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European Settlers of Puget Sound - 1845
Quote: “Settlers arrived-mostly wayward souls and eccentrics who had meandered off the Oregon Trail. A few rooting pigs were slaughtered in 1845-by Canadan ... but San Piedro Island generally lay clear of violence after that.” (5-6). Imagery is us, when the treaty was broken between the Canadan Englishmen and the Native Americans were violated and killed.
Info: The European Settlers of Puget Sound were the first settlers of Washington. https://www.britannica.com/place/Seattle-Washington/History -
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SFC Historical Events Time Line
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Native Americans of Puget Sound - 1855
Quote: “Main Street presented to the populace Peterson's Grocery, a post office, Fisk's Hardware Center, Larsen's Pharmacy, a dime-store-with-fountain owned by a woman in Seattle, a Puget Power office;”. (6).This quote describes how the land of the Native Americans was stripped away from them by the settlers and they used the land to build towns, neighborhoods, and shops. Tribes including Duwamish, Nisqually, etc settled in North America from Siberia -
Alien Land Law - 1913
Quote: “The law said they could not own land unless they became citizens; it also said they could not become citizens so long as they were Japanese” (76). This quote briefly describes the Alien Land Law.
Info: The Alien Land Law of 1913 was a law attempting to limit the presence of Japanese-Amercans making them unable to purchase land and made them negligible for US citizenship. -
Pearl Harbor - 1941
Quote: “It can’t be true”, he said. “It’s true,” she said. “Find a radio, just this morning. They bombed Hawaii.” (177). This quote is from when Georgia, Yamashita’s mother broke the news to everyone about the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Info: A naval base in Honolulu,Hawaii was attacked by Japanese fighter planes on December 7th, 1941 and destroyed American naval vessels, battleships, and airplanes and the attack had killed 2,400 Americans. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor -
Military recruitment and propaganda during World War II - 1941
Quote: “It was all propaganda...They wanted us to be able to kill them with no remorse, to make them less than people. None of it was fair or true,” (344-345) This quote is said by Ishmael and he is explaining how all of the WWII propaganda is making him feel.
Info: WWII propaganda was a way to increase support for the war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_propaganda_during_World_War_II -
Japanese American Internment - 1942
Quote: "She’d dozed off and awakened in time to see the barbed wire and the rows of dark barracks blurred by blowing dust.” (218). In this quote it is talking about Fujiko’s story of traveling through the Mojave Desert and arriving at the internment camp called Manzanar.
Info: Due to this nation wide fear President Roosevelt issued the Executive Order 9066 which began the interment of all Japanese-Americans. https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/japanese-relocation -
Dear John Letter - 1944
Quote: "I don't love you, Ishmael … When we met that last time in the cedar tree... I knew we could never be right together.” this quote is from the letter of Hatsue to Ishamel breaking up with him and this letter symbolizes the Dear John Letter.
Info: The Dear John Letter is a letter written by a man's wife calling off the relationship and typically the man is in the military and is stationed overseas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_John_letter -
Battle of Normandy - 1944
Quote: “Ishamel asked him once if he was all right, but the boy only went on with his groaning. He died ten minutes later before the beaters came around to take him down to surgery.” In this quote Guterson uses imagery to describe Ishmael’s experience in serving in the Battle of Normandy.
Info: Also known as D-Day was the invasion of US, British, and Candian forces storming the beaches in Normandy,France. https://www.britannica.com/event/Normandy-Invasion -
Battle of Okinawa - 1945
Quote: “like Horace himself, had survived Okinawa-.” (47) In chapter 5 Guterson describes Horace Whaley and tells the reader of Horace surviving the battle of Okinawa.
Info: The Battle of Okinawa took place during the months of April-June of 1945 and was the last major battle of WWII. A fleet of marine corps took one final push towards Japan to have one final battle. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa -
Pearl Harbor Memorial - 1962
Quote: "ladies and gentlemen, to an argument based on prejudice... He is counting on you to act on passions best left to a war of ten years ago." (424) In this quote Guterson describes the past and how it is good to remember the past.
Info: The Pearl Harbor National Memorial is the USS Arizona and teaches people information about the attack and remembers the events that day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Arizona_Memorial