Topic+A-11+Explain+the+importance+of+United+States'+aid+to+the+Allies+and+the+events+that+led+the+United+States+to+declare+war

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toc =**The United States Aids Its Allies Based on American Policy**=


 * What do most Americans want to avoid and why?**
 * Most Americans want to avoid being involved with the war. They will send money, clothes, food, et cetera over but just do not want to go over and actually help out.


 * 1. Roosevelt fears that if the Allies fall, what would happen?**

President Roosevelt knew that if the Allies were to fall, the United States would be drawn into the war. In September 1939, Roosevelt asked Congress to allow the Allies to buy American weapons. This led to the Lend-Leas Act where the president could lend or lease weapons and other things to countries that were important to the U.S. The Allies would have to pay cash and then carry the items on their own ships. The U.S. Navy was escorting British ships carrying U.S. arms by the summer of 1941. Hitler then commanded his submarines to sink any cargo ships they may come across. Roosevelt also hopes to strengthen alliesso they can resist Germany. **(Questions one and two combined.)**


 * 3. Define the Lend-Lease Act.**

The Lend-Lease Act gave the president power to lend, sell, transfer or lease supplies to nations whose defense was vital to U.S. interests. President Roosevelt explained the act by comparing it to lending a garden hose to a neighbor to enable him to extinguish a house fire. The public supported the concept, and Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act in March 1941. The United States provided economic and military aid by lending food, tanks, airplanes, weapons, and raw materials to Allied countries. Repayment for this aid was to be decided by the president. Many debts were forgiven without being paid. Once the United States entered the war, Allied nations gave U.S. troops about eight billion in aid. President Harry S. Truman thought that this was a fair trade for the lend-lease assistance they had received. Over the four-year existence of the program, The United States provided more then forty countries with assistance in the war. By the end of the war, the United States had given forty-nine billion dollars in aid helping the Allied efforts through the Lend-Lease program.

**4. ** What was the Atlantic charter-
 * Roosevelt and Churchill meet and issue statement of principles. **

 In August 1940 Roosevelt and Churchill met for the first of nine face to face conferences during the war. This four-day meeting was on a ship, which anchored off the coast of Newfoundland. The document created at this meeting was the Atlantic Charter, an agreement on war aims between besieged Great Britain and the neutral United States. The Charter set fourth the concepts of self-determination, end to colonialism, freedom of the seas, and the improvement of living and working conditions for all people. Many of the idea were similar to those proposed by Wilson’s fourteen points, but not accepted by our allies at the Versailles conference at the close of world war one.

=**Japan's Pacific Campaign Surprise Attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan, and the U.S.**=

**1. What was the plan the Japan developed for attacks on European colonies and the U.S bases?**

Japan had many attacks planned for Europe and the U.S. Japan tried to take the initiative of massive surprise attacks. These attacks were planned to be massive, killing thousands of people. The reason for these attacks was that Japan wanted to take over Southeast Asia. Now, Japan being as smart as they are, knew that by them trying to over take Southeast Asia, a war between them and the United States would break out. This is because the U.S had tried for half a century to over take the southeast of Asia. So, in order for Japan to get Asia, they would have to go through the U.S. And if that means war then, thats what they had to do. Another reason for war between the U.S and Japan being inevitable was because the United States banned all immigration into the united states. us Japan had organized attacks on the British and Dutch in Southeast Asia and outputs in the Pacific for the Americans. One example of these massive surprise attacks were Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor was on December 7, 1941. Here Japan attacked Hawaii, which was a major Naval base for the Americans. To read more about The Day of Infamy go to this page.


 * 2. In 1941, what resource does Roosevelt cut off to Japan? What does admiral Isoroku Yamamoto do in response?**

In 1941, President Roosevelt takes away Japan's oil privileges. He does this in spite of Japan overrunning the French Indochina countries. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto plans massive attacks on the U.S fleet in Hawaii.

=Day Of Infamymedia type="custom" key="9414022" align="right"=

On December 7, 1941 the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor an American naval base in Hawaii. Early in the morning on that day sailors who were American were awakened by the sound of explosives by the Japanese. The US knew an attack was on the horizon because of a coded message by the Japanese but they did not know when the attack would happen or occur. Within two hours the Japanese led by the Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto Japan’s greatest naval strategist had sunk or damaged 19 ships including eight battleships, which were in the Naval base of Pearl Harbor. This horrendous attack killed over 2300 soldiers, 68 civilians, with over 1100 soldiers wounded. This attack also cost a lot of money because of the damages such as 155 planes being damaged, 188 planes being destroyed, and five midget submarines sunk.
 * 1. What happened on December 7, 1941?**

