-
The Attack on Pearl Harbor
The US, more specifically Hawaii, was attacked by naval and air forces of the empire of Japan. The Japanese thought the US would attack them, so they decided to knock the US out before they could attack Japan. -
FDR Issues Executive Order 9066
This designated certain areas as war zones from which anyone might be removed for any reason -
The Congress of Racial Equality was Founded
An organization that sought to apply non-violent protests as a means of fighting segregation -
The Bataan Death March
Japanese troops forced the sick and malnourished American and Filipino POWs to march 55 miles up the Bataan Peninsula. -
The Doolittle Raid
FDR wanted to America to retaliate against Japan. Military leaders devised a plan for a nighttime bombing raid from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, led by Colonel James Doolittle. -
Zoot Suit Riots
Mobs of off-duty soldiers roamed through the Mexican sections of Los Angeles, attacking "zooters". Once the fighting ended, police arrested the victims, not the attackers. -
Wartime Migration leads to Racial Violence
In Detroit, Michigan, conflict erupted over the construction of housing for black workers drawn north to defense plants. Finally, some 100,000 whites and blacks broke into scattered fights in the park -
Women's Army Corps was Established
In 1941, Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers introduced a bill to establish a Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, which became the WAC in 1943.