The Struggle for Natural Resources

The morning of December 7, 1941 the Empire of Japan launched over 400 aircraft to maliciously attack the United States at Naval Base Station Pearl Harbor on the American Island of Oahu, Hawaii. The Japanese was trying to immobilize the United States Fleet of battleships in the Pacific. The plan was to gain that control around Hawaii and the Philippines so they could have better access to China for the natural resources of oil and rubber.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appeared before Congress to ask for a declaration of war.

The senate responded with a unanimous vote in support of the war. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the declaration of war that same day at 4:00 pm. The President, via radio, addressed the nation with one of the most powerful speeches in history “Day of Infamy”.

President Roosevelt wrote the speech himself to address the people of the United States and bring them together to rally and defend their land of liberty. The address to the nation President Roosevelt gave demonstrates the use of ethos, pathos and logos continuously through his speech.

The ethos of President Roosevelt is inevitably apparent being he is the President of the United States which makes him a credible source of knowledge.

He was in his fourth term as Commander in Chief to the United States. Roosevelt had put in place programs to help pull the country out of the depths of the Great Depression. The Social Security Act was signed into law to help with the disadvantages of the elderly and unemployed as a safety net.

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The TVA Act was also created to help provide employment, electricity and teach the agricultural community of the Tennessee River Valley better ways to farm their crops.

The Great National Parks was another project that he helped to establish to preserve the public land for future Americans. Roosevelt’s kindness and commitment to the citizens effectively put him as a trustworthy leader. Cole 2 The strong, abrasive words and phrases Roosevelt used to display the effects of pathos was quite remarkable.

The word “deliberately” was used more than once in a suggestive tone to persuade the listeners how evil Japan was. The words “treachery,” “grave danger,” where meant to stir emotions of anger. He continues on “I regret to tell you that very many American Lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu”.

This is an appeal for pathos with a phrase to influence more emotions against Japan. The effects of Roosevelt’s speech were to uplift the citizens and assure them of his confidence in the armed forces and will lead to “inevitable triumph”.