Pearl Harbor: A Day of Infamy By Chris Smith World War II

Pearl Harbor: A Day of Infamy By Chris Smith World War II altered the face of American history forever. This being a war the United States was greatly against and never wanted to enter, They were thrust into the war by a brutal attack from the Japanese on a Navel base located in the pacific ocean on the island Oahu in what is called Pearl Harbor. This attack on the base was a direct attack against the United States and gave America no choice but to enter the war they were originally so opposed to, or were they? Did the American government know that the Japanese were planning an attack?Did the United States allow the Japanese kill and wound several thousand Americans and sink and damage several naval ships all for a reason to enter a war our President longed to be a part of? Those questions along with several more have been raised by authors and thinkers throughout history. These questions along with several more will be examined in depth throughout this writing. The thesis of this pa per is as follows, â€Å"On December 7, 1941 The United States of America changed forever with Japan’s surprise attacks on the U. S.Navel base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. These attacks thrust the United States into the middle of the Second World War and raised many questions and conspiracies pertaining to prior knowledge of the attacks and the plans that the Japanese executed. † First, the anticipation of war will be discussed and the events leading to attack. Secondly, the process that the Japanese went through will be discussed, from the year of planning to the secretive launch of their â€Å"striking force† also their already obvious aggression displayed by the invasion of China.Another crucial piece to this puzzle is the Tripartite pact signed by Japan to make them apart of the â€Å"Axis powers†. Also the Japanese fleet and how they were utilized and coordinated in this attack will play a vital part in this description of this devastating attack. Finall y the question will be addressed of whether we were aware of the attacks in advance and discuss the conspiracy theories surrounding this hot button issue in World War II history. Tensions between Japan and the United States increased greatly at the start of the military oriented  Showa era, as Japanese nationalists and military leaders used escalating influence over government policy, accepting the creation of a  Greater East Asia alliance  as part of Japan's alleged â€Å"divine right†Ã‚  to unify all of Asia under  Emperor Showa's rule,  threatening the already-established American, French, British, and Dutch colonies located in Asia. †[i] Throughout the 1930s, Japan's increasing expansion policies got them into conflicts with its neighbors, Russia and China[ii] .In March of 1933, Japan removed itself from the  League of Nations  because of international displease for its desire to conquer Manchuria  and for their plans to establish the  Manchukuo  puppet government. On January 15, 1936, Japan also removed representatives from the  Second London Naval Disarmament Conference[iii]  because the United States and Great Britain did not want to grant the  Imperial Japanese Navy  (IJN) parity with their navies. [iv] A  second war  between the Japanese and Chinese started with the  Marco Polo Bridge Incident  in July 1937[v].Japan's attack on China was looked down upon by the United States and the majority of the members of the League of Nations including Britain, France, Australia, and the Netherlands. The crimes of the Japanese during the conflict such as the Rape of Nanking[vi], definitely made relations with the rest of the world very strained. These states had several interests, as well as formal colonies, in the East  and  Southeast Asia. Japan's new power and its urge to use it raised great concerns, which threatened the control they had in Asia.In July of 1939, the United States got rid of its 1911 commerc ial treaty with Japan, but this effort failed to stop Japan from continuing the war in China, or from signing the  Tripartite Pact  in 1940 with  Hitler’s Germany  and Italy, officially forming the  Axis Powers. Japan took full advantage of Germany’s war in Europe to better its progress in the Far East. The Tripartite Pact promised each of the nations that had signed would have assistance if attacked by any country then considered neutral. This stipulation was directed at the United States, and gave Japan more power on the political stage.The Tripartite Pact now posed a great threat to the United States on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Hitler and Mussolini threatening on the Atlantic Ocean, and the Japanese on the Pacific Ocean. The Roosevelt administration felt the  American lifestyle  would be threatened if Europe and the Far East were to come under control of a dictatorship. Roosevelt pledged to help the British and the Chinese; he loaned both money and  materials  to both countries and promised that America aid would be enough to promise their survival of war. Giving this aid would start to move the United States from a neutral country to a country preparing for war.On October 8, 1940, Admiral  James O. Richardson, who was the commander of the Pacific Fleet, forced a confrontation with President Roosevelt, resending his messages from previous transmissions to  Chief of Naval Operations  Admiral  Harold R. Stark  and to  Secretary of the Navy  Frank Knox, that Pearl Harbor was the be best place for his ships to be located. Roosevelt told Richardson that having that fleet in Pearl Harbor was a â€Å"restraining influence† on the Japanese. Richardson asked the president if the United States was going to war. [vii] In Richardson's retelling of the account the president responded: At least as early as October 8, 1940, President Roosevelt believed that affairs had reached such a state that the United S tates would be come involved in a war with Japan. †¦ ‘that if the Japanese attacked Thailand, or the Kra Peninsula, or the Dutch East Indies we would not enter the war, that if they even attacked the Philippines he doubted whether we would enter the war, but that they (the Japanese) could not always avoid making mistakes and that as the war continued and that area of operations expanded sooner of later they would make a mistake and we would enter the war. †¦ â€Å". [viii] In 1940, Japanese troops moved into northern  Indochina. The invasion of Indochina, along with the Tripartite Pact, their war in China, increasing troops, and Japan's leaving the League of Nations made the U. S. embargo metal that was being shipped to Japan and to tighten down its foreign policy actions towards the Japanese and shut down the  Panama Canal  to Japanese ships. In 1941, Japanese troops invaded southern Indochina.On July 26 1941 the United States answered by freezing most Japane se assets in the United States and, then on August 1 1941, placed embargos on all of the oil and gas exports to Japan. Oil was the most important resource imported to Japan; at the time more than 80 percent of Japan's oil imports came from the United States. To make sure they had oil, and several other vital resources, the Japanese had long been looking for other places for their supplies, specifically in the  Dutch East Indies.The Navy was sure any plan of action to seize the Dutch East Indies would bring the United States into the war and were very skeptical when it came time to agree with the other factions' plans for the invasion. The complete United States oil embargo changed to the naval view to support the expansion toward support for the invasion of the Dutch East Indies and capture of all of the oil fields there. After the embargoes and the freezing of all assets, the Ambassador of Japan in Washington and the secretary of State Cordell Hull had multiple meetings to try an d find a solution to the Japanese-American problems.No solution could be found because of three major problems which were Japan's alliance to Germany and Italy through the Tripartite Pact; Japan wanted total control and responsibility for Southeast Asia; and Japan refused to leave China. Feeling the strain from the U. S. embargoes, Japan developed a sense of urgency, they either had to agree to Washington's demands and return to normal trade, or use force to gain access to resources that were available throughout the Pacific.Deciding that agreeing to Washington’s demands was unacceptable The Japanese decided to prepare for war with the United States, and seeing the opportunity of the forward basing of the  US Pacific Fleet  at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese began to plan in early 1941 for an attack on Pearl Harbor. For the next several months, planning a simultaneous attack on Pearl Harbor and invasion of British and Dutch colonies in the South Pacific occupied most of the Ja panese’ time and attention.The Pearl Harbor attack planning came from the Japanese predicting that the United States would be drawn into the war after the Japanese attacked Malaya and Singapore. The intent of a strike on Pearl Harbor was to negate the American navy in the Pacific, in turn removing it from dictating operations against American, British, and Dutch colonies in the South Pacific. Planning in the beginning had seen a battle between the two powers would take place in Japanese waters after the United States Navel Fleet traveled across the Pacific Ocean, which would come under attack by submarines and other forces all the way across.The United States Fleet would be beaten in a climactic battle. A surprise attack presented a difficult problem for two major reasons. First, the United States Pacific Fleet was a major force, and they would not be a pushover to defeat or sneak up on. Second, for an air attack, Pearl Harbor's shallow waters made the use of standard  air- dropped torpedoes  useless. On the bright side, the isolation of the island of Hawaii meant that a surprise attack could not be stopped or countered quickly by forces stationed in the continental United States.A lot of Japan’s naval officers were very impressed with the British  Operation: Judgement, where twenty one old and outdated  Fairey Swordfish  crippled half of the  Regia Marina. Admiral Yamamoto went as far as sending a delegation to Italy, which decided that a version of Cunningham's strike on a much larger scale could force the United States Pacific Fleet to have to return to bases in California, which would give the Japanese time to put a â€Å"barrier† defense in place to defend the Japanese control of the Dutch East Indies.The delegation returned from Italy with information on how the Cunningham engineers devised shallow-running torpedoes. Japan’s navel planners were without a doubt influenced by Admiral  Togo's surprise attack that was executed on the Pacific Fleet of Russia  at Port Arthur in 1905, and also they were influenced by U. S. Admiral  Harry Yarnell's work in the 1932 joint Army-Navy exercises, which was used to simulate an invasion of the island of Hawaii. Yarnell, as the leader of the force that was attacking the island, placed his aircraft carriers northwest f Oahu and simulated an air attack. The umpires of the exercises noted that Yarnell's aircraft were able to impose serious â€Å"damage† on the defending team, who for 24 hours after the attack were not able to find his team. In a letter that was written on January 7, 1941 Yamamoto finally delivered a somewhat rough draft of his plan to  Koshiro Oikawa, then Navy Minister, who he also asked that he be made Commander in Chief of the air fleet to carry out