B. It created the fear that led to unfair treatment of Japanese Americans.
The Salem (and Other) Witch Hunts
In the United States, groundless fears, prejudices, and demagoguery produced three notable events that echoed the Salem trials. All three happened under extremely tense and stressful circumstances caused by global events: World War II and by the Cold War.
The first episode started three months after December 7, 1941, when Japanese military aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued an order that allowed regional military commanders to designate “military areas” from which “any or all persons may be excluded.”
The order reflected the widespread fear that presumably unassimilated Japanese immigrants and their offspring would be more loyal to Japan than to their new country. To prevent the rise of such an “enemy within” during the war, state and local authorities along the West Coast removed over 110,000 Japanese Americans from their homes — almost two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens — and placed them in internment camps.
Hundreds of the young Japanese American internees volunteered for the U.S. Army and fought with distinction. After the war, the camps were closed, and the residents were allowed to return to their homes. The subsequent investigation by a special government commission found little evidence of Japanese disloyalty and concluded that the wartime scare had been the product of racism.
How did the attack on Pearl Harbor impact the United States?
A. It strengthened national security against potential attacks.
B. It created the fear that led to unfair treatment of Japanese Americans.
C. It brought citizens closer together to support a common cause.
D. It convinced the American public not to enter World War II.
choose the correct answer
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