Why Japan Bombed Pearl Harbor Essay

Words: 816
Pages: 4

Why Japan Attacked Pearl Harbor
By, Santino Bono

“December 7th, 1941. A date which will live in infamy.”- Franklin Delano Roosevelt. On this day, after months of planning, Japanese pilots flew to Hawaii and unleashed an attack on the naval base “Pearl Harbor”. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor for a large number of reasons but the ones that stand out are that they wanted to be included in a new world order, they were angry about laws set on them by the United States, and they needed resources. Many lost their lives that day and the U.S. declared war on Japan launching them into World War II.

Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because they wanted to be apart of a new world order. They felt if they weakened the United States it would be easier for the Axis Powers to
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Throughout the late 1930’s and early ‘40’s, and even going back into the 1920’s, the U.S. Government passed many laws that damaged the Japanese people turning them against the United States. In 1924 the U.S. passed a Quota Act restricting how many immigrants came in from Europe, and denying any immigrants from India, China, and Japan. A Japanese newspaper called the Japan Times and Mail reported this right after the act was passed to the Japanese people calling it a “Declaration of War” because it humiliated the Japanese people (Doc. F). This turned the Japanese people against the United States, but they didn’t stop passing laws against Japan. Some notable are: The 1939 embargo on Japanese aircraft, The 1940 Naval Expansion Act making it harder for Japan to conquer new territories, freezing all assets and bank accounts from Japan in 1941, and in the same year setting an embargo on oil to Japan (Doc. C). All of these things built up the Japanese anger against the United States, eventually to their tipping point. But the largest law passed on Japan, which many say was the tipping point, was the oil