Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor was the first foreign attack on the United States territory and also the longest attack on the U.S. soil. The day after Pearl Harbor Theodor Roosevelt gave his famous speech while asking Congress to declare war. Within his speech Theodor Roosevelt said “No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory"11
Though Pearl Harbor was a surprise the United States and government officials were aware of the attacks being planned by the Japanese. Pearl Harbor had been a war in the making for a while as much as the United States was trying to avoid it. In 1973 the Japanese’s invaded China. “The United States refused to intervene when Japanese troops sacked the city of Nanjing, massacred 300,000 Chinese residents, and raped thousands of women.”2 The United States wanted to stay out and remain neutral that was until 1940 when General Hideki Tojo became the war minister of Japan. One of General Hideki Tojo’s first accomplishments as war minister was to get a treaty with Italy and Germany. After having the treaty in place he then sent to attack Indochina. The purpose of all 3 countries was to have ultimate power of 4 countries one of those being the United States of America. After the attack on Indochina the United States sent a warning in the form of restricting trades to Japan particularly scrap metal and gasoline. Japanese’s didn’t take the restrictions well and “Roosevelt then froze Japanese assets in the United States and instituted an embargo on all trade with Japan, including vital oil shipments that accounted for almost 80 percent of Japanese consumption.”22. After freezing all trade with Japan, Japan started their preparations on their attack of Pearl Harbor.
On December 7th 1941 around 8:00 as most of the military at Pearl Harbor were sleeping or just waking up for the day Japan started their 2 hour long attack on
Pearl Harbor was the first foreign attack on the United States territory and also the longest attack on the U.S. soil. The day after Pearl Harbor Theodor Roosevelt gave his famous speech while asking Congress to declare war. Within his speech Theodor Roosevelt said “No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory"11
Though Pearl Harbor was a surprise the United States and government officials were aware of the attacks being planned by the Japanese. Pearl Harbor had been a war in the making for a while as much as the United States was trying to avoid it. In 1973 the Japanese’s invaded China. “The United States refused to intervene when Japanese troops sacked the city of Nanjing, massacred 300,000 Chinese residents, and raped thousands of women.”2 The United States wanted to stay out and remain neutral that was until 1940 when General Hideki Tojo became the war minister of Japan. One of General Hideki Tojo’s first accomplishments as war minister was to get a treaty with Italy and Germany. After having the treaty in place he then sent to attack Indochina. The purpose of all 3 countries was to have ultimate power of 4 countries one of those being the United States of America. After the attack on Indochina the United States sent a warning in the form of restricting trades to Japan particularly scrap metal and gasoline. Japanese’s didn’t take the restrictions well and “Roosevelt then froze Japanese assets in the United States and instituted an embargo on all trade with Japan, including vital oil shipments that accounted for almost 80 percent of Japanese consumption.”22. After freezing all trade with Japan, Japan started their preparations on their attack of Pearl Harbor.
On December 7th 1941 around 8:00 as most of the military at Pearl Harbor were sleeping or just waking up for the day Japan started their 2 hour long attack on