The Causes And Effects Of Pearl Harbor

On December 7th, 1941 the world was changed forever. The Japanese attacked the United States’ naval base in Hawaii known as Pearl Harbor. The attack occurred at 7:48 a.m. and was a total surprise to the American people. The attack led to the direct entry of the United States into World War II. The United States declared war on Japan. This declaration of war caused Germany and Italy to declare war on the United States on December 11th, 1941. The entry of the United States immensely changed the sides in the war. The aftermath of Pearl Harbor, changed the course of World War II and the fate of the world was drastically altered. To understand the effects of Pearl Harbor, one needs to figure out why the Japanese attacked the Hawaiian base. There are a number of reasons, but the most important was the embargo President Roosevelt had placed on Japanese trade functions. This caused the Japanese to lose three-fourths of its overseas trade and 88 percent of their imported oil. President Roosevelt placed the embargo on Japan because the Japanese were occupying French Indo-China. This was not the only reason why the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. They also planned the attack to prevent the United States from interfering with Japan’s plans in Southeast …show more content…
The attack made the United States’ population extremely patriotic, and the population rushed to aid the war effort. By the end of the war, about 15 million people were on active duty, and about 15 million went to work on the civilian war effort. More than 20% of the United States’ population moved from their hometown to assist the movement. After Pearl Harbor and the United States had joined the war, equality in the workplace soared to new heights. In 1940, before the attack occurred, women made up 23.4% of the workforce. In 1945, the percentage was up to 34.7%. The war allowed women to break a barrier for equal opportunity, and this was able to occur because of Pearl