World War II Primary Sources

World War II Primary Sources

Historical documents. What clues can you gather about the time, place, players, and culture?

Winston Churchill, 1940: "Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat" Speech

Okay, okay, it's a speech. But close enough. In this speech, Churchill tells the members of Parliament that he'll give everything he has to the cause of fighting evil and tyranny, and Britain has to stand up and fight.

FDR, 1941: Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation

This speech is FDR's reaction to Japan's attack: it's shocked, it's angry, it's articulate, and most of all, it's vengeance-y.

FDR, 1942: Executive Order 9066

But then we've got this reaction to Pearl Harbor, which leaves us with a bad taste in our mouths. This is the executive order that yanked over a hundred thousand Japanese-Americans out of their homes and into internment camps.