IndexIntroductionAmerica in the 1920s and 1930sJapanese Immigration Before World War IIBackground and Beliefs of Franklin Delano RooseveltConclusionIntroductionAt the Beginning of World War II (II), the United States of America (USA) government chose not to intervene, but to remain neutral and practice isolationism throughout the war. World War II was initially fought between the Allied powers, England, France and finally Russia following the invasion of Germany in June 1941 and the Axis powers, Germany, Italy and Japan. The war officially began on September 1, 1939, after Germany invaded Poland after forming an alliance with Russia that eventually collapsed after Germany invaded Russia. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Air Force attacked a U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, home to most of the U.S. Navy's ships. Approximately 2,403 people died as a result of the attack and nearly 18 ships were destroyed. Nine of these ships were battleships and 68 civilians lost their lives. As a result of the attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt went to war with Japan, bringing the United States into World War II. Initially, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began investigating and detaining Japanese, Italian, and German suspects and began eliminating any potential moles who would give away America's secrets to their home countries. More Japanese were detained than Germans and Italians due to Pearl Harbor and public fear at the time. Then, in January 1942, Roosevelt adopted a decree to send all U.S. citizens of Japanese descent to internment camps. This lasted until March 1944, when Roosevelt decided to withdraw the decree and began closing all Japanese internment camps in the United States as World War II began to end. While it was argued at the time that the internment of American citizens of Japanese descent was for the safety of "American citizens," today it is often seen as the result of government racism that favored the white population over the non-white citizens living in the United States. So was the internment of the Japanese justified? Many people compared the treatment of Japanese-American citizens during World War II to the way African Americans, Latinos, Jews, and Italians had been treated in America in the past and present. However, Roosevelt and his military officers had always been wary of the Japanese people in the United States due to past tensions and were pressured into action by numerous local, state, and national officials. This extensive essay will discuss whether the decision Roosevelt made was morally correct or was the result of racism towards Japanese Americans living in America. America in the 1920s and 1930s In the 1920s, after the end of World War I (WWI), the Republican Party regained control of the House, Senate, and, finally, the Oval Office when Democratic President Woodrow Wilson failed to receive approval from the House and Senate to enter the United States into the League of Nations and was voted out of office once his second term ended. Once Wilson was removed from office, the US government began isolationism after being implicated in the second half of World War I, resulting in the deaths of 116,708 soldiers. The United States had a habit of practicing extreme isolationism until the warSpanish-American in the 1880s, when Spain began to extend into Central America and the Philippines by claiming territories of European nations. According to The Office of The Historian, the theory of being an isolated state in the eyes of Americans was; “Isolationists advocated non-involvement in European and Asian conflicts and non-involvement in international politics.” In the 1920s, America was still participating in talks and peace treaties with foreign countries including Japan. However, the United States was very suspicious of Japan due to the future threat its army and navy might pose to the territories the United States had in the Pacific. In the 1930s, America's main goal was to restore its economy, with very little success until the election of Democratic President Roosevelt in 1933. The government remained isolated, refusing to get involved in the alliance systems that were tearing the country apart. 'Europe and Asia. Roosevelt implemented the "New Deal", regulation quickly began to ease the effects brought by the Great Depression to America. The New Deal helped address unemployment in America by implanting a number of programs such as CCC, WPA, TVA, SEC, and others. By 1939, the United States had withdrawn from foreign affairs, fearing involvement in World War II, and by 1940 America had pulled itself out of the Depression, using Roosevelt's relief methods. Immigration policies in America during the 1930s were limited by the climate of isolationism, racism, and economic instability. It was certainly more restrictive towards immigrants from Asia than towards immigrants from Europe. Japanese Immigration Before World War II Japanese immigrants began arriving in the United States in the 1860s, starting in Hawaii and slowly moving to the mainland. Before the 1880s, Japan was very reluctant to allow its citizens to immigrate, but once the