Running head: PEARL HARBOR 1 PEARL HARBOR 10 Attack on Pearl Harbor Christina Rothstein HIST 465 UMUC November 23, 2015 Comment by Dan Ballentyne: Avoid headings such as this in a paper so short. Comment by Christy Rothstein: Introduction December 7, 1941, a memorable date in the history of America and Japan, a date marking a major attack on American soil and a date of the brilliant attack tactic by the Japanese. This was the date when the Pearl Harbor attack took place. This attack was a surprise attack carried by the Empire of Japan on America’s military harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. Comment by Dan Ballentyne: This introduction needs further development, what is your thesis? Causes of the attack The Attack on Pearl Harbor, which was carried out through planes, took place on December 7, 1941, taking place in two waves through planes. The first plane hit its target at exactly 7:53 AM, while the second wave successfully striking struck at 8:55 AM. By 9:55 AM, the attack had been accomplished. The attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor was instigated by numerous reasons. These reasons are as follows: Comment by Dan Ballentyne: Paragraph needs further development The first reason was the escalating tension between the two countries. This tension was brought about as a result of the U.S.American placed sanctions on the Japanese supply of oil, steel and metal due to their refusal to stop taking over more territories. This resulted in a cut of supplies of important commodities to Japan. This made Japan run short on options and the only option they had was to go to war with the U.S.United States in order to lift the embargo and protect its survival/ and be self-sufficient. Comment by Dan Ballentyne: citations needed Comment by Dan Ballentyne: always write out The second reason was based on the Japanese assumption that the port at Pearl Harbor would hinder their conquering plans and “\expansionist policy”. . Their plan was to conquer Asia-Pacific regions like Malaya, Philippines, Burma among others. In order to go on with their plans and policies, the Japanese decided to launch an attack on Pearl Harbor as a precautionary measure. This attack was also meant to destroy the U.S.United States Pacific Fleet so they could not fight the Japanese, keeping them from the invasion in Asia-Pacific territory. The attack was also meant to give the Japanese enough time to build up their army and fight off the U.S., inAmerican attempts of hindering their plans on the Asian region. It was also aimed at giving the Japanese empire a better strategic position that would enable them to fight the U.S.’sAmerican invasion attempts (Gailey, 1995). Comment by Dan Ballentyne: This paragraph needs further development, also, you need to make it c.

1. Running head: PEARL HARBOR
1
PEARL HARBOR
10
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Christina Rothstein
HIST 465
UMUC
November 23, 2015
Comment by Dan Ballentyne: Avoid headings such as this
in a paper so short. Comment by Christy Rothstein:
Introduction
December 7, 1941, a memorable date in the history of America
and Japan, a date marking a major attack on American soil and a
date of the brilliant attack tactic by the Japanese. This was the
date when the Pearl Harbor attack took place. This attack was a
surprise attack carried by the Empire of Japan on America’s
military harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. Comment by Dan
Ballentyne: This introduction needs further development, what
is your thesis?

2. Causes of the attack
The Attack on Pearl Harbor, which was carried out through
planes, took place on December 7, 1941, taking place in two
waves through planes. The first plane hit its target at exactly
7:53 AM, while the second wave successfully striking struck at
8:55 AM. By 9:55 AM, the attack had been accomplished. The
attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor was instigated by
numerous reasons. These reasons are as follows: Comment by
Dan Ballentyne: Paragraph needs further development
The first reason was the escalating tension between the two
countries. This tension was brought about as a result of the
U.S.American placed sanctions on the Japanese supply of oil,
steel and metal due to their refusal to stop taking over more
territories. This resulted in a cut of supplies of important
commodities to Japan. This made Japan run short on options and
the only option they had was to go to war with the U.S.United
States in order to lift the embargo and protect its survival/ and
be self-sufficient. Comment by Dan Ballentyne: citations
needed Comment by Dan Ballentyne: always write out
The second reason was based on the Japanese assumption
that the port at Pearl Harbor would hinder their conquering
plans and “expansionist policy”. . Their plan was to conquer
Asia-Pacific regions like Malaya, Philippines, Burma among
others. In order to go on with their plans and policies, the
Japanese decided to launch an attack on Pearl Harbor as a
precautionary measure. This attack was also meant to destroy
the U.S.United States Pacific Fleet so they could not fight the
Japanese, keeping them from the invasion in Asia-Pacific
territory.
The attack was also meant to give the Japanese enough
time to build up their army and fight off the U.S., inAmerican
attempts of hindering their plans on the Asian region. It was
also aimed at giving the Japanese empire a better strategic
position that would enable them to fight the U.S.’sAmerican
invasion attempts (Gailey, 1995). Comment by Dan

