Antonio Alkasmikha
English 1020
Abigail Heiniger
2/17/12
When the president talks, the whole country listens, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt isno exception. On December eighth, 1941, Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered a speech regarding Pearl Harbor, an American airbase that had been bombed by Japan the day before. The bombing of Pearl Harbor took over 2000 lives, injured over 1000 other people, and hundreds of aircrafts and chips ships were destroyed, costing the United States billions of dollars.The bombing of Pearl Harbor sparked the beginning of World War 2[??1], which was the largest war in history, and cost countless people their lives. President Roosevelt convinces people that America will win this war through his experience, intellect, and the tone of his voice during his speech[??2]. He makes himself sound determined that America will win this war, and he knows that the bombing of Pearl Harbor was a tragic, but he will not stop until every American life lost in avenged. He says, “No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.”
Pearl Harbor was just the beginning of Japan’s bombings. Roosevelt says that in the same night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong, Guam, the Philippine Islands, Wake Island, and Midway Island. He said, “As commander in chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us.” With each new attack that Japan had sprung, more American lives were lost and America weakens. But this does not faze the president[??3].
Not only was Roosevelt taken by surprise, but he was in the utmost shock in why Japan, a country in which they had been in peace for years with, would attack the United states so suddenly, without any sign of warning. “The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.”
World War I was the last war before the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 leading to World War II. World War 1 ended in 1918, which means that the United States had peace with the world for twenty-three years which was the longest this country had gone without a war since the period between 1713-1744, the ending of Queen Anne’s War and the beginning of King George’s War. The end of World War I marked this big concept of peace within the nation, and it all ended when World War II started. The fact that America hadn’t had a long warless period of time like that for over 200 years is unbelievable. It could have been longer too, but Japan felt it necessary to attack us when we least expected it[??4].
With the start of World War II, the United States knew that they had to up their arsenal if they really wanted to end this war. To do so, they had an idea to implement nuclear weaponry, powerful enough to take several lives and ensure mass destruction. Under President Roosevelt’s order, and the help of German scientist Albert Einstein, the United States began the construction of the very first atomic bomb. This was known as the Manhattan Project. It took six years and over two-billion dollars to develop the first atomic bomb which was known as the “Little Boy”. The United States didn’t hesitate to test this weapon on the actual warzone. Roosevelt gave the order to drop the bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6th, 1945. Over sixty-thousand people were killed and almost seventy-thousand others were injured due to the bombing of Hiroshima.
After the bombing of Hiroshima, Roosevelt had proposed for Japan to surrender, with terms fair to both sides. Japan would not yet give up though, as they continued to send wave after wave of enemies to attack the United States. What they didn’t expect though is that the United States had a second design of atomic bomb, the “Fat Man”. The fat man was a much different type of atomic bomb than the little boy. In comparison, the little boy had a thinner shape while the fat man was more like a round balloon. The fat man was designed to be an implosion type of bomb rather than the little boy’s explosion. The United States dropped the fat man over Nagasaki, Japan on August 9th, 1945, just three days after the bombing of Hiroshima. Almost forty-thousand people were killed, and about twenty-five thousand were injured. Compared to the damage that the little boy did, the fat man took less lives, but it was still enough for Japan to realize what kind of damage the United States is capable of. Japan surrendered to the United States on August 15th, 1945, agreeing to the original treaty that Roosevelt had proposed after the bombing of Hiroshima.
The treaty between the United States and Japan marked the end of World War II. There were several other nations involved in the war in-between the battle between America and Japan, both allied and enemy. The allies of the United States were Great Britain, France, and Russia, while the enemies of the United States were Germany, Italy, and of course, Japan.
When President Roosevelt gave his speech in 1941 after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he was determined that the United States would win this war, and showed it through his experience, intellect, and the tone of his voice during his speech. And four years later, in 1945, he did it. Japan had finally surrendered, and Roosevelt proved true to his word, and is seen as one of the greatest leaders that America has ever had[??5].
Works Cited
President Roosevelt’s Address to the nation written speech
President Roosevelt’s Address to the nation video speech
About.com War Timeline
About.com World War II Facts
[??1]WWII started in 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. The bombing of Pearl Harbor was the event that brought the U.S.A. into the war.
[??2]This is the thesis – it should be in a more prominent place in the paragraph, not buried in the middle.
[??3]This paragraph talks about the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but it does not advance the rhetorical analysis of Roosevelt’s speech.
[??4]Where does the historical/statistical information in these paragraphs come from? It should be CITED in the body of the paper.
[??5]This paper is a report on the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but it does not meet the requirements for Project Two because there is no rhetorical analysis of Roosevelt’s speech.