The news stunned and outraged Americans. The day after President Franklin D. Roosevelt called congress in for a meeting in order to declare war on Japan and its Allies. In his address to congress in order to declare war he declared, “A day which will live in infamy,” and at the meeting Congress quickly accepted the request by the President.
 * 2. How did the United States respond?**

At about the same time as the attacks on Pearl Harbor the Japanese also raided and bombed the British colony of Hong Kong, the American controlled Guam and Wake Island. The Japanese also invaded Thailand. They bombed these south Pacific Islands because they wanted let the British know that they could not take that area. Britain was an enemy so they had an extra benefit to take the land from them because Britain had all the resources and by Japan taking these territories it helped Germany there ally who was fighting the British in Europe. media type="custom" key="9405332"
 * 3. Why did Japan also attack Hong Kong, Thailand and other Islands?**

=**Japanese Victories and Gains in Many Places**=

After fierce fighting and two major Japanese victories at Guam and Wake Islands the Japanese sought to take the Philippines.In January 1942 the Japanese Imperial Army marched into the Philippines capital, Manila. Positioned strategically northwest of the Manila bay was the allied force, made up of American and Filipino soldiers, who were trying to defend their position. As the Japanese prepared their attack, the Filipino government moved to the nearby island of Corregidor, to stay safe.The allied defenses were not strong enough, and after just three months Bataan fell, followed by Corregidor shortly after. The Filipino and American troops retreated, but left behind most of their supplies. The allied troops held out for four months, but were driven to surrender by hunger and disease. The Japanese took 70,000 American and Filipino troops prisoner, and forced them to walk the “death march”. The death march was a 65 mile march that the allies were forced to go to a Japanese camp for prisoners. Soldiers were given no food and minimal water and were beaten and killed all the way to their destination. In the end, around 8,500 were dead. Japan continued on after taking the Philippines. They wanted to take the British holdings in Asia. They captured Honk Kong, and them went for Malaya. By February 1942 the Japanese had expanded as far as Singapore. Japan fought fiercely, and easily captured Singapore. After only one month Japan’ s Imperial Army had captured all of the Dutch East Indies which included Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and Celebes. The Japanese moved west and plotted their most difficult task yet, taking India.
 * 1. Japanese attack Philippine Islands that were defended by whom?**
 * 2. What British holdings did Japan capture?**

﻿ Japan is a small island nation, so it has a massive dependence on trade to get the resources it needs. During the war, Japan needed more resources to support its war effort. Japan knew that the Dutch East Indies were very rich in precious oil and iron, so if they could capture the Dutch East Indies then they would be unstoppable. Japan aimed to capture the resources and fuel their Imperial Army. 4. Capture of __Burma__ threatens India, Britain’s main possession on an __Asian__ continent.
 * 3. The Japanese also conquer the Dutch East Indies. What were they rich in? **

5. How did the Japanese forces treat conquered people and prisoners of war-

The Japanese had made it clear that they had come as conquerors. They often treated the people of their new colonies with extreme cruelty. They reserved the most brutal treatment for allied prisoners of war. They considered it dishonorable to surrender and they had contempt for the prisoners of war in their charge on the bataan death marched a forced march of more then 65 miles up the peninsula, they subjected their captives to terrible cruelties. 70,000 prisoners started the death march only 54,000 survived.

Works Cited "America at War: Background to Involvement." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 5: 1940-1949. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 9 May. 2011.   "Attack on Pearl Harbpr." //Historyguy.com//. New York Times, n.d. Web. 13 May 2011. . Beck, Roger, Linda Black, Larry Krieger, Phillip Naylor, and Dahia Shabaka. Modern World History,Patterns of Interaction. 9. NewYork: McDougal Littell, 2007. 715. Print. Kimball, Warren F. "Lend-Lease Act (1941)." //Major Acts of Congress//. Ed. Brian K. Landsberg. Vol. 2. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 243-246. //Gale Virtual Reference Library//. Web. 9 May. 2011. Kluckhohn, Frank. "Japan Wars on US and Britain." //Nytimes.com//. New York Times, n.d. Web. 13 May 2011. . "Lend-Lease Act." //U*X*L Encyclopedia of U.S. History//. Sonia Benson, Daniel E. Brannen, Jr., and Rebecca Valentine. Ed. Lawrence W. Baker and Sarah Hermsen. Vol. 5. Detroit: UXL, 2009. 900-901. //Gale Virtual Reference Library//. Web. 9 May. 2011. "The Japanese Occupation, 1942-45." //www.countrystudies.us//. U.S congregation Library, n.d. Web. 13 May 2011. .