At almost eight o’clock in the morning in the island of Oahu, Hawaii the day of Infamy began. December 7th, 1941 was one of the most devastating attacks on American soil. The day of Infamy, or more commonly known as Pearl Harbor, was an attack on American soil from the Imperial Army. This attack was the final burst of the tension that had been built up between the United States and Japan. To understand the tragic attack it is important to understand the events leading up to it. The United States unrest with Japan started in 1937 through the invasion of Manchuria which began the Second Sino-Japanese War. Japan launched a full scale invasion of the Republic of China. The tension between Franklin D Roosevelt and Japan was initiated with
The Attack on Pearl Harbor was a shocking blow to the United States that forced the U.S. into World War II. The United States goal was to stay isolated from foreign affairs, but Pearl Harbor changed all that, forcing them to get involved in foreign affairs. A young, power hungry United States wanted to control Southeast Asia, angering Japan along the way. The reason the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor was the results of decades of tension starting back in 1899 with arguments over the United States Open Door Policy; both countries desired control over the Pacific and East Asia, which made war unavoidable.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is a day that will remain infamous in the history of America. Although people know about the attack and remember it, they might not know as in-depth as Walter Lord narrates in his book Day of Infamy. Lord’s Day of Infamy is a vivid recounting of the events that occurred on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Lord articulates the story of Pearl Harbor, not only the actual bombing but also the planning involved on behalf of the Japanese and the aftermath associated with the bombing. Day of Infamy narrates all of the events in Pearl Harbor in a very concise 200 pages and it gives an hour by hour narration of what was occurring. The timeframe for his unfolding of the story is from 3:30 am on December 7, 1941 to 5:30 pm that same evening. At 3:30 most Americans were just lying in bed and relaxing on what seemed to them as just another Sunday morning. Some unlucky soldiers were at their gate post awaiting the arrival of some cargo ships. The soldiers on guard spotted a white light but when they shinned their spotlight on it the white light veered away. The soldiers dismissed it but they had no idea that it could have given them important information as to what Pearl Harbor was to undergo in the next few hours.
December 7, 1941 is a day that will live in infamy, this event dramatically changed the course of the war and history after it. Many things caused Pearl Harbor to happen such as Japan becoming an economic threat, the U.S Embargo on Japan and Japan's quest for territory leading up the day that will live in infamy. Many things transpired after the attack such as the U.S going to war, Manhattan project and internment camps. Pearl Harbor caused a chain of events that forever changed World War II and the course of history.
Before the attack on Pearl Harbor the road to war with Japan started in the 1930s. The Empire of Japan was trying to expand its empire through the Pacific and China. In 1931 Japan conquered Manchuria, which was part of China and began an unsuccessful campaign to take over the rest of China. Japan allied themselves with Nazi Germany in 1940. At that time the U.S. had economic and political interests in East Asia. The U.S. added China with financial and military help along with strengthening its own military presence in the Pacific. They cut off shipments of raw materials and oil to Japan. Japan was very limited in their natural recourses and perceived the America’s embargo on oil and aid to China as a threat. Japans response was to conquer resourc...
In conclusion the Japanese Empire bombed Pearl Harbor, the main military base, on December 7, 1941. Japan attacked the United States because America was the only country making a serious effort to stop Japan from conquering parts of Asia. The Japanese assumed that if the United States had no warships to block Japan’s progress in defeating Asia, they would succeed in the conquering. The U.S. responded in the opposite way Japan had expected and declared war on Japan which involved them in World War II. The war ended when America dropped two atomic bombs on Japan.