the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.A couple of weeks later in another letter, this time sent to  Takijiro Onishi, chief of staff of the Eleventh Air Fleet, Yamamoto asked Onishi to study the actual ability successfully carrying out an attack against the American base. After speaking with  Kosei Maeda originally, an expert on aerial torpedo warfare, and being told that harbor's shallow waters made an attack of this nature very close to impossible; Onsihi then sought the advice of Commander  and planner Minoru Genda.Once Genda studied the original plan issued by Yamamoto, Genda said: â€Å"the plan is difficult but not impossible†. During the next couple weeks, Genda made some changes to Yamamoto's rough draft of the attack, stressing the importance of the attack being executed early in the morning and in complete secrecy, using an aircraft carrier fleet and many different types of bombing. [ix]Although bombing the United States Pacific Fleet while they were anchored in Pearl Harbor would be a surprise, it also had two large flaws: The ships that would be targeted would be sunk or damaged in the shallow water waters of the harbor, which would mean that they could possibly be salvaged and possibly returned to duty (as six of the eight battleships eventually were); and most of the crews would be able to live through the attack, since the majority would be on leave  which means they would be on shore or that most could be easily rescued from the harbor after the attack took place.Despite these concerns, Yamamoto and Genda pressed ahead. By April of 1941, the plan to attack Pearl Harbor began to be referred to as  Operation Z, named after the famous Z signal given by Admiral Togo at Tsushima. Throughout the summer of 1941 leading up to the attack, pilots were training in secret near  Kagoshima City  on the Japanese island of  Kyushu. Genda chose this location because the geography and infrastructure of Kagoshima City presented almost all of the same problems bombers would have to overcome during the attack on Pearl Harbor.In training, each flight crew navigated over the 5000-foot mountain behind Kagoshima City and dropp ed into the city, maneuvering around buildings before descending to an altitude of 25 feet at the oceans edge. Bombardiers dropped torpedoes at some 300 yards away. The skimming of the water did not fix the problem of torpedoes hitting the ocean floor in the shallow waters of Pearl Harbor. Japanese engineers developed modifications allowing successful shallow water drops. The engineers work turned out to be a heavily modified version of theType 91 torpedo,  which turned out to inflict most of the damage to ships during the attack.Japanese weapon engineers also developed special  armor-piercing bombs  with fitted fins and release shackles to 14 and 16  inch naval shells. These were able to pierce the more lightly armored decks of the older battleships still in service. On November 26, 1941, a Japanese  Striking Force of six aircraft carriers (Akagi, Kaga,  Soryu,  Hiryu,  Shokaku, and  Zuikaku) left Japan  heading  to a predetermined position that was northwest of Hawaii, with the intention to launch its planes to execute the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.A total of 408 aircraft were supposed to be used in the attack: 360 for the two attack waves, 48 on defensive  combat air patrol  (CAP), including nine fighters that would serve double duty on CAP and the first attack wave. The first wave was going to be the major attack, with the second wave serving as a way to finish whatever objectives remained to be completed. The first wave featured the majority of the weapons to attack  capital ships; mainly the specially adapted  Type 91  aerial torpedoes  that we discussed earlier. x]  The attack crews were told to pick the highest value targets such as battleships and  aircraft carriers or, if they were not available, any other high profile ships like cruisers and destroyers. The dive bombers  were ordered to attack ground targets. Fighter pilots were told to strafe and destroy as many grounded aircraft as possible to make sur e they did not get into the air to attack the bombers, specifically during the first wave. When the planes fuel got low they were ordered to return to the aircraft carriers to refuel, then immediately return to the attack.Fighters were ordered to serve CAP duties when needed, especially over the US airfields where the United States planes were grounded. Before the attack began, two aircrafts  were launched from cruisers were sent to scout and gain information over Oahu and report on the composition of the fleet and their exact location. Another four planes scouted the area between the Japanese carrier force in order to prevent the task force from being caught by a surprise counterattack. [xi] The attack on Pearl Harbor actually took place before any formal declaration of war was made by Japan, but it was not the Admiral’s intention to do this.He originally stated that the attack should not take place until at least thirty minutes after Japan had formally notified the United States that negotiations for peace had come to a close. [xii]  The Japanese tried to play by the rules of war while still making the attack a surprise, but the attack began before the notice could be delivered and translated. Japan sent the 5,000-word declairation of war (commonly called the â€Å"14-Part Message†) in two sections to the  Japanese Embassy in Washington, but translating the message took too long for it to be delivered in time. In fact, U. S. code breakers had already deciphered and translated most of the message hours before he was scheduled to deliver it. ). The final part of the â€Å"14 Part Message† is what some call the actual declaration of war. While it did not declare war nor did it end diplomatic relations, it was viewed by a large number of senior U. S government officials as a very strong indication that negotiations were likely done  and that war was going to erupt at any moment.A declaration of war from Japan was printed on the front page of Japan's newspapers in the evening edition of December 8,  but it was not delivered to the United States government until the day after the attack had already taken place. â€Å"The first attack wave consisted of 183 planes that were launched north of Oahu, led by Commander Mitsuo Fuchida. It included: ? 1st Group  (targets: battleships and aircraft carriers) ? 50  Nakajima B5N  Kate  bombers armed with 800  kg (1760  lb)  armor piercing bombs, organized in four sections ? 40 B5N bombers armed with  Type 91 torpedoes, also in four sections ? nd Group  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ (targets:  Ford Island  and  Wheeler Field) ? 54  Aichi D3A  Val  dive bombers armed with 550  lb (249  kg)  general purpose bombs ? 3rd Group  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ (targets: aircraft at Ford Island, Hickam Field, Wheeler Field, Barber’s Point, Kaneohe) ? 45  Mitsubishi A6M  Zeke  fighters for air control and  strafing ? Six planes failed to launch due to technical difficulti es. †[xiii] â€Å"The second wave was 171 planes: 54 B5Ns, 81 D3As, and 36 A6Ms, led by Lieutenant  Shigekazu Shimazaki. Four of the planes failed to launch because of technical difficulties.This wave and its targets comprised: ? 1st Group  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ 54 B5Ns armed with 550  lb (249  kg) and 132  lb (60  kg) general purpose bombs ? 27 B5Ns – aircraft and hangars on Kaneohe, Ford Island, and Barbers Point ? 27 B5Ns – hangars and aircraft on Hickam Field ? 2nd Group  (targets: aircraft carriers and cruisers) ? 81 D3As armed with 550  lb (249  kg) general purpose bombs, in four sections ? 3rd Group  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ (targets: aircraft at Ford Island, Hickam Field, Wheeler Field, Barber’s Point, Kaneohe) ? 36 A6Ms for defense and strafing†[xiv] The United States suffered great losses; all eight U. S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four being sunk. Of the eight damaged six were raised, repaired and returned to service later in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three  destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship,  and one  minelayer. 188 U. S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,402 Americans were killed  and 1,282 wounded. The power station, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the  intelligence section) were not attacked. [xv] â€Å"Japanese losses were light: 29 aircraft and five  midget submarines  lost, and 65 servicemen killed or wounded. One Japanese sailor  was captured. †[xvi] â€Å"After the attack, 15  Medals of Honor, 51  Navy Crosses, 53  Silver Stars, four  Navy and Marine Corps Medals, one  Distinguished Flying Cross, four  Distinguished Service Crosses, one Distinguished Service Medal, and three  Bronze Star Medals  were awarded to the American military men who served in combat at Pearl Harbor. [xvii]  Also, a special award, the  Pearl Harbor Commem orative Medal, was later made and given to all military veterans of the attack. The day following the attack, Roosevelt gave his now famous  Infamy Speech  to a  Joint Session of Congress, calling for a  declaration of war on the Empire of Japan. Congress granted this request in less than an hour. On December 11 1941 Germany and Italy, honoring the Tripartite Pact, declared war on the United States. The United States Congress issued a declaration of war later the same day against Germany and Italy.Britain declared war on the Japanese some nine hours before the United States did, mostly because of the Japanese attacks on Malaya, Singapore and Hong Kong, and also due to the promise that Winston Churchill made to declare war â€Å"within the hour† if the Japanese executed an attack against the United States. The attack was a huge shock to the Allies in the Pacific Theater. More losses made the setback even more alarming. Japan  attacked the Philippines just a few short   hours later but because of the time difference, it was December 8 in the Philippines.Just a few days after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the  Prince of Wales  and  Repulse,  which were two British ships, were sunk  off the coast of  Malaya, British Prime Minister  Winston Churchill  later said: â€Å"In all the war I never received a more direct shock. As I turned and twisted in bed the full horror of the news sank in upon me. There were no British or American capital ships in the  Indian Ocean  or the  Pacific  except the American survivors of Pearl Harbor who were hastening back to California.Over this vast expanse of waters Japan was supreme and we everywhere were weak and naked†. [xviii] During the rest of the war, Pearl Harbor was very often used with  American propaganda to promote the war. Another huge reaction by America because of the attacks on Pearl Harbor was that most of the Japanese American residents and citizens were reloca ted to Japanese-American internment  camps. Just a few short hours after the attack, hundreds of Japanese American leaders were arrested and brought to high-security camps that like  Sand Island  and Kilauea Military Camp  located in Hawaii.Later, over 110,000 Japanese Americans, this includes United States citizens, were yanked from their homes and transferred to these high security internment camps in California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas. [xix] As was discussed previously discussed, was America aware of the plans of the attack? Several theorists don’t accept the view that Pearl Harbor was a complete surprise and these theorists always make clear that