ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR

Manuel Eduardo Delgado Ramos

Introduction

On 7 December 1941, the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. From that time
on, fear spread around the US about how the japanese were visiting the closest
areas around the country. Two months later, on 19 February 1942, President
Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. The aim of this report was to answer the
question, To what extent was the Internment of the japanese Americans during the
Pacific War caused by the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor? through the analysis of the
events.

From there, this report will examine the internment of the japanese Americans in
1942. Lastly, this paper will aim to indicate that the internment of the japanese
Americans during the Pacific War was directly correlated with the attack on Pearl
Harbor in 1941.

The Pacific War was, in general, caused by two events. Officially the war was fought
between the Allies of world war II, and therefore the Empire of Japan. The japanese
attack on the seaport was an ambush founded by the japanese against the US Navy
in Harbour, Hawaii. Soon after, on 19 February 1942, President Roosevelt issued
Executive Order 9066 .

This order moved Japanese Americans from the geographic area of the US to
stablish camps called War Relocation Camps, which was a discrimination movement
against a race, but the goverment allowed it . First let’s examine the events that led
up to the attack on Harbour, and also the attack on seaport itself.

Part I: The origin of the attack

Before the Pearl Harbor attack, tensions between Japan and the United States had
been mounting for the better part of a decade. Americans were trying to stop Japan’s
Global expansion. The United States began passing economic sanctions against
Japan, including trade embargoes on aircraft exports, oil and scrap metal, among
other key goods, and gave economic support to Guomindang forces. As a result,
with the Embargo placed, the japanese were left crippled.
An element of the japanese conceive to attack the seaport in order to interrupt off
negotiations between the japanese embassy and also the US government. All of this
took place half-hour before the particular attack. However the plan wasn't very
effective since the US government intercepted a Japanese communication that told
the embassy to interrupt negotiations .

Part I: The Attack on Harbour

The planes of the Empire of Japan kept bombing the U.S. Navy for several hours
without stop, until the Navy was crippled . By the end of the attack 2,403 Americans
died, including 68 civilians and 1178 service men wounded. This shows just how
badly the U.S. was humiliated by the Empire of Japan, and one among the
explanations why Roosevelt would order the internment of Japanese Americans
anon. As result from Roosevelt’s speech about the attack, the congress declared war
on the Empire of Japan with an 82-0 vote from the Senate, and a 388-1 vote from
the House of Representatives .

The American public had also turned on Japanese Americans due to the attack on
Harbor. The American public thought that every one of the people of Japanese
descent were spies for the Empire of Japan . The U.S. needed to consider what their
next step was, and that they needed to answer the question of What do they do with
the japanese Americans that are already living within the United States? There have
been many options of what they may have done, as an example they may have
deported the Japanese Americans.

Part II: Japanese Internment

After the attack on Harbor, some Americans suspected that the japanese were
visiting and launching a full scale assault on the sea-coast of the us. The continual
conquests everywhere in East Asia within the past few years made Japan seem
almost unstoppable . Both civilians and also the military had some doubt about
where the loyalties of the japanese Americans currently living within the U.S..,
however it's more likely that this concern came from racial prejudice instead of actual
evidence of espionage . On 2 January 1942, the Joint Committee of the California
Legislature sent a manifesto to the newspapers in California that attacked Japanese
Americans.

This manifesto argued that every person of Japanese descent were loyal only to the
Emperor of Japan. Which Japanese schools within the U.S. were places where they
taught that being Japanese was superior to being American . Eventually, Roosevelt
crumbled under the pressure of the military, and therefore those Japanese
Americans became dangerous to the state. So, on 12 February 1942, President
Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 . Around 120,000 Japanese Americans
were held in internment camps until the end of the war.

Of those 62% were second generation Japanese Americans or third generation

Japanese Americans with American citizenships . Eleven days after the order was
signed by President Roosevelt, 800 Japanese Americans were arrested in California,
and put into internment camps . In California, the local population was very
supportive of the notion of interning the japanese Americans. The actual fact that the
U.S. government released the japanese Americans before the Pacific War shows
that the U.S. was confident at this time in time during the war .

Part III: The Link

In doing so, President Roosevelt labeled the whole Japanese race as an evil entity .
As a result, the final public within the United States then felt as if they were in peril
whenever they were around a Japanese American, which then led to discrimination,
and prejudice . With the state the overall public was in, President Roosevelt started
receiving notices about how he should cater to the japanese Americans within the
country. To point out to what extent these two events are connected, a historian
would argue that if the Empire of Japan didn't bomb seaport, there wouldn't be an
excellence of fear against the japanese.

Therefore, there would be less prejudice against Japanese Americans living in the
U.S., and also Amreicans would not have joined WWII. Thereupon in mind it's very
clear that the attack on Harbor had a serious impact within the decision - position of
Japanese Americans into internment camps for 3 years, during the Pacific War.

Conclusion

President Roosevelt failed to write a memoir for his presidential years, so it's very
hard to find out what his actual feelings were about the predicaments he faced as
President of the U.S. However, his biography still is beneficial, because it shows the
historian how he faced certain situations. It provides the reader the image of what
the author thought President Roosevelt was like. Although the bias is shifted towards
the author’s perception of President Roosevelt, a historian can still make use of the
data presented within the biography, because it's a mirrored image of what President
Roosevelt has done during his presidential years.

It appears that the solution to the question What extent was the Internment of the
japanese Americans during the Pacific War caused by the 1941 attack on Pearl
Harbor? is great. The evidence that exists to enter the globe shows that the Empire
of Japan was the one who decided to require action first, and draw the U.S. into
World War II. When the Empire of Japan attacked Harbour in 1941, the citizens of
the US were genuinely frightened of the japanese. This successively led to paranoia
throughout the country, which led to Executive Order 9066.

Historians are able to draw the connections between these two events, due to what
quantity they need in common with one another. The reality is that history is rarely
absolute. When linking to events together, and arguing that one was the reason for
the opposite may be a major analytical jump. What's known is that both of those
events did happen, which history isn't always reliable.

Finally, we all know what happened next. One of the most devastating events in
Human history. Hyroshima and Nagasaki nuclear attacks. A decision that was made
in a state of rage and vengeance against a whole race. Fueled by a desperate
movement to reduce Germany’s control. But that is a story

Bibliography

Emily, A. (2014). Anti-Japanese exclusion movement. Densho Encyclopedia.

Retrieved October 27, 2020, from http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Anti-
Japanese%20exclusion%20movement/

Niiya, B. (1993). Japanese American history: An A-to-Z Reference from 1868

to the Present (First ed.). Verlag für die Deutsche Wirtschaft AG. Retrieved
October 26, 2007 from ISBN 978-0-8160-2680-7..

Rank, S. M. (2000 - 2020). When was Pearl Harbor? A Breakdown of the

Attack. History on the Net. Retrieved October 25, 2020, from
https://www.historyonthenet.com/when-was-pearl-harbor