It was a sunny beautiful day on the December 7, 1941, when citizens of the society were waking up to do their regular chores. This is the day that everyone will remember in the history of the world. The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan happened in the early morning. The Americans were caught off guard by the Japanese fleet. The attack resulted in an outburst of horrifying deaths among Americans, including the loss of war fleets from the naval base. Resulting in Americans entering World War II, although they did not want to engage in World War II. “The “day that will live in infamy” ended with the deaths of over 2,400 sailors, Marines, and soldiers, along with the heavy damage and destruction of eight battleships.”1 After the devastating destruction on
December 17th, 1941 was a day that will forever “live in infamy”, as it was the date of the attack on Pearl Harbor, a US naval base in Hawaii. After two waves of attacks on Pearl Harbor, more than two thousand American soldiers and sailors, and another one thousand were wounded. The Japanese destroyed about twenty American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and almost 200 airplanes. It has commonly been wondered whether this attack could’ve been prevented, and after much examination, it is clear that this attack could’ve never occurred. In his “Day of Infamy speech”, Roosevelt himself said, “It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago.” There were many causes for the attack on Pearl Harbor, stemming from bad relations between Japan and the United States. Prior to the attack, the United States treated Japan disrespectfully in many ways, creating tension and discomfort between the two countries. Countless warnings and clues were interpreted of an upcoming attack, but were not taken as serious of a threat as they were, and weren’t sent to any naval bases. On the day of the assault, no one was prepared to defend themselves or fight. There were many events that provoked Japan to attack Pearl Harbor, and the whole event could have been prevented, if it hadn’t been for many actions of the US.
On December 7th, 1941, Japanese aircrafts attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor (Axelrod 148). Before this, the United States had not entered World War II, but this changed everything. The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise, which consisted of two waves. By the end of the day, many United S...
..."Pearl Harbor History: Why Did Japan Attack? Eyewitness Accounts, Casualty List, Background."Welcome to the Official Site of the Attack on Pearl Harbor.N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor was intended to be a preventive act in order to keep the United States Navy from intruding on their military plans. Why Japan would try to take on a force they knew they could not overcome still stands in question. Japan was already engaged in a four-year war in China and debating an attack on the Soviet Union, so why engage in a war with a country with tremendous industrial advantage? The United States was not only on the opposite side of the world but had a much stronger military force. The United States had more military weapons, tactics, and forces than other countries. When attacking Pearl Harbor Japan opted to fight a war with an enemy that had the capability to wage an unstoppable war against them.
The Pearl Harbor attack didn’t just occurred because the Japanese were bored and wanted to Bomb someone, the Japanese actually had a reason to attack the United States in such a horrendous way. Since the Japanese wanted to rule Asia, the Japanese first sent armies to conquer Manchuria, and then eventually conquering all of China (What We Knew Before Pearl Harbor) The U.S. wanted Japan to stop attacking China and trying to conquer it, in order for that to happen, President Roosevelt decided to prevent Japan from buying oil, this would make the Japanese Navy and Army useless (Why Did Japan Attack?) The Japanese eventually got mad at the United States and decided to prepare an attack on the U.S. The Japanese started to prepare for the attack on November 26, 1941; they got ready to go make a 3,000-mile journey across the Pacific...
In conclusion, the attack of Japan on the United States, Pearl Harbor, led to great property destruction and even loss of lives. Japan had earlier on deceived the United States of the peace negations. Japanese Ambassadors later termed the negotiation as useless, making them attack the United States. The unexpected attack led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to ask the Congress to declare war on Japan.
Trefousse, Hans L. What Happened at Pearl Harbor? Documents Pertaining to the Japanese Attack of December 7, 1941, and Its Background. New York: Twayne, 1958. Print.
Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7th, 1941 at approximately 7:55 am by the Japanese. The day after Pearl Harbor was bombed President Roosevelt spoke the words, “ a date which will live in infamy” he was discussing the day that Pearl Harbor was bombed. Around the world during this time, people were taking in the impacts of WWll. Japan also allied with Italy and Germany, all three countries were greedy for expansion, but Japan wanted oil as well, and the American Naval fleet was in the way. Japan attacked Pearl harbor because they felt that the Americans were standing in the way of their treasures and world expansion.