Roosevelt wanted, though did not say so officially, the U. S. to play a part in the war against Germany.A basic grip of the political situation of 1941 displays reasonable evidence Roosevelt invited, allowed, or even knew of the Pearl Harbor attack. Military historian and novelist  Thomas Fleming  poses the argument that President Roosevelt himself, had wished that Germany or Japan would make the first blow, but did not expect the United States to be hit as hard as it was in the attack on Pearl Harbor. [xx] In closing I feel that the United States was aware of this devastating attack and that my thesis of â€Å"On December 7, 1941 The United States of America changed forever with Japan’s surprise attacks on the U.S. Navel base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. These attacks thrust the United States into the middle of the Second World War and raised many questions and conspiracies pertaining to prior knowledge of the attacks and the plans that the Japanese executed. † was well covered through out duration of this research. ———————– [i] The effort to establish the Imperial Way (kodo) had begun with the  Second Sino-Japanese War  (called  sei sen, or â€Å"holy war†, by Japan). Bix, Herbert,  Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, 2001, p. 326-327. [ii] Japan had fought the  First Sino-Japanese War  with China in 1894-95 and the Russo-Japanese War  with Russia in 1904-05; Japan's imperialist ambitions had a hand in precipitating both conflicts. [iii] The Second London Naval Disarmament Conference opened in  London,  United Kingdom  on 9 December 1935. It resulted in the  Second London Naval Treaty  which was signed on 25 March 1936. [iv] Lester H. Brune and Richard Dean Burns,  Chronological History of U.S. Foreign Relations: 1932-1988, 2003, p. 504. [v] The  Marco Polo Bridge Incident was a  battle  between the  Republic of China's National Revolutionary Army  and the  Imperial Japanese Army, often used as the marker for the start of the  Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) [vi] The Rape of Nanking was a  mass murder, and  war rape  that occurred during the six-week period following the Japanese  capture  of the city of  Nanking, the former capital of the  Republic of China, on December 13, 1937 during the  Second Sino-Japanese War. vii] Joint Congressional Hearings on the Pearl Harbor Attack, Part 40, Page 506, â€Å"Conclusions Restated With Supporting Evidence† [viii] Richardson, â€Å"On the Treadmill†, pp. 425, 434. And as recounted in Baker, â€Å"Human Smoke†, p. 239 [ix] Prange, Gordon,  At Dawn We Slept, Penguin Books, p. 25-27 [x] Peattie, Mark R. (2001),  Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power, 1909–1941, Naval Institute Press [xi] Tony DiGiulian. â€Å"Order of Battle – Pearl Harbor – December 7, 1941†. Navweaps. com. Retrieved 2012-02-17. [xii] Calvocoressi  et al. ,  The Penguin History of the Second World War, p. 52 [xiii] Prange. p. 102 [xiv] Prange. p. 102 [xv] â€Å"Full Pearl Harbor casualty list†. Usswestvirginia. org. Retrieved 2012-02-17. [xvi] â€Å"Full Pearl Harbor casualty list†. Usswes tvirginia. org. Retrieved 2012-02-17. [xvii] Prange. p. 454 [xviii]   Churchill, Winston; Martin Gilbert (2001),  Ã¢â‚¬Å"December 1941†,  The Churchill War Papers: The Ever-Widening War,  Volume 3: 1941, London, New York: W. W. Norton, p 1593–1594, [xix] Prange. p. 632 [xx]   Fleming, Thomas (2001-06-10). â€Å"Pearl Harbor Hype†. History News Network. Retrieved 2012-02-21. Bibliography: Primary:Burtness, Paul, and Warren Ober. â€Å"President Roosevelt, Admiral Stark, and the Unsent Warning to Pearl Harbor: A Research Note.. †Ã‚  Australian Journal of Politics & History;. 57. no. 4 (2011): 580-88. http://web. ebscohost. com. proxy. ohiolink. edu:9099/ehost/detail? vid=4&hid=113&[email  protected]&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ==, Retrieved 2012-02-21 â€Å"Attack At Pearl Harbor, 1941, – the Japanese View† EyeWitness to History, www. eyewitnesstohistory. com (2001). Retrieved 2012-03-01 Harriet Moore, (U. S. Army Nurse Corps 2nd Lt . , interview by Erica Warren, â€Å"Army nurse recalls attack on Pearl Harbor,†Ã‚  North County Times, December 7, 2003, January 31, 2012, http://www. nctimes. com/news/local/article_85b4ea10-e9c2-5af7-8e74-deddc726aa5b. html. Conn, Stetson; Fairchild, Byron; Engelman, Rose C. (2000),  Ã¢â‚¬Å"7 – The Attack on Pearl Harbor†,  Guarding the United States and Its Outposts, Washington D. C. : Center of Military History United States Army â€Å"Damage to United States Naval Forces and Installations as a Result of the Attack†,  Report of the Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack, Washington D.C. : United States Government Printing Office, 1946, retrieved 2012-02-08 US Navy Report of Japanese Raid on Pearl Harbor, United States National Archives, Modern Military Branch, 1942 Churchill, Winston; Martin Gilbert (2001),  Ã¢â‚¬Å"December 1941†,  The Churchill War Papers: The Ever-Widening War,  Volume 3: 1941, London, New York: W. W. Norton, p 1593–1594, Joint Congressional Hearings on the Pearl Harbor Attack, Part 40, Page 506, â€Å"Conclusions Restated With Supporting Evidence† Secondary Bix, Herbert,  Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, 2001, p. 326-327. Prange, Gordon.At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1981. Fleming, Thomas (2001-06-10). â€Å"Pearl Harbor Hype†. History News Network. Retrieved 2012-02-21. Richardson, â€Å"On the Treadmill†, pp. 425, 434. And as recounted in Baker, â€Å"Human Smoke† Peattie, Mark R. (2001),  Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power, 1909–1941, Naval Institute Press Calvocoressi  et al. ,  The Penguin History of the Second World War, p. 952 Tony DiGiulian. â€Å"Order of Battle – Pearl Harbor – December 7, 1941†. Navweaps. com. Retrieved 2012-02-17. Pearl Harbor: A Day of Infamy By Chris Smith World War II Pearl Harbor: A Day of Infamy By Chris Smith World War II altered the face of American history forever. This being a war the United States was greatly against and never wanted to enter, They were thrust into the war by a brutal attack from the Japanese on a Navel base located in the pacific ocean on the island Oahu in what is called Pearl Harbor. This attack on the base was a direct attack against the United States and gave America no choice but to enter the war they were originally so opposed to, or were they? Did the American government know that the Japanese were planning an attack?Did the United States allow the Japanese kill and wound several thousand Americans and sink and damage several naval ships all for a reason to enter a war our President longed to be a part of? Those questions along with several more have been raised by authors and thinkers throughout history. These questions along with several more will be examined in depth throughout this writing. The thesis of this pa per is as follows, â€Å"On December 7, 1941 The United States of America changed forever with Japan’s surprise attacks on the U. S.Navel base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. These attacks thrust the United States into the middle of the Second World War and raised many questions and conspiracies pertaining to prior knowledge of the attacks and the plans that the Japanese executed. † First, the anticipation of war will be discussed and the events leading to attack. Secondly, the process that the Japanese went through will be discussed, from the year of planning to the secretive launch of their â€Å"striking force† also their already obvious aggression displayed by the invasion of China.Another crucial piece to this puzzle is the Tripartite pact signed by Japan to make them apart of the â€Å"Axis powers†. Also the Japanese fleet and how they were utilized and coordinated in this attack will play a vital part in this description of this devastating attack. Finall y the question will be addressed of whether we were aware of the attacks in advance and discuss the conspiracy theories surrounding this hot button issue in World War II history. Tensions between Japan and the United States increased greatly at the start of the military oriented  Showa era, as Japanese nationalists and military leaders used escalating influence over government policy, accepting the creation of a  Greater East Asia alliance  as part of Japan's alleged â€Å"divine right†Ã‚  to unify all of Asia under  Emperor Showa's rule,  threatening the already-established American, French, British, and Dutch colonies located in Asia. †[i] Throughout the 1930s, Japan's increasing expansion policies got them into conflicts with its neighbors, Russia and China[ii] .In March of 1933, Japan removed itself from the  League of Nations  because of international displease for its desire to conquer Manchuria  and for their plans to establish the  Manchukuo  puppet government. On January 15, 1936, Japan also removed representatives from the  Second London Naval Disarmament Conference[iii]  because the United States and Great Britain did not want to grant the  Imperial Japanese Navy  (IJN) parity with their navies. [iv] A  second war  between the Japanese and Chinese started with the  Marco Polo Bridge Incident  in July 1937[v].Japan's attack on China was looked down upon by the United States and the majority of the members of the League of Nations including Britain, France, Australia, and the Netherlands. The crimes of the Japanese during the conflict such as the Rape of Nanking[vi], definitely made relations with the rest of the world very strained. These states had several interests, as well as formal colonies, in the East  and  Southeast Asia. Japan's new power and its urge to use it raised great concerns, which threatened the control they had in Asia.In July of 1939, the United States got rid of its 1911 commerc ial treaty with Japan, but this effort failed to stop Japan from continuing the war in China, or from signing the  Tripartite Pact  in 1940 with  Hitler’s Germany  and Italy, officially forming the  Axis Powers. Japan took full advantage of Germany’s war in Europe to better its progress in the Far East. The Tripartite Pact promised each of the nations that had signed would have assistance if attacked by any country then considered neutral. This stipulation was directed at the United States, and gave Japan more power on the political stage.The Tripartite Pact now posed a great threat to the United States on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Hitler and Mussolini threatening on the Atlantic Ocean, and the Japanese on the Pacific Ocean. The Roosevelt administration felt the  American lifestyle  would be threatened if Europe and the Far East were to come under control of a dictatorship. Roosevelt pledged to help the British and the Chinese; he loaned both money and  materials  to both countries and promised that America aid would be enough to promise their survival of war. Giving this aid would start to move the United States from a neutral country to a country preparing for war.On October 8, 1940, Admiral  James O. Richardson, who was the commander of the Pacific Fleet, forced a confrontation with President Roosevelt, resending his messages from previous transmissions to  Chief of Naval Operations  Admiral  Harold R. Stark  and to  Secretary of the Navy  Frank Knox, that Pearl Harbor was the be best place for his ships to be located. Roosevelt told Richardson that having that fleet in Pearl Harbor was a â€Å"restraining influence† on the Japanese. Richardson asked the president if the United States was going to war. [vii] In Richardson's retelling of the account the president responded: At least as early as October 8, 