Rhetorical Analysis On Pearl Harbor

On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor, a U.S. naval base which is located in Hawaii, had a devastating surprise attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service. Around one hundred U.S aircraft was destroyed and 2,403 Americans were killed following 1,178 Americans wounded (Thought Co.). Roosevelt presented a memorable speech regarding the attack on pearl harbor, stating that Dec 7, 1941 would be “a date which will live in infamy” (Library of Congress). At the end of the speech, this forced the United States president, Franklin D. Roosevelt to ask congress to declare war against Japan. His request was approved and thus they declared war the following day of the attack. Few days later, Japan’s ally, Germany, also declared war against the U.S. As

Major things had to change in order for them to support the war effort. They did not expect a war to approach therefore, they had no other choice but to make sacrifices. People had to conserve resources and limit the consumption of goods. A system of rationing was a major contribution Americans had to make to support the war effort. According to National Park Service, on August 28, 1941, President Roosevelt created the Office of Price Administration (OPA) by signing the Executive Order 8875. Their main goal was to implement a system where prices are being controlled to limit the consumption of goods (National Park Service). A pamphlet was distributed among the Americans to spread awareness of the effects inflation and deflation have on the economy as well as a solution to this problem. This pamphlet mentions the price control group who are volunteers to carry out the rationing programs without getting payed (pamphlet). This was their way of encouraging the citizens and get the word out. Furthermore, Goods such as gasoline, food, clothing pieces and materials were substituted with coupons known as ration cards to easily control what a person can and can’t purchase. The National Park Service states that the first ration card was received in May 1942 and it was known as the “Sugar Book”. There was more than one type of ration card or stamps to purchase different rationed items (National Park Service). Such system being implemented as well as sacrificing certain items can prevent the Depression from happening