Pearl Harbor Argumentative Essay

“Yesterday, December 7, 1941¬¬¬¬ --a date which will live in infamy…” was how President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed the nation the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor was a devastating blow to American’s concept of safety and drew the United States into war against Germany and Japan. However, many historians question the events leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Gordon Prange, Thomas Bailey and Paul Rayan and Richard Thornton all give different perspectives on the events of Pearl Harbor answering the questions: Did President Roosevelt know about the attack? Was President Roosevelt ready for war?

had already had Japan cornered in a sense and Japan’s defeat was inevitable, the bomb was not necessary to win the war. America’s main priority was to put fear in the Soviet Union and any other country rising to the world stage. It was nearly impossible for Japan to declare victory on America even without the deploying of the bomb (Document 2). This backs up the idea that America’s intentions of dropping the atomic bomb was not to end the war with Japan, but only to show they were the most powerful country. From the start of the war with Japan, a Japanese army leader Isoroku Yamamoto had realized their mistake early, quoting “I am afraid we have awakened a sleeping giant” (Lecture Notes).

(Source F). So meaning the U.S was just defending itself then attacked Japan out of self-defence. The attack on Pearl Harbour was planned out by the Japanese government to cripple United States and its Pacific fleet to give them the space to invade South-east Asia according to (Source B). Japan wanted to invade china to take over their import market. (Source F).

December 7, 1941 is considered one of the most impactful days in United States’ history: the day Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Despite their size, Japan left an incredible amount of damage with their 5 submarines and 408 planes. President Roosevelt had been avoiding scuffling with Japan since their pact with Germany and Italy; war with Germany was sure to erupt soon enough. However, soon after the ambuscade, the United States’ declared war on Japan and launched their involvement in World War II. Japan’s leaders recognized the risks of invading one of America’s naval bases; yet they persisted.

On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor, a U.S. naval base which is located in Hawaii, had a devastating surprise attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service. Around one hundred U.S aircraft was destroyed and 2,403 Americans were killed following 1,178 Americans wounded (Thought Co.). Roosevelt presented a memorable speech regarding the attack on pearl harbor, stating that Dec 7, 1941 would be “a date which will live in infamy” (Library of Congress). At the end of the speech, this forced the United States president, Franklin D. Roosevelt to ask congress to declare war against Japan. His request was approved and thus they declared war the following day of the attack.

“Dropping the atomic bombs on Japan saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers and some believed it was the only way to end the war quickly.” in Dropping the A-Bomb Saved Lives. As a result of dropping the bomb Japan lost lives of soldiers, civilians and land. Japan also lost power in their government because of the bombs, and many business, houses got destroyed and created some tension between the governments. The U.S. only had a few choices since Japan wouldn't surrender the U.S. had to do something.

The Americans continued to fight the Japanese by firebombing the mainland, however this was not enough, Japan kept fighting. To end the biggest war in history the Americans dropped the new atomic bombs on Japan. By dropping the bombs the Americans officially ended WW II. Further, dropping the bombs prevented even more causalities American and Japanese alike.

So, Truman made the difficult but necessary decision to drop the first atomic bombs. The mass destruction caused the Japanese to realize that they had already lost the war, and they needed to give up. All in all, the action taken by President Harry S. Truman was the right decision because it ended the war and saved American soldiers’

Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, was indeed a day of infamy; it was a day in which America feared for their families and loved ones. A day that started out to be a calm Sunday morning was spitefully interrupted just before 8 a.m. when Japanese warplanes viciously bombed the U.S naval base. As a whole, The United States intentions were to stay neutral concerning foreign affairs, and had done so until Japan invaded Hawaiian territory. Thousands of Americans lost their lives and many were struggling to stay alive. The next day, President Franklin Roosevelt called an urgent meeting with the members of the Senate and House of Representatives.

If the United States never dropped the atomic bomb then soldiers would have had to invade Japan which would result in a large number of casualties. “I have been convinced that we saved more lives than we took. It would have been morally wrong if we’d have had that weapon and not used it and let a million more people die”(Source 8). Due to the Japanese bushido mentality, they were never going to surrender, and they would fight until the last man was standing. “The Japanese had demonstrated near-fanatical resistance, fighting to almost the last man on Pacific islands, committing mass suicide on Saipan, and unleashing kamikaze attacks at Okinawa”(Source 11).

Rahul Bagga Mr.Campbell US History, Period 0 16 December 2015 Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor? One day that will always be remembered by America is the date of December 7, 1941, which changed American history forever. December 7, 1941 was the day the Japanese warplanes attacked Pearl Harbor (Hawaii) which stationed many of American ships and airfields. Immediately after the bombings, United States President Franklin Roosevelt declared war on Japan, leading to a direct involvement into World War ll. Japan had many reason to do so but Japan attacked Pearl harbor for three reasons which were that they had a plan for a new world order, United States were expanding their number of naval ships rapidly, and an oil embargo was placed upon Japan

At this point in the war America had already suffered losses of more than 418,000 lives, both military and civilian. Thanks to the manhattan project they had a weapon of mass destruction within their grasp, the atomic bomb. It is right to say that the use of the weapon helped to near the end of WWII. Germany was already out of the picture, but Japan held its strength, conquering several hundred islands in the Indian Ocean. In an article

In the twentieth century, the United States dropped two atomic bombs, which were the most powerful weapons at that time, on Japan. It happened on August 6 and August 9, 1945. The atomic bombs killed 226,000 Japanese and ended the war. However, America should not have dropped the atomic bombs for two reasons. First, it was not necessary to drop the bomb to win the war militarily or to get the Japanese to surrender.

One of the biggest debates in american history was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. During World War 2, the United States dropped two atomic bombs in an attempt to make Japan surrender. Prior to the United States dropping these bombs, Japan was refusing to surrender and was going to win the war at all costs. The fact that Japan was not going to give up shows how the atomic bombs were a military necessity.

The deadly bombing on Japan saved the lives of many in America, prevented them from attacking the U.S like the one on Pearl Harbor, and it brought a sense of peace to the U.S. It is significant to the understanding of WWII because the events of the atomic bombs were the end of