1940, President Roosevelt believed that affairs had reached such a state that the United S tates would be come involved in a war with Japan. †¦ ‘that if the Japanese attacked Thailand, or the Kra Peninsula, or the Dutch East Indies we would not enter the war, that if they even attacked the Philippines he doubted whether we would enter the war, but that they (the Japanese) could not always avoid making mistakes and that as the war continued and that area of operations expanded sooner of later they would make a mistake and we would enter the war. †¦ â€Å". [viii] In 1940, Japanese troops moved into northern  Indochina. The invasion of Indochina, along with the Tripartite Pact, their war in China, increasing troops, and Japan's leaving the League of Nations made the U. S. embargo metal that was being shipped to Japan and to tighten down its foreign policy actions towards the Japanese and shut down the  Panama Canal  to Japanese ships. In 1941, Japanese troops invaded southern Indochina.On July 26 1941 the United States answered by freezing most Japane se assets in the United States and, then on August 1 1941, placed embargos on all of the oil and gas exports to Japan. Oil was the most important resource imported to Japan; at the time more than 80 percent of Japan's oil imports came from the United States. To make sure they had oil, and several other vital resources, the Japanese had long been looking for other places for their supplies, specifically in the  Dutch East Indies.The Navy was sure any plan of action to seize the Dutch East Indies would bring the United States into the war and were very skeptical when it came time to agree with the other factions' plans for the invasion. The complete United States oil embargo changed to the naval view to support the expansion toward support for the invasion of the Dutch East Indies and capture of all of the oil fields there. After the embargoes and the freezing of all assets, the Ambassador of Japan in Washington and the secretary of State Cordell Hull had multiple meetings to try an d find a solution to the Japanese-American problems.No solution could be found because of three major problems which were Japan's alliance to Germany and Italy through the Tripartite Pact; Japan wanted total control and responsibility for Southeast Asia; and Japan refused to leave China. Feeling the strain from the U. S. embargoes, Japan developed a sense of urgency, they either had to agree to Washington's demands and return to normal trade, or use force to gain access to resources that were available throughout the Pacific.Deciding that agreeing to Washington’s demands was unacceptable The Japanese decided to prepare for war with the United States, and seeing the opportunity of the forward basing of the  US Pacific Fleet  at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese began to plan in early 1941 for an attack on Pearl Harbor. For the next several months, planning a simultaneous attack on Pearl Harbor and invasion of British and Dutch colonies in the South Pacific occupied most of the Ja panese’ time and attention.The Pearl Harbor attack planning came from the Japanese predicting that the United States would be drawn into the war after the Japanese attacked Malaya and Singapore. The intent of a strike on Pearl Harbor was to negate the American navy in the Pacific, in turn removing it from dictating operations against American, British, and Dutch colonies in the South Pacific. Planning in the beginning had seen a battle between the two powers would take place in Japanese waters after the United States Navel Fleet traveled across the Pacific Ocean, which would come under attack by submarines and other forces all the way across.The United States Fleet would be beaten in a climactic battle. A surprise attack presented a difficult problem for two major reasons. First, the United States Pacific Fleet was a major force, and they would not be a pushover to defeat or sneak up on. Second, for an air attack, Pearl Harbor's shallow waters made the use of standard  air- dropped torpedoes  useless. On the bright side, the isolation of the island of Hawaii meant that a surprise attack could not be stopped or countered quickly by forces stationed in the continental United States.A lot of Japan’s naval officers were very impressed with the British  Operation: Judgement, where twenty one old and outdated  Fairey Swordfish  crippled half of the  Regia Marina. Admiral Yamamoto went as far as sending a delegation to Italy, which decided that a version of Cunningham's strike on a much larger scale could force the United States Pacific Fleet to have to return to bases in California, which would give the Japanese time to put a â€Å"barrier† defense in place to defend the Japanese control of the Dutch East Indies.The delegation returned from Italy with information on how the Cunningham engineers devised shallow-running torpedoes. Japan’s navel planners were without a doubt influenced by Admiral  Togo's surprise attack that was executed on the Pacific Fleet of Russia  at Port Arthur in 1905, and also they were influenced by U. S. Admiral  Harry Yarnell's work in the 1932 joint Army-Navy exercises, which was used to simulate an invasion of the island of Hawaii. Yarnell, as the leader of the force that was attacking the island, placed his aircraft carriers northwest f Oahu and simulated an air attack. The umpires of the exercises noted that Yarnell's aircraft were able to impose serious â€Å"damage† on the defending team, who for 24 hours after the attack were not able to find his team. In a letter that was written on January 7, 1941 Yamamoto finally delivered a somewhat rough draft of his plan to  Koshiro Oikawa, then Navy Minister, who he also asked that he be made Commander in Chief of the air fleet to carry out the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.A couple of weeks later in another letter, this time sent to  Takijiro Onishi, chief of staff of the Eleventh Air Fleet, Yamamoto asked Onishi to study the actual ability successfully carrying out an attack against the American base. After speaking with  Kosei Maeda originally, an expert on aerial torpedo warfare, and being told that harbor's shallow waters made an attack of this nature very close to impossible; Onsihi then sought the advice of Commander  and planner Minoru Genda.Once Genda studied the original plan issued by Yamamoto, Genda said: â€Å"the plan is difficult but not impossible†. During the next couple weeks, Genda made some changes to Yamamoto's rough draft of the attack, stressing the importance of the attack being executed early in the morning and in complete secrecy, using an aircraft carrier fleet and many different types of bombing. [ix]Although bombing the United States Pacific Fleet while they were anchored in Pearl Harbor would be a surprise, it also had two large flaws: The ships that would be targeted would be sunk or damaged in the shallow water waters of the harbor, which would mean that they could possibly be salvaged and possibly returned to duty (as six of the eight battleships eventually were); and most of the crews would be able to live through the attack, since the majority would be on leave  which means they would be on shore or that most could be easily rescued from the harbor after the attack took place.Despite these concerns, Yamamoto and Genda pressed ahead. By April of 1941, the plan to attack Pearl Harbor began to be referred to as  Operation Z, named after the famous Z signal given by Admiral Togo at Tsushima. Throughout the summer of 1941 leading up to the attack, pilots were training in secret near  Kagoshima City  on the Japanese island of  Kyushu. Genda chose this location because the geography and infrastructure of Kagoshima City presented almost all of the same problems bombers would have to overcome during the attack on Pearl Harbor.In training, each flight crew navigated over the 5000-foot mountain behind Kagoshima City and dropp ed into the city, maneuvering around buildings before descending to an altitude of 25 feet at the oceans edge. Bombardiers dropped torpedoes at some 300 yards away. The skimming of the water did not fix the problem of torpedoes hitting the ocean floor in the shallow waters of Pearl Harbor. Japanese engineers developed modifications allowing successful shallow water drops. The engineers work turned out to be a heavily modified version of theType 91 torpedo,  which turned out to inflict most of the damage to ships during the attack.Japanese weapon engineers also developed special  armor-piercing bombs  with fitted fins and release shackles to 14 and 16  inch naval shells. These were able to pierce the more lightly armored decks of the older battleships still in service. On November 26, 1941, a Japanese  Striking Force of six aircraft carriers (Akagi, Kaga,  Soryu,  Hiryu,  Shokaku, and  Zuikaku) left Japan  heading  to a predetermined position that was northwest of Hawaii, with the intention to launch its planes to execute the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.A total of 408 aircraft were supposed to be used in the attack: 360 for the two attack waves, 48 on defensive  combat air patrol  (CAP), including nine fighters that would serve double duty on CAP and the first attack wave. The first wave was going to be the major attack, with the second wave serving as a way to finish whatever objectives remained to be completed. The first wave featured the majority of the weapons to attack  capital ships; mainly the specially adapted  Type 91  aerial torpedoes  that we discussed earlier. x]  The attack crews were told to pick the highest value targets such as battleships and  aircraft carriers or, if they were not available, any other high profile ships like cruisers and destroyers. The dive bombers  were ordered to attack ground targets. Fighter pilots were told to strafe and destroy as many grounded aircraft as possible to make sur e they did not get into the air to attack the bombers, specifically during the first wave. When the planes fuel got low they were ordered to return to the aircraft carriers to refuel, then immediately return to the attack.Fighters were ordered to serve CAP duties when needed, especially over the US airfields where the United States planes were grounded. Before the attack began, two aircrafts  were launched from cruisers were sent to scout and gain information over Oahu and report on the composition of the fleet and their exact location. Another four planes scouted the area between the Japanese carrier force in order to prevent the task force from being caught by a surprise counterattack. [xi] The attack on Pearl Harbor actually took place before any formal declaration of war was made by Japan, but it was not the Admiral’s intention to do this.He originally stated that the attack should not take place until at least thirty minutes after Japan had formally notified the United States that negotiations for peace had come to a close. [xii]  The Japanese tried to play by the rules of war while still making the attack a surprise, but the attack began before the notice could be delivered and translated. Japan sent the 5,000-word declairation of war (commonly called the â€Å"14-Part Message†) in two sections to the  Japanese Embassy in Washington, but translating the message took too long for it to be delivered in time. In fact, U. S. code breakers had already deciphered and translated most of the message hours before he was scheduled to deliver it. ). The final part of the â€Å"14 Part Message† is what some call the actual declaration of war. While it did not declare war nor did it end diplomatic relations, it was viewed by a large number of senior U. S government officials as a very strong indication that negotiations were likely done  and that war was going to erupt at any moment.A declaration of war from Japan was printed on the front page of Japan's newspapers in the evening edition of December 8,  but it was not delivered to the United States government until the day after the attack had already taken place. â€Å"The first attack wave consisted of 183 planes that were launched north of Oahu, led by Commander Mitsuo Fuchida. It included: ? 