To many, history is simply the study of past events. It is merely a collection of names and dates of people and events long dead to memorize and regurgitate when called upon. Subsequently, the actual impact and significance is lost, people failing to see why studying events like World War II are crucial to the formation of new ideas and the comprehension of how history has shaped the world they currently reside in.
Big Ideas/Essential Questions
World War II has directly shaped the modern world. It signaled the end of total European dominance in international affairs and the beginning of America’s emergence as a world power. The unit focuses on American participation in World War II, examining its entry and the battles it participated in (exceptional soldiers and fighting units playing a central part) as well as the home front, from women’s roles to the unlawful internment of Japanese American citizens.
When studying the war from an American perspective a number of questions arise, including the broadest: Why did the US enter the war? Why did a country that had followed a strict policy of isolation for the last twenty years and had no desire to be pulled into a “European” war end its isolationism? As one continues to progress through the events surrounding the war, the motivations, the people, and places impacted by the fighting, more questions are called forth from what were the significance of various battles to how were constitutional rights violated within the US during the war to why did the US decide to drop the atomic bomb.
Crucial Events
In terms of American History, World War II is one of the most well-known wars, having significantly changed the course of the nation. The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, which was immediately decried as a “date that would live in infamy” by FDR, pulled the United States into a war they had long been attempting to avoid. But with the loss of thousands of lives, came the unavoidable declarations of war on Japan and eventually Germany. Fighting on two fronts, the United States split its forces between the European and Pacific Theaters, engaging in an Island Hopping Campaign before determining that the dropping of the atomic bomb was the necessary solution to force Japanese surrender. While the Nazi regime placed the Jewish population, prisoners of war, the Romani, homosexuals, and others deemed “undesirable” in concentration camps, America violated the constitutional rights of its Japanese American citizens by interning them in camps within the interior of the states, forcing them out of cities and homes in the name of paranoia.
Primary Sources Worth Examining
Having occurred within the last 75 years, World War II is well recorded, with many primary documents available and in good condition. Pictures of Holocaust survivors, soldiers raising a flag on Iwo Jima, and bombers dropping their load stand as testaments of the men and women who participated and were affected by the war. Diaries and letters from soldiers and interned Japanese-Americans describe a time of anxiety and documents the travesties committed when uncertainty and paranoia gain control. Within the unit, the diary of Suzuki, an interned Japanese-American citizen, illustrates the lives of those within the camps while the Supreme Court ruling for Fred Korematsu v. United States displays the prevailing attitude of Americans at the time. Propaganda posters and songs of the time detail the thoughts and sentiments of a country gripped by war as well as the power of words and images on the American public.
Differing/Multiple Perspectives
History functions as a narrative, a story comprised of different parts and elements. Each individual, each country, each side of the war has a different perspective regarding what occurred during the war. Therefore, it is crucial to be aware of these multiple perspectives and utilize multiple sources when attempting to construct a unified narrative or summary of events. For so long history was often solely the story of the victors, of the men who had won the day, but World War II offers a wealth of sources from both sides and from people of varying genders, races/ethnic groups, nations, and positions. The availability of sources makes World War II a compelling subject to study in depth as the perspectives offer the distinct stories of hundreds involved within a war that gripped the whole world for the second time within three decades.
Big Ideas/Essential Questions
World War II has directly shaped the modern world. It signaled the end of total European dominance in international affairs and the beginning of America’s emergence as a world power. The unit focuses on American participation in World War II, examining its entry and the battles it participated in (exceptional soldiers and fighting units playing a central part) as well as the home front, from women’s roles to the unlawful internment of Japanese American citizens.
When studying the war from an American perspective a number of questions arise, including the broadest: Why did the US enter the war? Why did a country that had followed a strict policy of isolation for the last twenty years and had no desire to be pulled into a “European” war end its isolationism? As one continues to progress through the events surrounding the war, the motivations, the people, and places impacted by the fighting, more questions are called forth from what were the significance of various battles to how were constitutional rights violated within the US during the war to why did the US decide to drop the atomic bomb.
Crucial Events
In terms of American History, World War II is one of the most well-known wars, having significantly changed the course of the nation. The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, which was immediately decried as a “date that would live in infamy” by FDR, pulled the United States into a war they had long been attempting to avoid. But with the loss of thousands of lives, came the unavoidable declarations of war on Japan and eventually Germany. Fighting on two fronts, the United States split its forces between the European and Pacific Theaters, engaging in an Island Hopping Campaign before determining that the dropping of the atomic bomb was the necessary solution to force Japanese surrender. While the Nazi regime placed the Jewish population, prisoners of war, the Romani, homosexuals, and others deemed “undesirable” in concentration camps, America violated the constitutional rights of its Japanese American citizens by interning them in camps within the interior of the states, forcing them out of cities and homes in the name of paranoia.
Primary Sources Worth Examining
Having occurred within the last 75 years, World War II is well recorded, with many primary documents available and in good condition. Pictures of Holocaust survivors, soldiers raising a flag on Iwo Jima, and bombers dropping their load stand as testaments of the men and women who participated and were affected by the war. Diaries and letters from soldiers and interned Japanese-Americans describe a time of anxiety and documents the travesties committed when uncertainty and paranoia gain control. Within the unit, the diary of Suzuki, an interned Japanese-American citizen, illustrates the lives of those within the camps while the Supreme Court ruling for Fred Korematsu v. United States displays the prevailing attitude of Americans at the time. Propaganda posters and songs of the time detail the thoughts and sentiments of a country gripped by war as well as the power of words and images on the American public.
Differing/Multiple Perspectives
History functions as a narrative, a story comprised of different parts and elements. Each individual, each country, each side of the war has a different perspective regarding what occurred during the war. Therefore, it is crucial to be aware of these multiple perspectives and utilize multiple sources when attempting to construct a unified narrative or summary of events. For so long history was often solely the story of the victors, of the men who had won the day, but World War II offers a wealth of sources from both sides and from people of varying genders, races/ethnic groups, nations, and positions. The availability of sources makes World War II a compelling subject to study in depth as the perspectives offer the distinct stories of hundreds involved within a war that gripped the whole world for the second time within three decades.