The Pearl Harbor Attack

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December 7, 1941 was a date that lived in infamy; it was a date that 2,400 Americans lost their lives needlessly. Several military ships were destroyed and millions of dollars in military equipment was lost. It was a date that this great nation still to this date has not forgotten. No one could have imagined something so horrific happening on American soil that day. The United States of America at that time was a neutral party in the war at that time. This attack caused a turning tide in the war. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s decisions that day could be said to be one of the most critical moments in presidential history. The first 24 hours from the attack that day were crucial and President Roosevelt responded with calm, deliberate, and decisive decisions that day. The United States declared war on the Empire of Japan and joined the fight in Europe against Nazi Germany and the Axis Alliance. The America people rallied with a vengeance and united to defend its self.
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...

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Works Cited

Naval history & heritage. (1991). Retrieved from http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq66- 1.htm
Weather Played Role in Pearl Harbor Attack. (2011, December 07). Retrieved from http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/partly-cloudy-skies-during- pea/58654
Pearl harbor clash the untold story history channel documentary [Web]. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAVzHtKSK4o&noredirect=1
Eleanor Roosevelt and Pearl Harbor. (2013, December 06). Retrieved from http://assolutatranquillita.blogspot.com/2012/12/eleanor-roosevelt-and-pearl- harbor.html
Remembering Pearl Harbor Histroy. (2001). Retrieved from http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor/history/pearlharbor_timeline.html
This reporter. (2007, February 02). Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/
americanmasters/episodes/edward-r-murrow/this-reporter/513/

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