3. Ballentyne: This paragraph needs further development, also,
you need to make it clear how this is different from the previous
paragraph, because that is not clear.
Another cause was the battle for supremacy in Asia and the
Pacific. Here, the Japanese wanted to show that they had
superiority of Asia-Pacific region. The U.S.’sAmeircan
presence in the region was seen as a threat to their superiority
and a catalyst to the involvement in Asia-Pacific affairs. The
only option they had was to fight and destroy the naval base at
Pearl Harbor. Comment by Dan Ballentyne: Needs expansion
and citation...Why attack Hawaii and not the Philippines under
these circumstances?
Sour diplomatic relations between the two countries was
also another potential cause of the attack. The U.S.United
STates was worried about Japans military growth rate and its
declaration of war against China. Japan's military was growing
at a high rate and the country was become a threat to global
peace. The U.S.’sAmerican attempts to hold talks with Japan
were futile as Japan went ahead and called off diplomatic
relations with the U.S.United States. This sour relation later led
to the attack at Pearl Harbor since the two countries were no
longer diplomatic partners (Richardson, 2005). Comment by
Dan Ballentyne: Relations continued until the attack.
The attack
The Pearl Harbor attack was a surprise attack that took place on
Sunday, December 7, 1941 just before 8 a.m. It was carried out
by a fleet of 700 seven hundred Japanese planes, numerous
bombers and use of torpedostorpedoes; it lasted for nearly two
hours but was really destructive. It was aimed on the United
States naval base in Hawaii. The fleet arrived at Pearl Harbor
without the knowledge of U.S.the American naval commanders
based in the Harbor. The attack saw the sinking of nearly 8
eight American battleships, and 20 twenty naval vessels, as
well as destroying nearly 300 three hundred aircrafts, killed
more than 2000 two thousand American soldiers and 400 four
hundred sailors, and wounded 1000 one thousand others (Hilary

4. Conroy, 1990). Comment by Dan Ballentyne: For a paper
on the attack, this makes it seem more like an afterthought,
consider adding more about the attack itself. Comment by Dan
Ballentyne: check this, those numbers sound inverted
Aftermath of the attack
The attack led to the declaration of war against Japan by the
U.S.United States Congress just a day after the attack. The then
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed in the declaration
of war on Japan passed by the congress Congress with only one
neigh nay vote. The signing of this declaration led to the
formation of a coalition between the USA United States and the
Allied side. America The United States had now joined World
War II. Comment by Dan Ballentyne: Needs expansion
On the other hand, Germany and Italy came together in
support of Japan (December 11, 1941). The three countries
joined hands and formed the Axis powers coalition. Through
their dictator rulers, Italy and Germany officially declared war
on Americathe United States. The three countries (Germany,
Italy, and Japan) believed that all the other nations were
inferior and that they were the dominant states in their
regions/spheres. Germany's reason to joined this pact and
support Japan was based on the fact that it also wanted Japan's
support against the Soviet union Union in Eurasia. Comment by
Dan Ballentyne: This does not make sense in this context. For
there to be another hand, there must be a first hand.
Comment by Dan Ballentyne: Citations needed
Comment by Dan Ballentyne: The Axis Alliance already
existed
Why was the attack successful?
The attack on Pearl Harbor was successful because of a number
of reasons. some of which are explained below: To begin with
First, the success of the attack is attributed to the
inability/lateness of the U.S. state State department Department
to decode a message sent to the Japanese Ambassador to the

