Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor The Japanese’s attack on Pearl Harbor was not a surprise attack on the United States, but that it what most people are led to believe. There was a prior attack on a boat in the ocean that they knew was by the Japanese, but the commander just sent fighter pilots to shoot them down, and did nothing following this event. I believe that we made the right decision in not preventing the Japanese from attacking Pearl Harbor, because this gave us a reason for entry into World War II. After researching, I found that even if the Japanese did not attack Pearl Harbor, there were other reasons that the United States would have had to enter the war. It is very difficult to tell what might have happened had this attack not happened. I also believe another reason the United States should not have stopped the attack on Pearl Harbor is because public opinion for entering the war would not have been as strong. Another fact I found to be interesting is that prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, a large portion of Japan’s merchant navy was run by foreign ships, so when they attack Pearl Harbor, they lose these ships, making themselves an easier attack. This is due to the fact that about thirty five percent of their navy was foreign and no longer worked for Japan after this attack. The other side to this argument would be that we let close to 2,500 Americans die during this attack. I believe that this was nowhere near the amount of lives that would’ve been taken if the United States did not enter the war and defeat Germany. Again, this fact is hard to prove considering it did not happen and we are unaware of what the actual outcome would have been, had we not entered the war. There were also many beneficial things that were due to the outcome of World War II. There were new opportunities in store for the American women and they were now able to prove what they were really capable of doing. The economy also rose due to the mass production of war materials.