight to keep America free.
2. How did war promotional materials construct World War II as a just, or even a “good†war?
The propaganda in the posters portrayed Germany and Japan as a villain. For example, there was a poster of a Nazi solider saying “He’s watching you.†The poster is dark and creepy making someone fear the Nazi’s.
3. What kinds of commitments were being asked of the America people?
The American people were being asked to do more than normal. An example of a poster shows industrial stacks and displays “more, more, more, more production†across the poster. There is also a large “v†that means victory. This could be suggesting the harder the American people work the quicker we are to victory. Also, the American people were being asked to purchase war bonds to conserve resources like rubber. Also, safeguarding military information will protect soldiers.
Vonna, Colton, Anthony, and Katie DeLeo
Question 2:
We believe that the end of the war should be remembered from both sides’ perspectives. Although Japan dropped a bomb on us at Pearl Harbor, we retaliated on a whole new level. President Truman did not even think twice about using the atomic bomb. In document 23.8 which was a statement made by Truman, he says that the bomb was the best way to protect the rest of the world and no one should look into it too much. Dropping the bombs was a bit of a selfish solution for the U.S. because it did save many lives of American soldiers, but it also did kill many innocent Japanese people. The textbook however, does not tell a lot about the Japanese point of view, making our textbook bias in favor of the winner. Document 23.9, which is a photograph of the aftermath of Hiroshima, is the only photograph showing the destruction we caused. The image only contains three sentences explaining the photo. The image does not include al the after-war effects such as mutations, cancer, money needed to rebuild, and the emotional scares inflicted to the citizens of Japan.
Morgan Molloy
Stephanie Duquette
Lauren Hajec
Brianna Blash
Question 5
In what different ways would HUAC and the witnesses appearing before it have been defined “un-American”?
The House Committee on Un-American Activities, established in 1938 by conservative congressional opponents of the New Deal to investigate domestic Communism, was arguably un-American. Citizens suspected of Communist beliefs or ties were put on trial by HUAC and forced to answer questions about their beliefs, practices, and political affiliations without regard to the Clear and Present Danger clause in the Espionage and Sedition Acts. People questioned by HUAC were also required to speak to the beliefs of people they knew in an attempt to “out” suspected Communists. In his testimony before HUAC, Reagan explains “As a citizen I would hesitate, or not like, to see any political party outlawed on the basis of its political ideology” (24.6). Lawson goes so far as to accuse HUAC of trampling the Bill of Rights in his testimony (24.7).In her 1952 letter to HUAC, Hellman explains that she will not only not express her personal beliefs, but will also not speak to others’ beliefs for fear of incriminating them solely on their political preferences, invoking her fifth amendment rights (24.9). While the witnesses before HUAC proved that HUAC’s inquisition was both un-American and blatantly disregarded their constitutional rights, the people being questioned by HUAC were also believed to be un-American. The American capitalist society was threatened by communism and communist beliefs. While America was founded on a premise of liberties, when a person or persons believe in something other than the way of the American government, they are believed to be un-American regardless of a lack of clear or present danger. Anyone suspected of being a Communist, sympathizing with Communists, or partaking in communist activities (such as other liberal beliefs and particular music and media consumption) was questioned by HUAC under the Smith Act of 1940.
What gave HUAC and “McCarthyism†so much power at the time?
HUAC and McCarthyism were given legal basis in the Smith Act of 1940 which prohibited teaching or advocating the “duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by force or violence†or belonging to any group with that aim. In addition to this legislation, the broad topic of fear and the potential threat that Communism posed to the United States gave social power to HUAC and McCarthyism. People were afraid of the “evils of Communism†and wanted to maintain the Capitalist way of American government. Communists were believed to be a threat to the way of life simply based on their different beliefs, regardless of intent to overthrow the current government. Between this fear, and legislation that made communist values illegal, anticommunist efforts were extremely powerful in the 1940’s and early 1950’s.
Question 4
The standoff between the USSR and “the west†caused widespread disagreement on the US involvement in foreign affairs. Contradicting opinions came from national and international viewpoints. In the document 24.1 Winston Churchill explains that “We understand the Russian need to be secure on her western frontiers by removing all possibility of German aggression.†Although he is able to understand the actions of Russia, he feels the need to be wary of the USSR: “[…] All these famous cities and the population around them are lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and are all subject […] not only to soviet influence but to […] increasing measure of control from Moscow.†Henry Wallace contradicts this perspective with The Way to Peace, document 24.2. Wallace believed that “‘getting tough’ never brought anything real and lasting […] we should recognize that we have no more business in the political affairs of Eastern Europe than Russia has in the political affairs of Latin America.†The population of America was torn between reacting with increasing defenses and the ideal that Russia would not act without provocation. These beliefs caused disagreements about almost every international action of the US.
Efstathios Psarras
Jeff Martin
Jose Rivera
Stephen Carrol
Edward Leja
Question 1
Using the evidence in Documents 23.1 – 23.5, which of these is the more persuasive statement and why?
World War II transformed racial and gender relations in the US.
World War II reinforced traditional racial and gender relations in the US.
Throughout the given documents the statement that is more persuasive is that World War II reinforced traditional racial and gender relations in the US. For the racial part of this document it could be summed up in documents 23.2 and 23.5. In document 23.2 the news of pearl harbor had been going through the radio and there were Japanese Americans who had also heard about the horrifying news. It wasn’t just that the United states was attacked, but also that the expected hate to the Japanese that would follow because they were now the enemy. Even though many Japanese Americans were not the enemy there are still people that would point fingers at them stating that they too are the problem. This is why in a short time many Japanese Americans would eventually lose their rights and put into camps. In document 23.5 a group of African American soldiers had written about their experience at an army base in Colorado. During their time there they were mistreated. They were sometimes given 9-10 hour shifts and would work for jobs even unfit for dogs while the whites that were supposed to be the labor battalion would sit there and watch. Also during eating time the African Americans had to wait outside in attention while the whites finished their food and after the only food that was left was scraps. The point was that everyone should be treated equally and why shouldn’t Africans Americans get the same rights because they are fighting for the cause too.
For the section on gender there was focus on documents 23.3 and 23.4. In document 23.3 it show a picture of a woman building some sort of bomb where it was trying to recruit women to help for the cause by working in factories making all sorts of items, especially weapons to help for the war effort. Also it was because all the men that were usually working those jobs were out fighting. Now in document 23.4 which is closing in to the ending years of the war it is trying to convey that the woman’s time of working outside the house has come to an end and that she should leave her job when the men come back.
Now even though these racial and gender issues were dealt with better in the coming years it seems that during World War II these issues were being reinforced as much as possible.