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Pearl Harbor

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Submitted By Zgroff386
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Zack Groff
U.S History 1877-
Research Paper
Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor is arguably the most devastatingly tragic event witnessed on American soil. The Japanese had violated the integrity of life in America, which was not to go unpunished. The “Day of Infamy” as it has been coined, catapulted the nation into a state of shock and retaliation. Many Americans who lived through the tragic event remember the occurrence with great detail and clarity. Considering the bombing at Pearl Harbor happened over 60 years ago, personal accounts and testimonies are quickly diminishing. Revisiting the past is crucial in understanding what freedom is and how hard it was to obtain. Pearl Harbor remains as one of the most definitive points of unity amongst Americans; as told by Mr. Groff, “It changed everything!” The slaying at Pearl Harbor was hardly anticipated to say the least. The United States had been edging toward war with Japan for some time. The U.S was particularly unhappy with Japan’s increasingly irate attitude towards China. The Japanese Government seemed to believe that the only way to solve its economic crisis and geographic problems was to expand into its neighbor’s territory and take over the market. Japan declared war on China in 1937. In the eyes of the American government this weaned unfavorably. American officials responded with a battery of economic sanctions and trade embargoes. Japan reasoned that without access to money and goods, and essential items like oil, Japan would have to continue in its conquest. Mr. Groff recalls the situation at Pearl Harbor with concise and coherent details, illustrating a play-by-play series of events brought upon by the incident. Mr. Groff remembers a rainy Monday morning in Baltimore Maryland. He was listening to a football game when the news came on the radio. The broadcast was immediately interrupted when the president

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