“Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy.” was the most powerful part of a speech given by Franklin D. Roosevelt following the attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor. At 7:40am, the Japanese Navy struck pearl harbor by air. The impact of this catastrophic event was felt all over the world. Not only, was this the catapult that led Congress to make the decision that the United States would enter World War II, it also ignited the firestorm of racial discrimination against Japanese Americans, and it led to world alliances that would not have happened without Pearl Harbor.
After months of practicing, the Japanese attacked U.S soil in Hawaii killing 2,403 people. This is only 202 less people than were killed on September 11th. A 1,800 pound bomb was dropped from a Japanese plane destroying the USS Arizona. The vessel exploded then
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Due to the fear many Americans had that Japanese people living on the west coast of the United States could be spies and possibly trying to sabotage the war effort, on February 19th, 1942 President Roosevelt proclaimed an executive order demanding the forced relocation of these Japanese-Americans. These American citizens were forced into internment camps. They were given less than 48 hours to evacuate their houses. They only were allowed to take a couple of valuables. More than 120,000 Japanese were forced by the government to be put in these camps. The camps were very merciless some families had to live in one room cells, food was supplied only 3 times a day and they only got very small rations of food. In addition, Japanese living in Canada also experienced discrimination. They were given curfews by the government and they had many restrictions on where they were able to travel. More than 20,000 Japanese-Canadians were forced to relocate to other camps in