Pearl Harbor: The United States and Japan

The attack on Pearl Harbor is one of the most important dates to remember, it’s known to be an awful part of American History. The United States and Japan had been leaning towards war for quite a while before the war actually started. Pearl Harbor, Hawaii is located towards the center of the Pacific Ocean. Many people were shocked that a war broke out all the way out towards the pacific ocean. Pearl Harbor is quite far from Japan as well, around 4,000 miles away.

The Japanese plotted their plan for months and on December 7th, 1941 they finally decided to attack the United States. The attack began around 8 am the Japanese had flown over Pearl Harbor and filled the sky with planes, they shot bullets and dropped bombs on the vessels. The war didn’t last that long but shortly after it began they dropped a bomb weighing over one thousand pounds on the USS Arizona, crushing the deck and causing it to blow up and leading to the death of thousands of men that were inside at the time.

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There were thousands that died in this war, several vessels were damaged. The Japanese motive was caused by the United States because they cut off the oil experts in japan. Japan had become successful with access to the oil, they had a functioning navy, without access to the oil supplies it wouldn’t function correctly. The Japanese thought that starting a war with the United States would create free access to the pacific and they wouldn’t need permission to use the oil.

The Japanese also attacked several other places after they attacked pearl harbor. The United States wasn’t prepared for this war.

The impact on Pearl Harbor was quite frightening, several people were injured and several died. America changed in several ways, politics, several businesses changed, the media grew. People became fearful and didn’t feel safe at all, seeing the attack on pearl harbor made the people of America ready for the upcoming wars. The people wanted to help clean up the aftermath of the war, taxes were raised a little higher to help pay for the war. People were hurt by seeing so much horrible damage done to their world. Japan only lost nine planes when attacking pearl harbor, the Japanese didn’t lose much compared to Pearl Harbor. Once the second wave was over the hospital on Ford Island became very full. The Japanese only targeted the vessels and wanted to keep the civilians out of the war, the nurses were having a regular day till the sky filled with smoke and the halls and rooms were so full they had a hard time placing people. “There were at least 49 civilians that were killed in this attack”(Peirce 34), there could have been more injured but the Japanese did try to avoid the civilians.

Japan wasn’t always a threat to the United States. “The new government was committed to changing Japan into a modern nation. In this way, Japanese leaders hoped to compete with the United States and European countries”(Peirce 8).”In the 1880sand 1890s, Japan began to spend more money to strengthen its navy and army. Furthermore, Japan began to compete with other powers in the region for influence in eastern Asia”(Peirce 10). Franklin D. Roosevelt was the President of the United States at the time of the attack of Pearl Harbor. A few people thought that President Roosevelt was involved with the attack on Pearl Harbor, but there really isn’t a source that supports that theory. “The American historian John Toland (1912-2004), in a book published in 1982, also supported the theory that the series of mistakes committed on the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor is too incredible not to be a sign of a plot” Valentim) Ask jess. The US Arizona was the first one that was hit, in this horrific war. “The USS Arizona Memorial was constructed above the remains of the sunken battleship and completed in 1962”(Parrish1). There was a memorial created for the lives that were lost on these different vessels. “Each December 7 is National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. Large crowds at the memorial mark the day. These include survivors and World War II veterans”(Parrish 1).