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Export Control Act Dbq

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On December 7th, 1941, 353 Japanese airplanes bombed and attacked Pearl Harbor killing 2,403 people. This date is a day that will be remembered throughout history, it is a “Day which will live in infamy”. The attack by the Japanese took multiple months to prepare successfully, damaged multiple battle ships, as well as took the lives of thousands of Americans. Our nation to this day, still puts all the faults on Japan. The Japanese are continuously remembered for the lives they took in 1941 and the destruction they brought upon the United States. However, a large amount of Americans lack the knowledge that the United States was also at fault. The United States could have prevented the attacks by stopping aggression towards Japan, acknowledging …show more content…

The United States had put a halt on trading with Japan. Both countries were in desperate need of oil and other substances such as steel. Japan was in need of these materials to continue their attempt to expand their land in Asia as well as the pacific. When the United States congress put this restriction on trading with Japan, the two countries relationship began to collapse. This restriction on trade and business with Japan was called the “Export Control Act”. This act ultimately made the Japan see the United States as more of an enemy. If this act had never been removed, any previous disputes would have been eliminated. In 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the United States Pacific fleet to move from California to Pearl Harbor. The Japanese were attempting to take over the pacific in order to have more control over the seas. The movement of this United States ship was seen as an act of war from the Japanese point of …show more content…

The United States began to get suspicious. On November 26th, Commander Husband Kimmel received a message from the Navy department. The Navy department message exclaimed “In order to keep the airplanes of the Second Marine Aircraft Wing available for expeditionary use OPNAV has requested and Army has agreed to station twenty five Army pursuit planes at Midway and a similar number at Wake provided you consider this feasible and desirable. It will be necessary for you to transport these planes and ground crews from Oahu to these stations on an aircraft carrier” (Navy Court of Inquiry, p. 1177 (Navy).). Kimmel agreed to do what the message said. Early on December 7th, 1941, multiple carriers were rushed out of Pearl just hours before the attack. This leads the conclusion that the commander in Pearl Harbor, Husband E. Kimmel might have had prior knowledge on the attack, as well as the United States

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