Franklin Roosevelt Pearl Harbor Address

Franklin Roosevelt was the thirty-second president of the United States. He served twelve years and four terms. He fought to keep the United States out of the war and helped those nations that were threatened or attacked.

As a result, when France fell and Great Britain came under siege in 1940; he began to send all possible aid short of military involvement. The nation’s largest contribution was made to Great Britain in the form of fifty old and out dated destroyers that were built between 1918 and 1920.The Lend Lease Program and the Destroyers Bases Program was a major way the U. S. supported the Allies was efforts in 1940. At this point as a country we were anti-war and isolationist.

So when Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941 and after Roosevelt gave his speech the following day, we switched from being anti-war to uniting as a country and flooding the nation’s recruiting stations with volunteers wanting to fight for the country. Roosevelt’s speech was given on December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese bombing on Pearl Harbor. When he gave his speech the country was in a state of shock and angry at the Japanese for the bombing.His objective of the speech was to urge congress to declare war on Japan and to rally the American people to support the war effort. In which he was successful in both for Congress declared war on Japan thirty-three minutes following the conclusion of his speech, and also the American people supported the war whole-heartedly.

His main target audience was congress but also to the United States citizens, as the speech was being broadcast live by radio, with over eighty-one percent of American homes listening in.Roosevelt’s use of both emotional and logical proofs was extremely effective in spurring America to declare war on Japan. During his speech, he plays to the emotions of his audience by using a somber tone. He also makes a point to say that the attack by Japan was premeditated and also talks about the severe damages that has been done and the lives lost by the bombing. He uses phrases such as, “Righteous might,” and “unprovoked and dastardly act,” to help make his audience feel something towards the bombing and therefore making them connected to what happened.

Throughout his entire speech he uses vivid, emotional phrases for example “deliberately planned,” “suddenly and deliberately attacked,” and “this form of treachery. When he uses these phrases to get congress to feel that the attack was unjustified and that they should declare war on Japan. He also appeals to the logic of what has happened within the speech. He lists the other islands that Japan also attacked as a reason why they should take action against Japan.When he says, “There is no blinking at the blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interest are in grave danger,” he creates an obvious need to attack Japan in order to protect our country from other attacks. He also points out how the United States was in contact with Japan in the hours after the attack began and no hint of aggression was given.

Another example is when he said “It will be recorded that the distance between Hawaii and Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago.During the intervening time, the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace. Within the speech he uses different variations of Japan and Japanese. For instance “Yesterday the Japanese Government..

. ” “Last night Japanese Forces,” and “Last night the Japanese. ” This helps make Franklin Roosevelt’s argument to Congress to declare war against Japan. He does this to make it clear that the attack was not made simply by the Japanese military but by the government, the Empire and Japan itself.He makes it clear the citizens and congress that the different components of Japan cannot be separated.

Also, within the speech he uses a lot of repetition. His use of repetition amplifies his message and draws attention to his key points. His use of repetition also makes his message hard to ignore because he drills in his points and carry’s the weight of his message. An example would be in the six sentences in which he states when Japan attacked several other islands. This also helps him get his objective of the speech across because congress now knows that Japan needs to be stopped.During Franklin Roosevelt’s Pearl Harbor speech he uses moral convictions, triads, and he uses his confidence as commander in chief and as a president of the United States.

An example of using moral convictions in the beginning of the speech when he says “The United States was at peace with that nation. ” He uses moral convictions because it helps him bring light to the fact that Japan attacked and they need to react and stop it from happening again.An example of his triads is towards the end of the speech, “our people, our territory, and our interests...” He uses the triads to tell congress that it is their people, their countryman were attacked and they need to react, and that they need to declare war.

Lastly, he uses his confidence that the nation has in him by stating, “With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph. ” He states this because he needs the people to have confidence in him and in the war that he wants for them to start with Japan.By using these literary devices he really makes audience think about what happened and how we should respond to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Franklin Roosevelt’s speech is based solemnly detailed facts on the event relying on listeners to draw their own conclusions.

This speech is short, it is only about seven minutes with fewer than five hundred words, but it is extremely powerful. It is also foreshadowing of things to come. He calls for “absolute victory” to wage war until the Japanese surrendered unconditionally.