1st Group  (targets: battleships and aircraft carriers) ? 50  Nakajima B5N  Kate  bombers armed with 800  kg (1760  lb)  armor piercing bombs, organized in four sections ? 40 B5N bombers armed with  Type 91 torpedoes, also in four sections ? nd Group  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ (targets:  Ford Island  and  Wheeler Field) ? 54  Aichi D3A  Val  dive bombers armed with 550  lb (249  kg)  general purpose bombs ? 3rd Group  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ (targets: aircraft at Ford Island, Hickam Field, Wheeler Field, Barber’s Point, Kaneohe) ? 45  Mitsubishi A6M  Zeke  fighters for air control and  strafing ? Six planes failed to launch due to technical difficulti es. †[xiii] â€Å"The second wave was 171 planes: 54 B5Ns, 81 D3As, and 36 A6Ms, led by Lieutenant  Shigekazu Shimazaki. Four of the planes failed to launch because of technical difficulties.This wave and its targets comprised: ? 1st Group  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ 54 B5Ns armed with 550  lb (249  kg) and 132  lb (60  kg) general purpose bombs ? 27 B5Ns – aircraft and hangars on Kaneohe, Ford Island, and Barbers Point ? 27 B5Ns – hangars and aircraft on Hickam Field ? 2nd Group  (targets: aircraft carriers and cruisers) ? 81 D3As armed with 550  lb (249  kg) general purpose bombs, in four sections ? 3rd Group  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ (targets: aircraft at Ford Island, Hickam Field, Wheeler Field, Barber’s Point, Kaneohe) ? 36 A6Ms for defense and strafing†[xiv] The United States suffered great losses; all eight U. S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four being sunk. Of the eight damaged six were raised, repaired and returned to service later in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three  destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship,  and one  minelayer. 188 U. S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,402 Americans were killed  and 1,282 wounded. The power station, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the  intelligence section) were not attacked. [xv] â€Å"Japanese losses were light: 29 aircraft and five  midget submarines  lost, and 65 servicemen killed or wounded. One Japanese sailor  was captured. †[xvi] â€Å"After the attack, 15  Medals of Honor, 51  Navy Crosses, 53  Silver Stars, four  Navy and Marine Corps Medals, one  Distinguished Flying Cross, four  Distinguished Service Crosses, one Distinguished Service Medal, and three  Bronze Star Medals  were awarded to the American military men who served in combat at Pearl Harbor. [xvii]  Also, a special award, the  Pearl Harbor Commem orative Medal, was later made and given to all military veterans of the attack. The day following the attack, Roosevelt gave his now famous  Infamy Speech  to a  Joint Session of Congress, calling for a  declaration of war on the Empire of Japan. Congress granted this request in less than an hour. On December 11 1941 Germany and Italy, honoring the Tripartite Pact, declared war on the United States. The United States Congress issued a declaration of war later the same day against Germany and Italy.Britain declared war on the Japanese some nine hours before the United States did, mostly because of the Japanese attacks on Malaya, Singapore and Hong Kong, and also due to the promise that Winston Churchill made to declare war â€Å"within the hour† if the Japanese executed an attack against the United States. The attack was a huge shock to the Allies in the Pacific Theater. More losses made the setback even more alarming. Japan  attacked the Philippines just a few short   hours later but because of the time difference, it was December 8 in the Philippines.Just a few days after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the  Prince of Wales  and  Repulse,  which were two British ships, were sunk  off the coast of  Malaya, British Prime Minister  Winston Churchill  later said: â€Å"In all the war I never received a more direct shock. As I turned and twisted in bed the full horror of the news sank in upon me. There were no British or American capital ships in the  Indian Ocean  or the  Pacific  except the American survivors of Pearl Harbor who were hastening back to California.Over this vast expanse of waters Japan was supreme and we everywhere were weak and naked†. [xviii] During the rest of the war, Pearl Harbor was very often used with  American propaganda to promote the war. Another huge reaction by America because of the attacks on Pearl Harbor was that most of the Japanese American residents and citizens were reloca ted to Japanese-American internment  camps. Just a few short hours after the attack, hundreds of Japanese American leaders were arrested and brought to high-security camps that like  Sand Island  and Kilauea Military Camp  located in Hawaii.Later, over 110,000 Japanese Americans, this includes United States citizens, were yanked from their homes and transferred to these high security internment camps in California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas. [xix] As was discussed previously discussed, was America aware of the plans of the attack? Several theorists don’t accept the view that Pearl Harbor was a complete surprise and these theorists always make clear that Roosevelt wanted, though did not say so officially, the U. S. to play a part in the war against Germany.A basic grip of the political situation of 1941 displays reasonable evidence Roosevelt invited, allowed, or even knew of the Pearl Harbor attack. Military historian and novelist  Thomas Fleming  poses the argument that President Roosevelt himself, had wished that Germany or Japan would make the first blow, but did not expect the United States to be hit as hard as it was in the attack on Pearl Harbor. [xx] In closing I feel that the United States was aware of this devastating attack and that my thesis of â€Å"On December 7, 1941 The United States of America changed forever with Japan’s surprise attacks on the U.S. Navel base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. These attacks thrust the United States into the middle of the Second World War and raised many questions and conspiracies pertaining to prior knowledge of the attacks and the plans that the Japanese executed. † was well covered through out duration of this research. ———————– [i] The effort to establish the Imperial Way (kodo) had begun with the  Second Sino-Japanese War  (called  sei sen, or â€Å"holy war†, by Japan). Bix, Herbert,  Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, 2001, p. 326-327. [ii] Japan had fought the  First Sino-Japanese War  with China in 1894-95 and the Russo-Japanese War  with Russia in 1904-05; Japan's imperialist ambitions had a hand in precipitating both conflicts. [iii] The Second London Naval Disarmament Conference opened in  London,  United Kingdom  on 9 December 1935. It resulted in the  Second London Naval Treaty  which was signed on 25 March 1936. [iv] Lester H. Brune and Richard Dean Burns,  Chronological History of U.S. Foreign Relations: 1932-1988, 2003, p. 504. [v] The  Marco Polo Bridge Incident was a  battle  between the  Republic of China's National Revolutionary Army  and the  Imperial Japanese Army, often used as the marker for the start of the  Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) [vi] The Rape of Nanking was a  mass murder, and  war rape  that occurred during the six-week period following the Japanese  capture  of the city of  Nanking, the former capital of the  Republic of China, on December 13, 1937 during the  Second Sino-Japanese War. vii] Joint Congressional Hearings on the Pearl Harbor Attack, Part 40, Page 506, â€Å"Conclusions Restated With Supporting Evidence† [viii] Richardson, â€Å"On the Treadmill†, pp. 425, 434. And as recounted in Baker, â€Å"Human Smoke†, p. 239 [ix] Prange, Gordon,  At Dawn We Slept, Penguin Books, p. 25-27 [x] Peattie, Mark R. (2001),  Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power, 1909–1941, Naval Institute Press [xi] Tony DiGiulian. â€Å"Order of Battle – Pearl Harbor – December 7, 1941†. Navweaps. com. Retrieved 2012-02-17. [xii] Calvocoressi  et al. ,  The Penguin History of the Second World War, p. 52 [xiii] Prange. p. 102 [xiv] Prange. p. 102 [xv] â€Å"Full Pearl Harbor casualty list†. Usswestvirginia. org. Retrieved 2012-02-17. [xvi] â€Å"Full Pearl Harbor casualty list†. Usswes tvirginia. org. Retrieved 2012-02-17. [xvii] Prange. p. 454 [xviii]   Churchill, Winston; Martin Gilbert (2001),  Ã¢â‚¬Å"December 1941†,  The Churchill War Papers: The Ever-Widening War,  Volume 3: 1941, London, New York: W. W. Norton, p 1593–1594, [xix] Prange. p. 632 [xx]   Fleming, Thomas (2001-06-10). â€Å"Pearl Harbor Hype†. History News Network. Retrieved 2012-02-21. Bibliography: Primary:Burtness, Paul, and Warren Ober. â€Å"President Roosevelt, Admiral Stark, and the Unsent Warning to Pearl Harbor: A Research Note.. †Ã‚  Australian Journal of Politics & History;. 57. no. 4 (2011): 580-88. http://web. ebscohost. com. proxy. ohiolink. edu:9099/ehost/detail? vid=4&hid=113&[email  protected]&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ==, Retrieved 2012-02-21 â€Å"Attack At Pearl Harbor, 1941, – the Japanese View† EyeWitness to History, www. eyewitnesstohistory. com (2001). Retrieved 2012-03-01 Harriet Moore, (U. S. Army Nurse Corps 2nd Lt . , interview by Erica Warren, â€Å"Army nurse recalls attack on Pearl Harbor,†Ã‚  North County Times, December 7, 2003, January 31, 2012, http://www. nctimes. com/news/local/article_85b4ea10-e9c2-5af7-8e74-deddc726aa5b. html. Conn, Stetson; Fairchild, Byron; Engelman, Rose C. (2000),  Ã¢â‚¬Å"7 – The Attack on Pearl Harbor†,  Guarding the United States and Its Outposts, Washington D. C. : Center of Military History United States Army â€Å"Damage to United States Naval Forces and Installations as a Result of the Attack†,  Report of the Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack, Washington D.C. : United States Government Printing Office, 1946, retrieved 2012-02-08 US Navy Report of Japanese Raid on Pearl Harbor, United States National Archives, Modern Military Branch, 1942 Churchill, Winston; Martin Gilbert (2001),  Ã¢â‚¬Å"December 1941†,  The Churchill War Papers: The Ever-Widening War,  Volume 3: 1941, London, New York: W. W. Norton, p 1593–1594, Joint Congressional Hearings on the Pearl Harbor Attack, Part 40, Page 506, â€Å"Conclusions Restated With Supporting Evidence† Secondary Bix, Herbert,  Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, 2001, p. 326-327. Prange, Gordon.At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1981. Fleming, Thomas (2001-06-10). â€Å"Pearl Harbor Hype†. History News Network. Retrieved 2012-02-21. Richardson, â€Å"On the Treadmill†, pp. 425, 434. And as recounted in Baker, â€Å"Human Smoke† Peattie, Mark R. (2001),  Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power, 1909–1941, Naval Institute Press Calvocoressi  et al. ,  The Penguin History of the Second World War, p. 952 Tony DiGiulian. â€Å"Order of Battle – Pearl Harbor – December 7, 1941†. Navweaps. com. Retrieved 2012-02-17.

