Pearl Harbor Deception

In the morning hours of December 7, 1941 the Japanese attacked the Hawaiian islands at Pearl Harbor. The Japanese had been feeling the pressures of World War II (WWII) as did many others. With the resources of the Japanese dwindling, the Japanese decided to attack the U.S. while

In 1940, the United States was extremely against this animosity and reacted with trade embargoes and monetary approvals. FDR had talked with the Dutch and the British to see if they would agree upon embargoes on Japan. Franklin Delano Roosevelt did not want a conflict in the pacific as the United States was not prepared for war. For instance, the oil embargo that was organized between the British, the Dutch, and the United States was about 90% of Japan’s imported oil. [3] This upset Japan because without oil or fuel their military and war efforts would come to a complete stop.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his war speech and asserted December 7, 1941 as, “a date which will live in infamy.” The United States’ naval bases stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii were struck by Japanese planes intentionally and promptly. The news of this attack on the Pearl Harbor shocked the world. It was devastating to the nation that were still in the throes of depression. Witnesses of this event painted a portrait of a nation stunned, but determined to rise again. The United States’ government had not disclosed a Pearl Harbor story to the public--that the U.S. had failed to act on advance information about a planned Japanese attack. Japan 's move against the United States was audacious enough to be considered no more than a slight possibility, although the potential for an attack had been widely discussed.

Pearl Harbor (1941): an American naval base in why you were Japanese warplanes discovered numerous ships and caused 3000 casualties on December 7, 1941 – a day that, and Pres. Roosevelt’s words, was to “live in infamy.” The attack brought United States into World War II.

Pearl Harbor, the beginning of the war between Japan and the United States, was the start of dreadful war organized by Japanese aircraft. The attack was a withheld, destructive attack against the United State's naval base in Hawaii. This attack on December 7, 1941 was originally a plan to conquer the Dutch East Indies without being interrupted by the U.S. Pacific fleet. The Japanese were tired of negotiations with the United States, they wanted to continue their expansion, but the United States had placed an extremely restrictive embargo on Japan in the hopes of curbing Japan's aggression. This terrible ambush resulted in the United State's entry into World War II. The aerial attacks were sent in two waves, this resulted in the sinking of multiple U.S. Battleships, Destroyers, Cruisers, and Auxiliaries, which led to thousands of U.S. personnel casualties and many wounded army, marines, and navy soldiers including many citizens.

The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 and it shocked the world. The Japanese became complex and adapted to breaking into codes from other countries. The Americans knew they needed

Roosevelt placed an embargo on important naval and aviation supplies to Japan, such as oil, iron

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was not quite as random as people may think, they didn't just attack us without reason. They saw our acts of helping the moving of cargo for allied ships as us helping the allies, and Pearl Harbor was their retaliation.

Pearl Harbor is a strategically placed naval base located near Honolulu, Hawaii. It defends the United States’ interests in the Pacific Ocean and Asia. Japan’s strategy was to expand its empire across Asia capturing parts of China, Singapore, Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies. Crippling the U.S. naval fleet at Pearl Harbor would have enabled the Japanese to capture these Asian regions without the interference of the United States Military (Higgs, 2006) (See Appendix B for map of Hawaii and Japan).

It was just an ordinary, lazy, Sunday morning to the thousands of military personnel at the Pearl Harbor Naval Station. Then, the unthinkable happened. Over the loud-speaker a call came to warn the people about the impending attack that was about to take place only a few short minutes away. They were unprepared for what was about to happened. Within minutes, the Japanese planes flew over bombing the Naval station leaving a trail of total destruction. Because of this one horrific act, the United States of America joined the allies in what would be the beginning of a long, bloody war.

Japan and the United States were struggling with each other financially for years before the incident on Pearl Harbor. In 1937, Japan decided to attack China for their natural resources. Because China and America were allies, The United States took revenge by stopping trade with Japan in 1939. Document C states, “US begins embargo of aircraft and aircraft parts against Japan”. The US did not want Japan to have the necessary equipment to continue their reign of China. A few years later in August 1941, America decided to impose an embargo on oil shipments to

Between 1942 and 1945, thousands of Japanese Americans, regardless of United States citizenship status, received orders to evacuate their homes and businesses. Sparked by rising fear amongst the American people after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, a Naval base in Hawaii, the U.S. government relocated Japanese Americans to remote areas on the West Coast and in the south, isolating them in internment camps. With no actual evidence supporting the creation of internment camps, the U.S. interned Japanese Americans because of Japanese involvement in Pearl Harbor resulting in a rise of anti-Japanese paranoia sparked by the economic success of Japanese Americans, increased fear and prejudice within the United States government and amongst citizens,

At the Washington Conferences in 1921, America reasoned with the Japanese government and decided that Japan's naval bases and naval arms would be limited. For every 5 ships that America had, Japan would be allowed a maximum of 3. Although Japan agreed, they still aimed to expand more so that they could become one of the major world powers. The Great Depression in America hit Japan with force.

Around 8:00 am on December 7, 1941 Japan attacked Pearl Harbor (United States Naval base in Hawaii), dropping bombs on it and killing nearly 3,500 people. Pearl Harbor was a turning point for The United States. The day after Pearl Harbor, The United States officially declared war on Japan

“December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan” (Roosevelt). Japan surprise attacked the Hawaiian naval base, Pearl Harbor, approximately at 7:55 am. The intent of the Japanese strike was to prevent the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with plans to seize overseas territories belonging to United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States.