preview

Pearl Harbor Turning Point Research Paper

Better Essays

On December 7, 1941, it was just a typical Sunday morning for the citizens of the Hawaiian island, Oahu. Most of the island was still asleep. There were, however, only a few navy men at their base, Pearl Harbor, and likewise, just a few air force men at the air corps base at Hickam field. Both bases were aware of a large group of B-17s coming towards the island. However, neither base took many actions to defend against the incoming plane because they mistook them as another false alarm of which there had lately been many.1 Unfortunately, this was not going to turn out to be a false alarm. In fact, it was going to turn out to be what was known as the “turning point of the twentieth century” in America 2 and would lead the U.S. into joining the second world war. The Japanese dropped the first wave of bombs at 7:55 am. Over 1,000 American navy men were drowned inside the USS Arizona that was hit by an enormous bomb. The next wave of torpedoes sent 400 sailors that were aboard the USS Oklahoma, into the sea. There were fives waves of attacks and, they went on for about two hours.3 The effects were devastating. There were 2,403 men reported dead and 1,178 men injured. Eighteen of Pearl Harbor’s ships were significantly crippled or …show more content…

While the growing conflict in Europe was hard for FDR to ignore, the Great Depression won over his attention and as a result, the (situation) in Europe got put on the (back burner).6 In truth, FDR really favored the idea of internationalism and felt that the U.S. was meant to be a “superpower”8 in the world. However, on account of the effect the first world war had on America, the problem of the Great Depression, and the overall weak state of the nation, Congress really started to press the already deeply rooted idea of

Get Access