government relaxed these restrictions, the increase in Japanese immigrants occurred almost immediately. In 1900, more than 25,000 Japanese emigrated to the United States, and the number grew to more than 100,000 within 25 years. Japanese immigrants primarily became farmers and miners and soon became the majority of all jobs. According to the Library of Congress; “By 1920, Japanese immigrant farmers controlled more than 450,000 acres of land in California, brought more than 10 percent of crop revenue to market, and had produced at least one American-made millionaire.” As more and more Japanese immigrants arrived in the country, Americans became suspicious and wary of them. In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt and Japanese Prime Minister Saionji Kinmochi reached an informal agreement on Japan's entry into the United States. Japanese who had already entered the country would be accepted as unofficial citizens, and Japanese who wanted to enter the United States would be denied admission by the Japanese government. According to Politico; President Theodore Roosevelt reached a “gentlemen's agreement” with representatives of the Empire of Japan aimed at reducing tensions between Washington and Tokyo by curbing Japanese immigration to the United States. Under the informal agreement, Washington agreed to accept the presence of Japanese immigrants already in America; allow immigrants' wives, children, and parents to enter the country; and ban discrimination against Japanese-American children in California schools. In exchange, Tokyo agreed to suspend issuing passports to Japanese workers seeking to immigrate to the United States.”That agreement was never actually ratified by the two leaders. In 1924 the United States government passed the Immigration Act, making it illegal for all Asian immigrants to enter the United States. Japan and the United States have not fully complied with the terms of their agreement. California gave Japanese students the right to go to school, but they were forced to attend schools completely separate from white students, a situation similar to the way African American students were treated in the civil rights era. Japan continued to provide its citizens with immigration passports to Hawaii, where immigrants could then travel to the mainland. Throughout the 1920s, several anti-Japanese groups formed in response to Japanese immigrants who had come ashore. One of these groups was called the Anti-Japanese League, as reported by Seattle Civil Rights History; “The Anti-Japanese League of Seattle, however, led the campaign to extend the congressional hearings to Washington. The League was composed primarily of members of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Washington State Veteran's Welfare Commission (VFW). The Anti-Japanese League was founded in 1916 by former Washington State legislator and director of the local U.S. Naval Training Facility, Miller Freeman. Freeman was the League's president at the time of the congressional hearings. He had also been appointed head of the Washington State VFW by Governor Hart. Freeman had testified before the committee in Washington DC in 1919 and was asked by President Johnson to solicit additional anti-Japanese witnesses. In his 1919 testimony, Freeman framed his animosity toward Japanese immigrants in the context of the competition for control over the Pacific Rim: “Today, in my opinion, the Japanese of our country regard the Pacific coast as nothing more than a colony. of Japan, and the whites as a subject race.” Adding to this sense of conflict was the strong military presence at the Seattle and Tacoma hearings, which worried the Seattle Union Record, the city's labor newspaper. (Blair) This fear of a Japanese takeover as immigrants continued to flow in was called the “Yellow Peril.” Background and Beliefs of Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt, known as FDR, was born in 1882 in Hyde Park, New York. He attended Havard and, following in the footsteps of his cousin Theodore Roosevelt, entered politics in 1910. He served in the Senate as a Democrat and was later appointed assistant secretary of the Navy by Woodrow Wilson. Shortly thereafter, he was chosen to be the Democratic nominee for vice president. In the summer of 1921 he was diagnosed with polio, an infection more common in children but which can lead to permanent paralysis. Unfortunately, FDR was paralyzed, but he continued to work hard at his job and was elected governor of New York in 1928. He was elected president in 1932, helping to solve the country's huge problem with the Great Depression and quickly reviving the economy. FDR was reelected in 1936 and began to make bigger strides in his decision making. One example of this was implementing a good neighbor policy toward foreign countries, something another president had never done since the Monroe Doctrine was promulgated. He also wanted to expand the Supreme Court, but was ultimately rejected. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Conclusion At first, when the Japanese were interned, FDR was supposed to have complied with the order to protect the American people; however, that was never truly the case. Second.