Research Paper Excerpt - Introduction

Below I have included the introduction to a research paper I wrote for my English 201 class. The synopsis of my essay describes an important event in American history, the attack on Pearl Harbor. It includes the events that led up to the attack and also the repercussions of this attack. I also use the movie Pearl Harbor as a method of comparison to the actual event. If you would like to read the rest of my essay, contact me and I will send it to you!

No one would have imagined what could happen to Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. It was a calm Sunday morning and people were enjoying their day at home. No one suspected that anything eventful would happen that day, but they were wrong. Radar had picked up a few dozen aircraft approaching Pearl Harbor, but they were quickly dismissed as being just planes out practicing. As the Japanese aircraft approached the area where American ships were located, people on the island were confused as to why there were planes flying so close to the ground. Suddenly, Japanese planes reached American ships on shore, and they began dropping bombs. Soldiers were instantly woken up from their bunk beds inside the aircraft carriers and immediately sent to their battle stations. Soon, it clicked that they were under attack. Many American ships were torpedoed and sustained a lot of damage; some were sank, such as the USS Arizona. As people on the island began spreading the news, the damage continued. Japanese soldiers were ruthless and fought with tremendous bravery and determination. When the smoke finally lifted and firing of weapons ceased, it became real what had just happened. Countless American ships were damaged and there were also many casualties from the attack. The Japanese had accomplished what they set out to do, which was, cripple the US naval firepower. Steve Twomey, in his article “How (Almost) Everyone Failed to Prepare for Pearl Harbor,” summarizes this event in simple terms, “Americans simply underestimated the Japanese.” 

Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese government believed that expanding into China's territory would fix their economic and demographic problems. This caused the Americans to become frustrated with Japan. Both countries tried having talks to come to a resolution, but no one would budge. They couldn't come to an agreement and soon the talks went stale. The tension was already high between the two and Japan was tired of American involvement in their foreign matters. Robert Higgs, writer of “How U.S Economic Warfare Provoked Japan’s Attack on Pearl Harbor” states that “U.S economic warfare had to do with provoking the Japanese to mount their attack.” Japan was set out to completely destroy American naval ships to prove their point. Although Japan did succeed in winning the battle, they certainly did not win the war. After the attack, the United States was now officially a part of World War II. To get revenge for what the Japanese had done to Americans, the US dropped atomic bombs on two of Japan’s cities. These were Nagasaki and Hiroshima. These bombs did tremendous damage to Japan, and more than 80,000 people died instantly. According to Jonah Bromwich’s article “How Pearl Harbor Shaped the Modern World” World War II was the first time the US used nuclear strikes. Bromwich claims “President Harry S. Truman ordered attacks on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” Sadly, this tragedy could have been avoided if the US had taken the appropriate precautions to defend the harbor. In this island paradise, no one foresaw a surprise attack. In the movie Pearl Harbor, people thought they were miles away from danger, but they were minutes away from war.