Counselling Theories Essay

1.Explain the concept of nature versus nurture, using yourself as a case study to illustrate the theory. The concept of nature versus nurture is that human behaviour is influenced by genetic information inherited from our parents and also by environmental and social influences. My appearance such as short sightedness and pigmentation (freckles) I inherited from my parents. This means like my father I must wear glasses to drive and many other aspects of my daily life. Being a woman this heightens my social awareness as how others perceive me. Society dictates ‘the body beautiful’. Magazines, Bill-boards, TV and newspapers constantly suggest the need to have a perfect complexion. This influences how I perceive myself and makes me feel I must wear makeup to cover up such blemishes to appear more acceptable and feel good about myself. Thus this influences my behaviour in everyday life as I feel my appearance determines my acceptance by others. 2.Identify one strength and one weakness of the nature versus nurture concept in relation to understanding human development and individual behaviour. One strength of the nature versus nurture concept in relation to understanding human development and individual behaviour is the ability to explain addiction to smoking, drinking and narcotics. Children see their family and friends behaviour as socially acceptable and so exhibit these behaviours with little question. This often leads to entrenched social behaviour. This suggests that our early experiences can affect our perspective later in adulthood. One weakness of the nature versus nurture concept in relation to understanding human development and individual behaviour is that if someone’s behaviour is solely determined by their genes then to what extent are people in control of their lives. For instance people suffering from ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) have the same set of genes but depending on their family, social or cultural upbringing may respond differently to the same situation. 3.Describe Freud’s concept of the ego, id and superego. Explain how the ego,  id and superego interact. Use an example from your own experience. Id: Describes the biological or instinctive response. This is our original personality we are born with and controls responses in the early stage of life. Ego: In this second developmental stage, compromises in instinctive responses to environmental circumstances begin to develop. The ego mediates with the id by considering the rules of the real world and the consequences of actions taken in that world. Superego: This is that part of our psyche that determines how we think we should react in a given situation. This is the development of morals, what is right and what is wrong. It is a further development of control over the id response. An example from my own experience is say when I see a piece of cake on display. My id tells me I want to eat the piece of cake, my ego says are you really that hungry. My superego rationalises the situation and asks if I eat the cake unnecessarily, a possible consequence is I will put on weight and so is this the right thing to do? 4.Identify one strength and one weakness of Freud’s concept of the ego, id and superego in relation to understanding human development and individual behaviour. One advantage of Freud’s concept of the ego, id and superego in relation to understanding human development and individual behaviour is that it gives a good overall description of development of the human psyche. It recognises the development of personality and physical development stages. It demonstrates the interplay or lack of; between these different aspects of the psychological process and how different outcomes can occur as a consequence of this balance. One weakness of Sigmund Freud’s concept of the ego, id and superego in relation to understanding human development and individual behaviour is that not each may be equally well developed. This mix of psyche occurs at different rates for each individual. This can lead to social consequences where individuals will be treated differently causing a hindrance in the future development of the ego and superego. 5. Describe Jean Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development and provide an example from your own experience to illustrate the theory. Sensorimotor (Birth 18 months): During this period the baby begins to  recognise the world around them and so develops refined eye movement, depth vision, and later as they begin to explore further learn to crawl and then walk. They start to use simple language ‘mum’, ‘dad’ and other single word responses.   Preoperational (18 months to 6 years): Here the child increases their vocabulary and recognise some simple symbols and how to deal with certain basic situations. They can understand those near to them and begin to categorise the world around them. ï€ ªConcrete operational (6 to 12 years): At this point language skills increase but are still tied to the real world. The ability to reason increases in seeking to understand the world around them. Formal operational (12 years and over): About this point the child begins to explore abstract or hypothetical situations. There is an attempt to organise thoughts and situations into a logical ordering. From my own experience while I cannot remember the first two stages but I have seen them in my children’s growing up. At the age of 12 my daughter started to explore cooking for herself at first making cakes and more complicated meals. She started to ask such questions regarding instructions on packet mixes before progressing to more complicated cooking such as a bacon, tomato and onion omelette. More recently she has started to explore more complex issues and why people do what they do. 6.Identify one strength and one weakness of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development in relation to understanding human development and individual behaviour. Piaget’s stages of cognitive development demonstrate an important connection between physical development and personality stages. A criticism levelled at Piaget however was that he used his own children and others from a well educated and high socio-economic background. This selection is thus not fully representative of all society. Further children from different environment and cultural backgrounds may mature differently. Thus the age classification of the different stages may be much wider with some children developing at an earlier age and some later. 7.List Erikson’s eight psychosocial stages of development. Which stage do you see yourself in and why? (1)Oral sensory (0 – 1 year) (2)Muscular anal (2 – 3 years) (3)Locomotor-genital (3 – 5 years) (4)Latency (6 years – puberty) (5)Adolescence (12 – 18 years) (6)Early adulthood (18 – 35 years) (7)Middle adulthood (35– 60 years) (8)Mature adult (60+ years) I’m at stage 7 according to Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development. I am 40 years old, I have a family, a career and have organized as much as is possible my future life which now includes further education. 8.Identify one strength and one weakness of Erikson’s stages of development in relation to understanding human development and individual behaviour. A strength of Erikson’s stages of development in relation to understanding human development and individual behaviour is that it places greater stress in the nature versus nurture debate for the need for both concepts. Further this description is placed across an entire lifespan of a human being. A criticism, however, is that this theory describes the developmental process rather than explaining it.

