LAD/Blog #36: FDR’s Declaration of War

LAD/Blog #36: FDR’s Declaration of War

On December 8th, 1941, FDR addressed Congress and asked to declare war on Japan, directly following their attack on Pearl Harbor the day before. He famously says that December 7th, 1941, is “a date which will live in infamy.” He says that before this incident, the US was at peace with Japan, and looked to continue that peace as well as peace in the Pacific in general. The attack was clearly planned in advance, as a message was received just an hour after the bombing, stating that there wouldn’t be any continued negotiations between the two countries (but it didn’t mention war). FDR states that there was a lot of damage to naval/military forces, and many lives were lost. In addition, he says, Japan unleashed a string of attacks throughout the Pacific on the same day, which clearly prompts war. The only person in both houses to vote against the declaration of war was Jeanette Rankin, which earned her the nickname “Japanette Rankin,” as many disagreed with and disapproved of her decision.

Image result for fdr declaration of war
FDR's Declaration of War


Image result for america enters wwi
US Enters the Great War (synthesis):
The US entering the Great War is similar to its entering of WWII. Both happened because of threats to America and the rest of the world: the Lusitania/Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare (the Great War) and Pearl Harbor/Japan's expansionism (WWII).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LAD/Blog #2: Peter Zenger

Image
LAD/Blog #2: Peter Zenger #1: Who was Peter Zenger? John Peter Zenger was the printer of the New-York Weekly Journal, the Province's first independent newspaper. He was one of just a few skilled printers of that area during his time. He printed some controversial material regarding Governor William Cosby in the 1730s, and, as a result, was charged with seditious libel. #2:What was the controversy over his charges? There was a lot of controversy over Zenger's charges. The most difficult part was that the truth of the statements that he printed didn't matter, and, he didn't even write those statements. The Cosby administration decided to take action against him because without him, they thought, the paper would not have been printed. However, he was not the person who crafted those statements; therefore it was controversial that he went to court. If the jury found Zenger responsible for the libelous material, Judges De Lancey and Philipse (allies of Cosby) would
Read more

LAD/Blog #35: Home was a Horse Stall

Image
LAD 35: Home was a Horse Stall The story of Sox and her family, especially during WWII, is extremely sad and heart-wrenching. On February 19, 1942, FDR passed Executive Order 9066, establishing military areas across the West Coast, and limiting activities in them, as well as later the Civilian Exclusion Order No. 27, which said that “all persons of Japanese ancestry” were not allowed on the West Coast. One of the first parts of the story that was tough to read was when the news came about Pearl Harbor, and it said that Yumi’s “native country was now the enemy.” It was hard to see how Japanese Americans were forced to stay away from certain shops, and were discriminated against- the “land of the free” wasn’t really that. Another part that was shocking was reading about the conditions these innocent people were forced to live in- dirty horse stalls with bathrooms far away, and without the great majority of their belongings. It was terrible to see how these people were treated, just bec
Read more

LAD/Blog #38: Truman Doctrine

Image
LAD #38: Truman Doctrine On March 12th, 1947, President Harry Truman announced what is known as the Truman Doctrine. Following WWII and the rise of the USSR as a global superpower, America became worried about the spread of communism, and adopted a policy of “containment” in regards to it. Truman issued the Truman Doctrine to address this, regarding the regions of Greece and Turkey. He begins by saying how Greece has sent an “urgent appeal for financial and economic assistance.” He says that Greece doesn’t have very many natural resources, and had a really hard time during WWII. He says that now, Greece doesn’t have enough funds to rebuild and finance imports to help themselves. He also said that Greece was being threatened by communists, and couldn’t defend themselves- they needed our help, and had nobody else to turn to (Britain had helped them, but couldn’t any longer). He said that we had to preserve democracy there, and everywhere. He then spoke about Turkey, and said they were in
Read more