Reference no: EM133306966

Assignment:

Watch the U.S. government-produced propaganda film explaining the internment of Japanese American citizens during World War II. United States Office of War Information (1943), approx.

1. What were some of the reasons for incarceration offered in the newsreel?
2. How does the newsreel portray incarceration - Is it portrayed as positive or negative?
3. Who do you believe was the target audience for this newsreel?

Read Document A: The Munson Report and Document B: The Crisis on the internment of Japanese-American citizens during World War II (linked in the Japanese Internment page from this unit's Primary Sources submodule). Answer the following questions:

1. Using Document A: Describe this document. What does it report about the threat to Japanese Americans? Why is the date of the Munson report important?
2. Using Document B: Describe this document. Why, according to The Crisis article, where the Japanese Americans interned? Is this a reasonable or valid claim, do you think?

Read Document B: The Korematsu Supreme Court Ruling and Document C: Personal Justice Denied on the internment of Japanese-American citizens during World War II (linked in the Japanese Internment page from this unit's Primary Sources submodule). Answer the following questions:

1. Using Document B: On what basis did the Supreme Court ruling legitimize the compulsory exclusion of minority communities? What does this say about prevailing attitudes towards non-Whites in America at the time?
2. Using Document C: According to the special commission established by the U.S. Congress nearly 40 years later, what were the underlying social-historical causes that led to the decision to intern Japanese Americans during WWII?