The FEAR of Communism

The FEAR of communism in the United States was a very popular feeling throughout the 1950's. But what made most people fear communism?
 
   Most Americans hate communism. Around this time Americans were focused on the "American Dream" which was the goal to live life through industry and consumerism. They wanted the ideal life for themselves.
 
In capitalism, people live in a country based on looking after the individual, rather than the community as a whole such as communism. Communism has the right ideas, people being equal. A huge problem is that communism is susceptible to the abuse of humans. You are only as strong as your weakest link. If you are wealthy, you tend to pay more to the government so they can spread the wealth. Everyone gets the same treatment no matter what.
 
As Americans, the  greatest fear is to be equal. It just does not resemble what America is about. America is known for having the biggest and the best of everything.
 
People today still fear communism. As stated before, the goal of communism is simplistic and tends to be for the greatest good. The only problem is that you will always have a ruling party.
 
Communism would take away the opportunity for people to earn their life. The American Dream is still in action today. People want to work for themselves not for anyone else.

Japanese Internment Camps

   The imprisionment of Japanese Americans was started in 1931. Japan tried to expand and conquor other parts of Asia. On December 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. This was because they felt threatend by the United States. This led to the distrusting of Japenese people by the United States. Citizens became paranoid and saw Americans of Japanese descent threats to the security.

   In 1942, the Department of War ordered internment of over 1,000 Hawaiian Japanese-Americans and over 100,000 Japanese Americans living on the West Coast. They lost all of their property and were told to bring only what they could carry. They were shipped to prision camps. They were not even proven guilty.

   The internment of Japanese Americans was more of a security measure. This was because it was a concern that some of them might be spies secretly working for Japan. This was more of a West Coast idea. The people were segregated from the public. Most of the camps were located in California.

   Many were mistreated in the camps. This is no way similar to the holocaust. The Germans were performing "ethnic cleansing." This included gathering up Jews, gypsies, homosexuals and other groups they considered inferior and put them into prision. Millions were killed either in the gas chamber, by disease, exposure to harsh weather, starvation, or even the result of cruel "medical experiments." Though the Holocaust had many more deaths some of the conditions in Internment camps were unbearable. Since most of the camps were located in the desert, people were faced with harsh mperatures. The average summer temperatures were over 100 degrees. The winter was no better, tempertures even fell to -30 degrees.

    After the Japanese were let out of the camps, many returned to the Pacific Coast.  New lives were started and the people tried to forget what happened. Because Many of them lost there land when they were forced to the camps, they tried to regain what they had lost.  In 1948, Congress finally agreed to pay for some of the lost property.

http://www.bookmice.net/darkchilde/japan/camp.html

The Manhattan Project

   The Manhattan Project was a U.S. project lasting from August 1942 to August 1946. This project developed the atomic energy program. It is known for the Atomic bomb. Before any of this happened, Germany was ahead of anyone. Germany had a heavy-water plant, uranium chemicals, scientists and engineers. They also had the best chemical engineering industry in the world. Before WWII, the United States was concerned about the nuclear threat of the Axis.

   Before any ideas about the Manhattan Project were discussed, President Franklin D. Roosevelt received a letter from Albert Einstein on August 2, 1939. The topic was physics and the building of powerful bombs. Einstein later went on to help the United States begin research on fission and uranium.

    In June of 1942, the United States announced their nuclear program. It was under the Army Corps of Engineers. The goal was to build an atomic weapon before Japan or Germany.

   The Manhattan Project was officially started on May 12, 1942. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an order to start this secret project. The project was named after the Manhattan Engineer District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This was because most of the research was done here. Tests were done in three cities. Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Los Alamos, New Mexico and Hanford, Washington.

   On August 6, 1945 the United States dropped onto Hiroshima. This resulted in the death of over 100,000 people. After this attack the Japanese government decided still not to surrender to the United States. On August 9, 1945 the United States attacked Nagasaki. After this, Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945.

   The Manhattan Project made it possible for the United States to have weapons that are the most destructive. This played a key role in future nuclear weapons.

Holocaust: The Effect in the United States

   The rescuing of Jews during WWII was not a priority for the United States. This was because of the prejudice against Jews, isolationism, the depression, and the fear of foreigners. In the United States, it was difficult for refugees to get visas.

   Another reason why it was not a priority for the United States was because the State Department delayed publicizing the reports of genocide. In 1942, the government received a cable that showed the Nazi plans for the extermination of Jews.

   The United States did not respond quickly to the rescue of victims in the Holocaust. In 1943, representatives from the United States and Britain met in Bermuda to find a way to solve this problem. There were no proposals that came about during the conference. Also during this time, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was informed of the mass murder in the Warsaw ghetto. The United States did not take any action until 1944. This happened when Roosevelt established the War Refugee Board. By the time the War Refugee Board was finally established, most of the Jewish people in the Holocaust were dead.

   Around the spring of 1944, the Allies found out about the killings of Jews using poison gas at Auschwitz. Some Jewish leaders spoke unsuccessfully with the government in an attempt to get the United States to bomb the gas chambers and railroad tracks going to the camp. State officials argued that United States aircraft did not have the capacity to perfect these actions. Accuracy was a very big problem. This led to D-Day. On June 6, 1944 the Allies landed at Normandy. This started their invasion of Nazi Europe.

  The picture does not have to do much with my blog entry. When I went to Europe in 2007, I had a chance to go to the Anne Frank House. We got to walk throughout the house. The attic was definitely a chilling experience. Anne Frank is one of the most renowned and most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. She earned fame worldwide quickly after the publication of her diary which documents her experiences hiding during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II.


SITES: (CREDITS) : http://www.hello-newman.com/Israel/holocaust.html