The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor drew the United States into World War II. In response, Americans mobilized for war by joining the military, working in war production industries, and shifting the economy to focus on military needs. The U.S. also suffered initial setbacks as Japan rapidly expanded its territory. However, American industrial production soon outpaced the Axis powers and key naval victories halted Japan's advances in the Pacific by mid-1942.

1. TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
American Entry into the World War II

2. TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
• Explain why Japan decided to attack Pearl
Harbor, and describe the attack itself.
• Outline how the United States mobilized for
war after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
• Summarize the course of the war in the
Pacific through the summer of 1942.
Objectives

3. TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
Terms and People
• Hideki Tojo − Japanese general and prime
minister during World War II
• Pearl Harbor − American military base attacked
by the Japanese on December 7, 1941
• Women’s Army Corps (WAC) − U.S. Army
group established during World War II so that
women could serve in noncombat roles.
• Douglas MacArthur − general who served as
commander of United States Army forces in Asia

4. TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
• Bataan Death March − grueling march in which
Japanese troops forced sick and malnourished
prisoners of war to walk more than 60 miles to
prison camps during World War II
• Battle of Coral Sea − World War II battle that
took place between Japanese and American
aircraft carriers
Terms and People (continued)

5. TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
How did the United States react to the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor?
In early December 1941, the United States
had engaged in warlike activity, but had not
yet committed itself to join in World War II. A
surprise attack on the American naval base at
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, ended the debate
between isolationists and interventionists.
The United States was going to war.

6. TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
Tensions between the United States and Japan
mounted as Japan continued its march into
new lands, gaining territory and valuable
natural resources.
Roosevelt condemned
Japanese aggression.
He worked to slow
Japan’s expansion
with an embargo.
Angered by American
interference, Prime
Minister Hideki Tojo
decided it was time to
eliminate the U.S.
presence in the Pacific.

7. TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
On December 7, 1941, Japanese forces
attacked the American naval base at
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
USS West Virginia and USS Tennessee
The attackers
struck with
devastating
power, taking
the Americans
by surprise.

8. TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
The United
States
suffered
terrible
losses, but
key parts of
the fleet
survived.
Damage at Pearl Harbor

9. TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
After the
attack, the
United States
declared war
on Japan.
Japan’s allies,
Germany and
Italy, then
declared war
on the United
States.

10. TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
• Americans joined the military, the Red
Cross, and other organizations.
• Women responded by joining the Women’s
Army Corps (WAC), Army Nurse Corps,
and other military auxiliaries.
• Americans took new jobs making weapons
and supplies that supported the war effort.
A wave of patriotism swept the United States
following the attack.

11. TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
Companies that
once produced
consumer goods
mobilized to build
ships, planes,
and tanks.
The peacetime
economy soon
shifted to a
wartime
economy.

12. TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
The money
that was
poured into
defense
spending
finally ended
the Great
Depression.
American
workers could
once again
find jobs.

13. TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
In 1944, American production levels were double
those of all the Axis nations combined.
This “production miracle” gave the Allies a
crucial advantage.

14. TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
In the early years of the war, the outlook for
the Allies was grim.
Japan’s Advantages
• Dominance of the Pacific
• Technologically advanced weapons
• Highly motivated and well-trained military

15. TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
Japanese armies quickly took Guam,
Wake Island, and Hong Kong.
Then they moved into
the Philippines, forcing
American General
Douglas MacArthur
to retreat.
The remaining troops
were surrounded,
trapped.
After a terrible
siege, thousands
died when they
were forced to
walk to prison
camps during the
Bataan Death
March.

16. TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
Japanese Aggression, December 1941–June 1942

17. TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
With hope for a quick victory fading, Americans
finally got some good news.
1. Colonel James Doolittle’s surprise
raid on Tokyo
2. The American victory at the
Battle of Coral Sea
Coral Sea was a battle of aircraft carriers.
From that day on, the Pacific theater of
battle would be won or lost on the strength
of aircraft carriers and planes.

18. TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
A long fight lay ahead, but
the darkest days of 1942
seemed to be over.
The momentum had shifted toward the Americans.