Why Did Japan Attack Pearl Harbor Essay

Another potential reason that they chose to bomb the United States is that Japan had been the biggest naval power only to the exception of the United States. Japan would have wanted to beat their competition and get the honor of being the best. They chose Pearl Harbor because their goal was to take a hit at the American foundation by ruining their military base. Their original target was the aircraft carriers, but most of them were not there that day, so they had to go with Plan B and continue the attack on the battleships. They attacked on December 7, 1941 and they destroyed 18 ships as well as 300 aircrafts.

Executive Order 9066 The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese not only brought us into the war but also changed America's view of Japanese Americans living in the United States. Executive Order 9066 forced Japanese Americans into internment camps where camplife was degrading and was later viewed to be unjust. On December 7th, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaii Territory.

Japan realized that oil was their war machine and without oil the will come to an end by the end of 1941. During summer 1941, the United States stopped oil exports to japan, which kept Japan in pressure. Japan wanted to attack Pearl Harbor to disable the Pacific Fleet, to avoid the United States from taking any powerful movements in the Pacific for some time so they can secure the oil in the Dutch East Indies. Also, Japan thought the war would be over before United States

Why did Japan attack Pearl harbor? Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because of U.S. Navy expansion, the U.S. embargo on Japan, and Japan’s ambition to create a new world order.

In a letter from the U.S. Ambassador in Japan to the Secretary of State, the U.S Ambassador mentions notably the poor internal economic and financial situation of Japan along with the unsuccessful attempts to obtain loans from England, France, and Holland. The Ambassador also mentions the steady increase of stress in the Government and the mention of a hot-headed military that doesn't want to face the horrible facts (Doc H). Due to the fact that the U.S. Ambassador is in Japan his point of view on Japan’s situation is first hand and can see the effects of the deprivement of resources Japan is going through. In past history many countries had taken an imperialist mindset and when in the need for resources they would take over other countries for their resources. So keeping in mind the United States power, Japan’s want for the same power, and Japan’s “hotheaded military”, Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor could have been to take resources from the U.S. as well as weaken them for possibly taking their power.

It was a cloudy morning, most men up and lounging around and some on duty. You could barely see the sun shining through the thick clouds. You could though, hear the buzz of a plane when flying through the thick white clouds. The Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor and America had joined World War Two. The event that changed the course of American History.

In other words, “unless a new source of oil was opened, the Imperial Japanese Navy would be in dry dock within a year and Japanese industries would grind to a halt in 12 to 18 months” (historynet.com). These sanctions and other penalties didn’t discourage the Japanese, however; they actually convinced Japan to stand its ground and stirred up the anger of its people against continued Western interference in Asian affairs. Because of this, Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy, “the two fascist regimes then at war with the Allies” (Pruitt). Although Tokyo and Washington D.C. negotiated for months leading up to the Pearl Harbor attack, there was no success. According to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Day of Infamy” speech, “one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message.

Japan started World War Two because they were going through an economic crisis and believed that China had oil, which was what they needed. That was the start of Japan’s involvement, which over time progressed to the other countries. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 which blindsided America. The U.S decided to move all Japanese-Americans and relocate them to a designated area to protect the U.S from the possibility of any Japanese-Americans helping Japan from the U.S. These actions would change the life of Japanese-Americans forever.

“Seeing there was nothing I can do for the lieutenant, I continued to my battle station” is the feeling you get when learning about Pearl Harbor. It was the end of 1941, and America felt it was an untouchable world power. Little did they know that Japan was going to attack them. On December 7, 1941 the Japanese came with their fleet and ambushed Pearl Harbor, which not only killed and wounded many Americans but also changed American history. It weakened America to the point that it lost its sense of invincibility, power and security.

Pearl Harbor ignited the fury of the United State’s entrance into WW2. Pearl Harbor was just as ordinary as any other harbor. You can see right through the beautiful blue water. At the beginning of the battle, Japanese signed a neutrality treaty. Japanese military was asked to devise a war plan.

In conclusion, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because of their nationalist mentality, America’s embargo of oil to Japan and fearing that the United States will attack them first. The first reason why Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor was because the Japanese had nationalistic and narcissistic political mentality. The Japanese believed the Yamato race was a superior race to the other Asian race(Document A). They also believed they will become the “new order” once Europe and America crumble and become the “old orders”(Document A).

The battle of Pearl Harbor was a brutal surprise attack on the United states Pacific fleet and it was the kickoff point for the US to join World War II. Its something we should never forget. Pearl Harbor was one of the most memorable events in the history of the United states. When Japan attacked the US Pacific fleet it was totally unexpected on this Sunday morning December 7, 194. Japan wanted to attack Pearl Harbor because it was afraid the US would be able to attack from the Pacific.

Japanese Internment Among all of the other countries, one had the courage to bomb the United States of America. Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor because of the threat the Navy had on the U.S. After that, America feared another attack or even worse, an invasion from Japan in the West Coast. In order to prepare for an invasion America decided to relocate all of the Japanese-Americans, mainly in the West Coast because they were the most threat. Many people debated whether relocating was the right thing to do.

America's oil was keeping Japan's fire alive. Japan was getting 80% of their oil from America (Doc. D). Japan needed oil. Japan new they needed oil and oil was near if only they could take over that country. America was blocking the countries with oil that Japan had a chance of overtaking.

FDR Rhetorical Analysis President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, in his speech, Pearl Harbor Speech, Interprets the actions of Japan toward the United States on December 8, 1941. Roosevelt's purpose is to convince Congress to formally declare war on Japan. He adopts a compelling tone in order to persuade war in his Congress members. Initiating his speech, Roosevelt utilizes logic to determine the attack was intended due to the distance. When examined the “Distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious” to clarify “The attack was deliberately planned.”