5. U.S.United States The intercepted message took a long time to
be decoded thus giving the Japanese the upper-hand in the
attack since the Americans had no knowledge of the impending
danger awaiting them. Comment by Dan Ballentyne:
Citations and evidence needed here.
The second reason is linked to the belief that Japan would
never start a war with the United States. It was impossible to
believe that war would breakout between America United States
and Japan on American soil. Intelligence officials were
convinced that if an attack was to take place it had to be in one
of the American bases in South Pacific. Comment by Dan
Ballentyne: Expansion/citations needed
The attack was also a success since the Japanese had one
goal/aim linked to the attack; this goal was the total destruction
of the naval base at Pearl Harbor. They had the whole base
surrounded by their soldiers and aircrafts. This had the soldiers
at the Harbor defenseless, prone to attack and prepared a
relative environment for the Japanese to launch their attack.
Comment by Dan Ballentyne: citation/expansion needed.
You must also deal with the fact that the primary targets of the
attack and the major shore facilities were not destroyed.
America’s response after the attack
Despite the fact that the attack was a major blow to the United
States government and citizens as a whole, the country rapidly
responded to the attack. Citizens were outraged and mourned for
the loss of their loved ones. They wanted justice to be served
and revenge to be carried out. The public outcry led to a nations
address by the then American President Roosevelt. Roosevelt
addressed the congress and went ahead to declare December 7th
7 as a “date that will leave in infamy.” This address led to the
declaration of war against Japan.
Another response was based on the lost trust on Japanese-
Americans during that period. The government authorized
search warrants for Japanese resident areas and confiscation of
any material that looked suspicious or dangerous. This saw the

6. confiscation of numerous household items that could be used to
investigate or link some people to the attack at Pearl Harbor.
President Roosevelt also went ahead and signed “Executive
Order 9066” which had terms that required all Japanese living
in America to be kept in internment camps. This order declared
selective areas of the country to be out of bounds to people of
certain ethnicities for the purposes of national security. It was
meant to prevent spies from conducting their activities. This
order increased American discrimination against their Japanese-
American counterparts. This order also prompted a few
Japanese-American citizens to launch cases in courts in
retaliation to the order. Some won the cases while others did not
and had no other option than to live in the internment camps.
This resulted to the confinement of around 110,000 Japanese-
Americans in the camps during the duration of the war
(Satterfield, 1992).
Another speculation of the U.S.’sAmerican response to the Pearl
Harbor attack is that of the dropping of two atomic bombs at
Hiroshima & Nagasaki in Japan. Although this speculation
maybe incorrect it may also have a strong attachment and some
aspects of truth. This is because even if the attack was some
years after the attack at Pearl Harbor, it came after the Pearl
Harbor attack and was considered as a revenge on Japan for the
lives lost at Pearl. Allied forces decided to use atomic weapons
on Japan as a strategy to them it down. They used the weapons
on account that it would help them avoid carrying massive
invasion on innocent people. Troop invasion was also seen as a
tactic that would require massive funding and maintenance, they
therefore opted to use the atomic weapons to save on expenses
and loss of millions of lives. Comment by Dan Ballentyne: Do
not speculation. If you cannot prove it, don't make the
argument.
The Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing had a great impact
and hurt Japan's strength and functionality as a nation. This is

7. because these two towns were the main centers and backbones
of Japan’s ports and arms supplies to their military. As military
bases, it meant that there were few civilians in these two
locations, who were only acting as suppliers and service
providers to the military camps. Therefore if the towns were to
be attacked, many of those who would lose their lives would be
soldiers and not civilians. This was in accordance with the war
laws which rejected attack on innocent civilians or unarmed
communities during war period. Therefore the attack was not an
act of terror to the Japanese empire but a retaliatory attack on
its army bases and naval ports. During those two attacks, many
lives were lost but many more were that would have surely been
lost had the U.S. and its allies invaded the mainland.
Connection of Pearl Harbor attack to World War II
The U.S.United States had done everything it could to lure the
Japanese into attacking them. The U.S. United Statesmight have
used the Pearl Harbor attack as a catalyst to join World War II,
since it was already supporting the allies through funding,
meaning that it was looking for a ways of getting fully into the
war. Comment by Dan Ballentyne: You definitely need to prove
this. That is quite a claim to have no support
The Pearl Harbor attack is not seen as the reason for the
emergence of World War II, but as the game changer of the war.
This is because this attack led to the involvement of the
U.S.United States in the war. Before the attack, the U.S.United
States was not directly involved in the war but was a side-ally
funding the allied states and supplying them with machinery.
The attack was what caused the U.S.United Staets to officially
join the war. Comment by Dan Ballentyne: Much of this is
redundant to what you have discussed before. Consolidate them.
Comment by Dan Ballentyne: by whom?
In response to the U.S.’s move, Japan’s allies (German and
Italy) also joined forces. Through the terms of their “Tripartite
Pact,” Benito Mussolini (Italian dictator) and his German