Workplace Diversity and Work/Life Balance Essay - 1455 Words

Organizational behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups and structures have on behavior within an organization for the purpose of applying such knowledge towards improving an organization’s effectiveness. Organizational behavior is dependent upon many variables. It incorporates many areas of study such as psychology, sociology and anthropology. These disciplines are important in trying to manage new and existing challenges in the workplace. Two examples of current workplace challenges are workplace diversity and the constant struggle to balance work life and home life. Workplace diversity has become a growing concern within organizations. Managers are now challenged with learning new ways to†¦show more content†¦Much of the issue with workplace diversity stems from the fear of individuals that their co-workers are different or unlike them. This proves to make communication and staffing difficult for managers as it is important to not hurt anyone’s feelings or promote any kind of discrimination. To aid in preventing discrimination, managers must first understand their own, preconceived notions and work to not judge others based on those thoughts; it is important for managers and senior leadership to lead by example. An example of a possible preconceived notion could be that older employees are slower producers and perhaps incapable of learning new processes and technologies. The previous statement is not true, in fact on the contrary, older workers have a strong work ethic and bring a wealth of experience to the workplace. Additionally, older employees are less likely to quit their jobs and have a lower rate of absenteeism (Robbins). Overcoming workplace diversity challenges can bring exciting opportunities for an organization. By incorporating and striving to hire different ethnicities, businesses can broaden their services globally. If a company can keep the lines of communication open, the diff erent viewpointsShow MoreRelatedEthical Issues Within The Field Of Human Resources1657 Words   |  7 Pagesthe quality of work life, diversity at the workplace, worth of an individual, impartiality of human resources managers, and fair remuneration of employees. These issues present challenges mainly due to attaining a balance between the interest of the organization and requirements of employees. Ranking them based on effect on productivity and organizational performance reveals that fair remuneration concerns come first followed by impartiality of managers, then quality of work life that is followedRead MoreDiversity in the Workplace Essay1071 Words   |  5 Pages Diversity in a Workplace Discrimination are more common in workplaces, because some people only think of discrimination as making a distinction and judgment of a person based on color of skin. Discrimination goes far beyond color of skin. A person can be disseminated agonist for their age, disability, gender, religion, or even for being pregnant. In a workplace there are standards and policies in place to decrease the chances of a person being discriminated against. When the staff is diverseRead MoreHuman Resources And Human Resource Practices1695 Words   |  7 Pagesis how to handle the ever changing diversity within the organization. In order to be a successful human resource department of an organization that treats their diverse workforce in a fair and equal manner, one must first understand how the workforce demographics are changing, what problems may arise due to these changes, and how to overcome these problems. It is a delicate dance that must be done on a daily basis. Description As was inferred earlier, diversity in an organization is not a problemRead MoreOrganizational Performance Within The Global Realm1648 Words   |  7 Pagesdetermining both the positive and negative aspects of organizational diversity success. These strides have led the efforts in discovering how to influence and hold the workforce differences while advancing the organization. The search has led to the agreement that one overwhelming organizational behavior will successfully move the bottom line faster and in a positive global direction. Devoting the appropriate assets to diversity and diversity programs, the financial leaps will inevitably bring positiveRead MoreManagement : Management Careers And Diversity Essay1744 Words   |  7 PagesManagement Careers and Diversity Introduction Ongori and Agolla (2007) state that managing workforce diversity in an organization is a complex phenomenon. They suggest that with the current organizational transformations being implemented across the globe, management of workforce diversity cannot be downplayed. Diversity in the workforce is based on the acknowledgement of the reality that people are different in more than one way, mainly in terms of culture and ethnicity, personality, religionRead MoreThe Modern Human Resources Department1361 Words   |  6 Pagesbureaucratic period lead up to and after World War I and led to management experts, trade unions, industrial economists and reforms that applied pressure on the employers to reform their practices. This was the first step for employees to have a say in their work environments as well as having a process to address grievances. Representations in union type organizations more than tripled during this time period and the evolution of the modern personnel department began . The advent of performance evaluationsRead MoreMemersion Reflection Analysis1593 Words   |  7 PagesOverall, I now have a greater understanding and appreciation for diverse cultural, social, and intellectual resources in the community. Standard 5.3. Safeguard the values of democracy, equity, and diversity In today’s contemporary world, we must continue to safeguard our values of democracy, equity, and diversity. Democracy ensures personal freedom, fundamental rights, freedom of self-determination, political equality, and protection against fundamental interests (Dahl, 1998). Although we live inRead MoreEssay about Busman1552 Words   |  7 Pagesorganisations objectives is through ensuring that sufficient numbers of motivated and skilled staff are available to work efficiently and effectively, managing their resource to ensure high levels of productivity. - Effective HRM can help a LSO to increase its profits by: Ensure that wages are appropriate and not too expensive. Training can be costly, but may provide benefits as employees work more efficiently , increasing productivity and therefore generating greater profit. The recruitment processRead MoreGenerational Diversity in the Workplace1445 Words   |  6 PagesGenerational Diversity in the Workplace Managerial Communications 10/14/2011 Today, the workplace environment is comprised of people, both males and females from all different cultures and generations. For the first time in U.S. history there are four different generations out in the workforce. A generation can be defined as a group of individuals born within a term years having similar ideas, goals, attitudes and experiences. It can also be defined as the average period between the birthRead MoreBackground Of Ibm ( International Business Machine )1079 Words   |  5 Pagespromoting diversity in the organization. As the company had its first lady vice president in 1943. IBM rank’s in top 100 companies in the â€Å"Working Mother Magazine† and awarded 1st for multicultural working women in 2009.In 1993 Louis Gerstner became the CEO of IBM (Managing Diversity for Success: The Case of IBM). Diversity from the beginning of IBM. IBM is commonly known as the leader of workplace diversity. In 1943, the president of IBM Thomas Watson declared equal pay for equal work. Same benefits

Obesity And Health Issues Caused By Obesity Essay - 899 Words

Obesity is an epidemic in the United States today. Being overweight is defined by the Centers for Disease Control as having a body mass index (BMI) of greater than 25 and obesity as a BMI greater than 30. Being overweight is more than just a cosmetic problem, it is a chronic condition that leads to many health issues. Health issues caused by obesity have a huge effect on the cost of healthcare. In 2008, the cost of obesity related health care was $147 billion dollars. An obese person will spend almost $1,500 more a year on healthcare than a person of a healthy weight (CDC.gov, 2015). More than 35% of American adults and 17% of children are overweight or obese. Non-hispanic blacks have the highest percentage of obesity at 47.8% followed by non-hispanic whites at 32.6%. Middle age people have the highest rate of obesity (39.5%) closely followed by adults over 60 (35.4%), with young adults making up the smallest group (30.3%). Rates also vary among socioeconomic groups and interestingly differ according to race and sex within those groups. Non-hispanic blacks and Mexican American men are more likely to be obese if they have a higher income. However, women are more likely to be obese if they have a lower socioeconomic status (CDC.gov, 2015). Obesity is not just its own disease, there is a link between being overweight and the development of many other chronic conditions. It has been directly linked to diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke,Show MoreRelatedObesity : A Serious Health Condition1452 Words   |  6 PagesObesity is a serious health condition that, if left untreated, causes serious health conditions. Contrary to popular belief, obesity is more than a condition caused by overeating and lack of exercise (Vallor 2013). Obesity is a disease (Callahan 2013); a disease that Americans are spending about $150 billion on annually (Zamosky 2013). Additionally, changing a person’s diet and exercise regimen may not be effective in some cases of obesity (Vallor 2013). Obesity is not like most well-known diseases;Read MoreRhetorical Analysis on Obesity1531 Words   |  7 PagesThe obesity epidemic is rapidly spreading throughout America, reeking havoc on the nation. I have chosen two article s that discuss this issue and use different rhetorical strategies to convince the reader of the causes of this deadly epidemic as well as different aspects of the disease that should be focused on when researching treatments options. Examining the different rhetorical strategies used in the articles proves that, although logos arguments can be a good way to convince an audience ofRead MoreObesity : A Silent Killer Invading Many Countries Across The World Essay1000 Words   |  4 PagesMosura Mr. Johnston English II 19 October 2016 Obesity There is a silent killer invading many countries across the world. The elusive murderer is called obesity. Obesity can be caused and prevented several ways. The health risks caused by obesity get worse the more obese people are or the higher Body Mass Index (BMI) people have. Many diseases and life-threatening problems occur while obese. Obesity, a plague that is infecting millions every year, is caused by several personal habits and can generateRead MoreChildhood Obesity: A Gowing Problem Around the World649 Words   |  3 PagesObesity is a growing problem all around the world for far too many children. Obesity means a person has too much body fat. Body fat is measured by a person’s body mass index. When one is measuring a person’s body mass index, they are finding their height and body weight then comparing it to the recommendations made by doctors for each age and gender. After doctors calculate it, they then find a percentile rank to determine present and future health issues. Around the world, childhood obesity hasRead MoreObesity Is A Complex Process953 Words   |  4 PagesTackling obesity is a complex process that requires a proactive approach and interventions from the individual, society, local authorities, and public health service and partner organisation (PHE 2016f). In response to obesity as a public health issue, the government introduces no of policies, strategy and health campaign to tackle this problem, including Change4life campaign and Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A call to action on obesity in England (Foresight 2007). Chang4life is a public health campaignRead MoreObesity Is A Major Health Epidemic1264 Words   |  6 PagesThe topic chosen was on obesity, the reason why this topic was chosen is obesity has now become a major health epidemic. Americans are increasing becoming overweight, which is leading to several major health problems that is costing our health care systems billions of dollars a year to treat. This is a health related problem that can be prevented if individuals were to make better choices when it comes to their diet and activities. The reason these three articles were chosen are they provide primaryRead MoreObesity Is A Significant Health Issue1594 Words   |  7 PagesObesity is a significant health issue that is continuing to spread and intensify throughout elementary school nationwide. It can be best defined as â€Å"an excessively high amount of body fat in relation to lean body mass† (â€Å"Childhood Obesity†). This harmful health condition is a condition that severely negatively impacts the students in all aspects of their lives physically, socially, and mentally. It also effects the educators and parents on a large scale. Obesity is a significant prolonged issue thatRead MoreObesity : The Elusive Murderer Essay985 Words   |  4 Pagescalled obesity. Obesity can be caused and prevented several ways. The health risks caused by obesity get worse the more ob ese people are or the higher Body Mass Index (BMI) people have. Many diseases and life-threatening problems occur while obese. Obesity, a plague that is infecting millions every year, is caused by several personal habits and can generate many life-threatening problems. Obesity is gradually growing all across the world. There are many sad predictions being made about obesity ratesRead MoreChildhood Obesity : A Major Health Issue1731 Words   |  7 Pages Abstract Childhood obesity is a major health issue nationwide and globally. This has been going on for many years and childhood obesity has increased tremendously. The main problem is the difference between calorie ingestion and calories consumed. Other influences (hereditary, developmental, and environmental) can also affect obese children. Physical, emotional, and public health issues causes pain and suffering for many children. The process of obesity growth is not completely understoodRead MoreFast Food Restaurants: A Detriment to the Health of Americans833 Words   |  4 Pagesobese people in the have eaten regularly at fast food restaurants. As the obesity rate increases, the number of fast food restaurants goes up as well. Although it is not certain, many believe that obesity in the United States is correlated to eating fast food. Since the United States has the highest obesity rate out of any country, it is important for Americans to monitor the fast food industry that may be causing obesity. With the pressure to get things done in a timely manner, fast food became

IN WHAT WAYS DOES KATNISS EVERDEEN CHALLENGE OR CONFIRM...

