Adrianna Maddrey
September 29, 2015
Period 4 English 10 H
Brown
A Day Which Will Live In Infamy
The Japanese managed to destroy 20 American naval bases, over 200 airplanes, killed over 2,000 soldiers, and wounded over 1,000 all in just two hours time. Pearl Harbor is a Pacific coastal American naval base which was attacked by Japanese fighter planes, leaving it nothing more than a museum and a memorial for loved ones. (“Attack on Pearl Harbor”). Also known as “a day which will live in infamy,” Pearl Harbor is an important day in history because it caused America to join the World War with Japan. The United States imposed an oil embargo on Japan trying to destroy their economy, so Japan wanted to knock the United States out of the Pacific clearing…show more content… (“United States Freezes Japanese Assets”). Since the United States had allies, Great Britain and the Dutch East Indies did the same. Japan and America have had conflict before, so the United States considers Japan as a major threat and target. Placing the embargo wasn't an act of antagonism but a possible solution to protect Southeast Asia. Because of this, Japan lost more than three fourths of its overseas trade and eighty eight percent of its imported oil. (“United States Freezes Japanese Assets”). Japan had to come up with a solution which was to take over Southeast Asia. This was as much benefit for Japan as it was antagonizing for the west. They made the choice between leaving the Southeast alone and hope the oil embargo would be lifted, or seize all the oil and possibly go into…show more content… Around the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan sent multiple codes using the “shadow machine known as PURPLE and MAGIC. On December 4 1941, the U.S. sent out a signal for Japanese intelligence, propaganda, and surveillance on Hawaii. Once Washington got the news, the military immediately sent out red flags (meaning mass bloodshed and war was imminent). Obviously it didn’t reach the naval base in time, so to the soldiers it was a complete surprise. There are many theories that since Japan is considered a threat to the U.S. President Roosevelt deliberately ignored the knowledge of a possible attack with the intentions of declaring