film as a primary source why we fight – prelude to war

1. film as a primary source why we fight – prelude to war

2. Introduction In Prelude to War, the first film in Frank Capra's Why We Fight series, World War II was depicted as a battle between the “slave world” and the “free world.” America's enemies - Germany, Italy, and Japan - were portrayed as evil, militaristic, dictatorial regimes that sought to enslave the world. In contrast, America was portrayed as a just, peaceful, egalitarian society that sought to liberate the world. film as a primary source why we fight – prelude to war

3. Assignment Your task is to evaluate Capra's characterization of the United States during World War II. Do so, by discussing the following: 1) The ways in which the American government presented the war. 2) The degree to which the government lived up to its rhetoric of freedom. 3) The ways in which wartime realities often conflicted with the government's idealistic presentation of the war. film as a primary source why we fight – prelude to war

4. Prelude to War World War II was a conflict in which . . . Describe the slave world . . . Describe the free world . . . film as a primary source why we fight – prelude to war

14. film as a primary source why we fight – prelude to war

15. How accurate is this story ??? Slave world? - Tanaka Memorial (1927) - Unification of Germany, Italy, and Japan - Desire of Japanese to invade the U.S. and march down Pennsylvania Avenue film as a primary source why we fight – prelude to war

18. How accurate is this story ??? Free world? . . . Alternative Narratives African Americans . . . Japanese Americans . . . film as a primary source why we fight – prelude to war

19. African Americans . . . Discrimination Segregation Poll-tax March on Washington CORE and NAACP film as a primary source why we fight – prelude to war

21. Less than six months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a little over half—144,583 out of 282,245—prospective war-related job openings were reserved for whites. In Texas, African Americans were barred from over 9,000 out of the 17,435 openings (52 percent) for defense jobs. In, Michigan the figure was 22,042 out of 26,904 (82 percent). In Ohio, 29,242 out of 34,861 (84 percent). In Indiana, 9,331 out of 9,979 (94 percent). Andrew Kersten, Race, Jobs, and the War: The FEPC in the Midwest, 1941-46 (Univ. of Illinois Press, 2000), 37. film as a primary source why we fight – prelude to war

26. Virginia Durr Jennings Perry Palmer Weber Irving Brant Southern Conference for Human Welfare The National Committee to Abolish the Poll Tax

27. A. Philip Randolph | Executive Order 8802 (June 41) | FEPC

29. Japanese Americans . . . Discrimination Internment Loss of Property Loss of Businesses film as a primary source why we fight – prelude to war

38. Japanese Americans . . . 19 February 1942, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 Authority for the United States Army to exile nearly 120,000 persons of Japanese birth or ancestry from their homes in California, Oregon, Washington, and other West Coast areas and coop them up in what the government called assembly centers and relocation centers, but which the president himself called "concentration camps." film as a primary source why we fight – prelude to war

39. Following evacuation orders, this store, at 13th and Franklin Streets, was closed. The owner, a University of California graduate of Japanese descent, placed the I AM AN AMERICAN sign on the store front on December 8, the day after Pearl Harbor. Evacuees of Japanese ancestry will be housed in War Relocation Authority centers for the duration. -- Photographer: Lange, Dorothea -- Oakland, California. 3/13/42

40. Date: December 17, 1944 Location: San Francisco, California This permit was issued to Matsuyo Murakami during World War II. It authorizes her travel within the West Coast region, restricted to Japanese Americans without written approval from the government.

42. Man pointing to anti-Japanese signDate: March 2, 1944 Location: Kent, Washington G.S. Hantf, a barber from Kent, Washington, points to his sign. Photo taken during resettlement period. (Info from Documentary Photo Aids caption)

43. Japanese Americans . . . The presidential commission investigating the incarceration in the 1980s judged that: "The promulgation of Executive Order 9066 was not justified by military necessity, and the decisions which followed from it--detention, ending detention and ending exclusion--were not driven by analysis of military conditions. The broad historical causes which shaped these decisions were race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership. Widespread ignorance of Japanese Americans contributed to a policy conceived in haste and executed in an atmosphere of fear and anger at Japan. A grave injustice was done to American citizens and resident aliens of Japanese ancestry who, without individual review or other probative evidence against them, were excluded, removed, and detained by the United States during World War II." film as a primary source why we fight – prelude to war