The question of whether Katniss Everdeen, of The Hunger Games, confirms or challenges the idea of an archetypal hero is one debated worldwide. Throughout the novel, written by Suzanne Collins, Katniss demonstrates qualities and undertakes actions which are, without a doubt, heroic. However, whether or not this makes her a hero is dependent upon who you are asking; many characters in the novel would have very different ideas as to what a hero is. Also, although Katniss may come off as a hero many times in the book, she also challenges that title in countless instances with less-than-heroic actions and thoughts. So is Katniss Everdeen a hero? Through her actions, thoughts and personality, Katniss both confirms and challenges the idea of a†¦show more content†¦For example, President Snows opinion on heroism would be very different to the likes of Gales. President Snow, the megalomaniacal and cruel ruler of the Capitol, would think a hero to be a follower; a mere sheep, someone who does Snows bidding and doesnt question the tyrannical rule of which they live under. Snows hero would find honour and sacrifice in the hunger games, would play the game with pride; Gales hero would be almost the polar opposite, Gales hero would be a rebel; someone to fight the Capitols oppression or the districts, a symbol of equality and justice. And in all of this, does Katniss stand? She doesnt conform fully to either of these conceptions of a hero; she is, as some would say, sitting on the fence. In a way, Katniss is President Snows hero, as she plays the game; she builds for herself a hunger games identity, and she kills other contestants- she does what is almost mandatory to survive in the games. In another way, Katniss rebels against the games, and it is in these moments that Katniss is Gales idea of a hero. She defies the games by giving Rue a dignified and proper burial- she refuses to let Rue die as cattle, and in doing so exhibits the heroic and rebellious qualities t hat Gales hero would possess. Katniss Everdeen doesnt fully conform to anybodys idea of a hero. Many would argue, however, that she very much confirms the idea of a archetypal hero; yet a lot of people would

Death Penalty Essay Introduction Example For Students

Death Penalty Essay Introduction Fifty years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the trend towards worldwide abolition of the death penalty is unmistakable. When the Declaration was adopted in 1948, eight countries had abolished the death penalty for all crimes; today, as of November 1998, the number stands at 63. More than half the countries in the world have abolished the death penalty in law or practice, and the numbers continue to grow. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty as a violation of fundamental human rights the right to life and the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. Both of these rights are recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, other international and regional human rights instruments and national constitutions and laws. Defense of life and defense of the state may be held to justify, in some cases, the taking of life by state officials; for example, when law-enforcement officials must act immediately to save their own lives or those of others or when a country is engaged in armed conflict. Even in such situations the use of lethal force is surrounded by internationally accepted standards of human rights and humanitarian law to inhibit abuse. The death penalty, however, is not an act of defense against an immediate threat to life. It is the premeditated killing of a prisoner for the purpose of punishment a purpose that can be met by other means. The cruelty of the death penalty is manifest not only in the execution but in the time spent under sentence of death, during which the prisoner is constantly contemplating his or her own death at the hands of the state. This cruelty cannot be justified, no matter how cruel the crime of which the prisoner has been convicted. The cruelty of the death penalty extends beyond the prisoner to the prisoners family, to the prison guards and to the officials who have to carry out an execution. Information from various parts of the world shows that the role of an executioner can be deeply disturbing, even traumatic. The right to life and the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment are the two human rights most often cited in debates about the death penalty. But the death penalty also attacks other rights. In many cases prisoners are sentenced to death in trials which do not conform to international norms for a fair trial. Prisoners facing a possible death sentence are often represented by inexperienced lawyers, and sometimes by no lawyer at all. The defendants may not understand the charges or the evidence against them, especially if they are not conversant with the language used in court. Facilities for interpretation and translation of court documents are often inadequate. In some cases prisoners are unable to exercise their right to appeal to a court of higher jurisdiction and the right to petition for clemency or commutation of the death sentence. In some jurisdictions, capital cases are heard before special or military courts using summary procedures. The death penalty is often used disproportionately against members of disadvantaged social groups, and thus in a discriminatory fashion, contrary to Articles 2 and 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is the ultimate d enial of the dignity and worth of the human person, affirmed in the preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. There is no criminological justification for the death penalty which would outweigh the human rights grounds for abolishing it. The argument that the death penalty is needed to deter crime has become discredited by the consistent lack of scientific evidence that it does so more effectively than other punishments. International human rights standards have developed in a way that favors even tighter restrictions on the scope of the death penalty. This progressive narrowing of the death penalty is mirrored by actual practice in most states which still use the punishment. The Necklace: A Closer Look at Character EssayIn resolution of 3 April 1997, the UN Commission on Human Rights expressed its conviction that abolition of the death penalty contributes to the enhancement of human dignity and to the progressive development of human rights. Protocol No. 6 is the most widely ratified of the three in comparison to the number of states parties to the parent treaty; as of October 1998 it had been ratified by 28 states and signed by another five. The Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR had been ratified by 33 states as of the same date and signed by another three, while the Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights to Abolish the Death Penalty had been ratified by six states and signed by one other. Sixty-three countries today have abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Another 16 have abolished the death penalty for all but exceptional crimes such as wartime crimes. Alongside the countries which have abolished the death penalty for all cr imes or for ordinary crimes only, there are 24 which can be considered abolitionist de facto, in that they retain the death penalty in law but have not carried out any executions for the past 10 years, or have made an international commitment not to do so. As Roger Hood has stated, the death penalty in these countries has a far greater symbolic than practical significance .The trend to abolition seems inexorable, yet the battle has to be fought over and over again. Each country has to go through a process which is often long and painful, examining for itself the arguments for and against, before finally we hope rejecting the death penalty. The decision to abolish the death penalty has to be taken by the government and the legislators. This decision can be taken even though the majority of the public favour the death penalty. Historically, this has probably almost always been the case. Yet when the death penalty is abolished, usually there is no great public outcry; and once abolished, it almost always stays abolished. This must mean that although a majority of the public favours the death penalty in a given country, it is also the case that a majority of the public is willing to accept abolition. This is a feature of public opinion which is not usually revealed by polls asking respondents to state their position on the death penalty. If the questions were more sophisticated, the polls would probably give a better sense of the complexities of public opinion and the extent to which it is based on an accurate understanding of the actual situation of criminality in the country, its causes and the means available for combating it. As the UN Secretariat suggested as long ago as 1980, governments should take on the task of educating the public on the uncertainty of the deterrent effect of capital punishment. A better public understanding of crime prevention and criminal justice would produce more support for anti-crime measures which are genuine and not merely palliative. At the very least, politicians should not make demagogic calls for the death penalty, misleading the public and obscuring the need for genuine anti-crime measures. Often the national debate on the death penalty is conducted in purely national terms. The international dimension needs to be brought in. Countries can learn from other countries experience. Over the centuries, laws and public attitudes relating to torture have evolved. It is no longer permissible to use thumbscrews or the rack as legally sanctioned means of interrogation and punishment. Attitudes toward the death penalty are also changing, and bringing about abolition requires courageous political leadership, leadership that will be exercised in the defense of human rights. The requirement of respect for human rights has to include the abolition of the death penalty. It is not possible for a government to respect human rights and retain the death penalty at the same time. Words/ Pages : 1,985 / 24

Martin Luther King, Jr. Essays - Counterculture Of The 1960s

Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is one of the most influential people of this century. King is not a great figure in history just because he is famous; he is great because he served the cause of peace and justice for all humans. King is best remembered for his humanity, leadership and his love of his fellow man regardless of their skin color. This presence of strong moral values developed Kings character, which enabled him to become one of the most influential leaders of our time. Through reading I Have a Dream Writings and Speeches that Changed the World, we learn that his values of integrity, love, truth, fairness, caring, non-violence, and peace were what motivated him to greatness. Integrity is a central value in a leaders character and it is through integrity that King had vision of the truth. The truth that one-day this nation would live up to the creed, all men are created equal. No man contributed more to the great progress of blacks during the 1950s and 1960s than Martin Luther King, Jr. He was brought up believing one man can make a difference, and this is just what he did. Integrity has a large effect on what we think, say, and do. It is because of Kings thoughts and actions so many people put their trust and faith in him. King believed that America, the most powerful and richest nation in the world, would lead the way to a revolution of the mind. This revolution will change the way society views itself, shifting from a materialistic society to a spiritual society. When this occurs, King believed that racism could be conquered. Kings unconditional love for all humans was another value that strongly influenced his character. King described his meaning of love in one of his many speeches, A Time to Break Silence: When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door, which leads to ultimate reality. King was called an extremist, which he was not sure how to deal with at first. After careful consideration he believed that if he were to be called an extremist for love, it could only be taken as a compliment. He believed that the world was in dire need for more extremists like him. King did not want to be remembered after his death by the Nobel Peace Prize or his many other awards. He wanted people to say ...that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody. And I want you to say that I tried to love and save humanity. Even when his own life and the life of his family were threatened, King did not react with hatred or violence, he found more strength and courage. He told his fellow men, I want you to love your enemies. Be good to them. Love them and let them know you love them. Therefore, Kings love for the human race led him to focus his ministry and speeches in obedience to Jesus Christ, who loved his enemies so fully that he died for them. Kings ability to speak the truth is another value that made him such an influential leader. This ability is one reason why King was asked to be the leader of so many important protest marches and sit-ins. His mother was aware of Kings ability to speak the truth very early in his life. Kings followers believed that he would speak nothing but the truth. But, in Kings famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, he could only hope that what he had written will be seen as the truth: If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything that understates the truth and indicates me having a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me. King also believed that all people should be treated with equality and fairness. This became the basis for the Civil Rights