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Weekly Online LessonOnline Lesson ArchivesGrade Level: 6-10
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Remembering December 7, 1941
"Yesterday, December 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." President Franklin D. Roosevelt so began his address to Congress the day after the attack.
Later that day Congress declared a state
of war between the U.S. and the Imperial Government of
Japan. 
Three days later Congress approved similar
declarations of war against Germany and Italy. American
had entered World War II.
Read the complete text of Roosevelt's speech from Quoteland.com as you listen to a recording of the original broadcast through RealAudio. Also read the short text of the Congressional Declaration of War on Japan.
An Armed Forces recruiting poster from 1942 reads "...we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain... Remember Dec. 7th!" In this week's online lesson you will have the opportunity to study and reflect on the event that brought the United States into the second world war.
The Attack on Pearl Harbor
You know the essentials from
listening to President Roosevelt's Congressional address
— Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and other strategic
targets across the Pacific. But how were they able to
launch such a successful a surprise offensive? Why were U.S.
forces caught so off-guard? President Roosevelt described
the damage to American naval and military forces as
"severe," but what exactly was the extent of
the damage, and how many lives were lost?
Begin your research of The Attack on Pearl Harbor at this site. Although this narrative gives a minimal account of the attack and its aftermath, it provides a lot of good insight into events leading up to the attack.
For more detail of
the events of that day, visit The History Place
and its December
7, 1941 page. View the five photos with captions,
and then study the Sequence of Events. Also go to Pearl
Harbor: Remembered for a detailed timeline
of the attack. As you study the timeline, refer to this Pearl
Harbor Anchorage map detailing the location of
ships, aircraft, oil storage, and other targets.
What peacetime conditions at Pearl Harbor left ships and aircraft vulnerable, and why were servicemen unable to defend Pearl Harbor against the attack? How many ships and aircraft on both sides were destroyed or sustained damage? How many servicemen and civilians were killed or wounded?
USS Arizona
Nearly half those who lost their
lives in the attack on Pearl Harbor were aboard the USS
Arizona battleship when an 800-kilogram bomb penetrated
the hull and struck munitions in the forward magazine.
The explosions were enormous and devastating, and the
ship quickly sank to the harbor floor. The complete
destruction of the Arizona came to symbolize the blow to
America of the Pearl Harbor bombing. Read the Brief
History of the USS Arizona at the University of
Arizona Library site. View images of the USS Arizona,
including photos taken after the attack, at the Special
Collections, Photographs page.
The USS Arizona is now a graveyard and
war memorial under the direction of the National Park
Service. The 184-foot-long Memorial structure floats
freely above the mid-portion of the sunken battleship. 
The
memorial, accessible by boat, includes an assembly room,
an observation, and a shrine room with the names of those
killed on the USS Arizona engraved on the walls. In the
words of its architect, ""...the structure sags
in the center but stands strong and vigorous at the ends,
symbolizing initial defeat and ultimate victory."
Visit the USS Arizona Memorial extended site, view photos of the memorial, and read the additional information about Pearl Harbor and December 7, 1941.
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