Pearl Harbor Dbq

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December 7, 1941 Japanese Military forces bombed the United States Naval Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. A large number of american planes were destroyed, eight battleships, three cruisers and three destroyers were damaged, as well as over 2,300 U.S. servicemen died. All of America was devastated. The two countries had been uneasy for quite some time, and the Bombing of Pearl Harbor was America’s ticket into World War 2. President Roosevelt declared war on Japan and America was dragged into the war. However, the question still remains, why did the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor? There are many possibilities as to why the Japanese chose to bomb Pearl Harbor, but the three most prominent reasons were, because of the Immigration Quota Act of 1924, …show more content…

In 1924 the US passed the Immigration Quota act, this law restricted the amount of immigrants entering from areas of Europe and prohibited entry to Indians, Chinese and Japanese. When this law was passed Japan was furious, the Japanese Times and Mails said, “The senate passed with an overwhelming majority, an amendment they know is the most humiliating one to the Japanese race”.The Japanese felt not only humiliated but angered, they would not let America get away with discriminating against their race and as stated in Japanese Times and Mails , “And the event cuts the Japanese mind deep, a wound that will hurt and rankle for generations and generations”. Japan did not take the Immigration Quota Act of 1924 lightley and most likely held it against the US, making it one of the possible reasons Pearl Harbor was …show more content…

In Pearl Harbor and the Coming of the Pacific War, it showed that in 1940 Roosevelt moved troops and in 1941 Japan attacked Pearl Harbor (Iriye 327). Roosevelt wanted to prove America have a strong fleet and repel Japanese aggression, but instead that may have been the last straw. In an excerpt from Pearl Harbor and the Coming of the Pacific War, Hideki Tojo said, “When I think of the strength in of American defense in the South West Pacific, the expansion of the American Fleet, … I see no end to difficulties…. I fear that we would become a third-class nation after two to three years if we just sit tight” (Iriye). In Tojo’s speech he feared America would become more powerful than their nation, and Tojo says unless they do something, like bombing pearl harbor, that would ultimately

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