8. counterpart Adolf Hitler declared war on the United States. This
was seen as an easy move since the relationship between the
axis powers and the U.S.United States had deteriorated over a
long period of time. America’s neutrality in the war had been
dishonored by Germany after they unveiled America’s plans to
get their troops into Europe. America’s aspect of neutrality
patrol and escort also did not go down with Germany since the
neutral patrol aspect was meant to escort British ships across
the ocean. All these were more than enough reasons for
Germany and Italy to declare war on the United States.
With America’s involvement, the war continued for another four
years and ended on a high note with victory over Japan and later
Germany (Hilary Conroy, 1990). Comment by Dan
Ballentyne: A sentence is not a paragraph Comment by Dan
Ballentyne: Germany surrendered first.
Lessons learned
The attack provided a base for America to come up with
numerous solutions and methods of preventing such an attack to
happen again. These solutions and methods include:
Comment by Dan Ballentyne: This should all be in
paragraph form.
· Improved strategic intelligence
· After the attack at Pearl Harbor, the U.S. made efforts and put
in place plans to improve the system of strategic intelligence.
This move was meant to increase levels of preparedness and
alert when there is an impending attack or information about the
same (Morella, 2012).
· Assessing enemy’s capabilities
· The intelligence of the world as a whole was also improved
and technique of ranging the capabilities of enemies introduced.
The attack at Pearl Harbor contributed to intelligence
improvement in the world especially throughout the period of
Cold War (1947-1991) (Progress, 2015).
· These improvements included the ability of a nation to
estimate an enemy’s threat and provide warnings early enough

9. to prevent the impacts/effects of an attack.
Conclusion
This paper clearly explains the historic events associated with
the Pearl Harbor attack. It gives accounts on how the events
unfolded and the results of the attack. In an attempt to justify
the details of the attack the paper gives reasons why the attack
was successful. It also airs out the U.S.’sAmerican reaction
after the attack by providing numerous evidences of the steps
taken by the U.SAmerican government then. The link between
the Pearl Harbor attack and World War II is also highlighted in
this paper though various evidences of how one led to the other.
Comment by Dan Ballentyne: As a conclusion, this does
not work. Do not say what the paper did, sum up your case.
The reason for the escalation of the World War II and its
end are also outlined in this paper. This helps prove that indeed
the Pearl Harbor attack was the catalytic reason for United
States of America to officially join World War II. Comment by
Dan Ballentyne: Needs expansion
It also touches on the details of World War II by giving
information about the Allied forces and the Axis powers and
how these coalitions came into existence. Information of
declaration of war by German, Italy, America and others is also
outlined. In its final stages, this paper gives examples of a few
measures put in place by the U.S. and other countries in the
world as precautions for attacks from enemies. The point proven
throughout this paper is that it’s of great importance for a
country to have attack-prevention techniques/plans for its
territories. Intelligence reports should also be taken with great
precaution and acted upon accordingly.
The paper also shows the importance of cordial relationships
between countries even during hard times. Peace talks between
countries and in attempts to settle disputes and
misunderstanding is advocated for as its seen as the best option
in conflict prevention and resolution as compared to war.

10. References
Gailey, H. A. (1995). The War in The Pacific. In From Pearl
Harbor To Tokyo Bay (pp. 54-98). Presidio Press.
Hilary Conroy, H. W. (1990). Pearl Harbor Examined: Prologue
to The Pacific War. University of Hawaii Press.
Morella, M. (2012, January 6). How AmericaChanged After
Pearl Harbor. pp. 5-12.
Progress, T. D. (2015, November 9). 70 Years Later. Has U.S
Learned Lessons From Pearl Harbour?
Richardson, K. (2005, December 7). Reflection On Pearl
Harbor. An Oral History of December 7th 1941 .
Satterfield, A. (1992). The Day The War Began. Praeger.
Prange, G.(1981). Donald M. Goldstein, and Katherine V.
Dillon. At dawn we slept: The untold story of Pearl Harbor.
New York: McGraw-Hill.
Wallin, Homer N. "PEARL HARBOR: Why, How, Fleet
Salvage, Final Appraisal." Naval Engineers Journal 80.6 (1968):
897-900.

11. Collins, T. (2014). Surprise Attack!: Nickolas Flux and the
Attack on Pearl Harbor. London, UK: Capstone,.