US History

The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)

Contemporary United States (1968 to the present)

World History

This collection uses primary sources to compare American responses to Pearl Harbor and September 11.

Mike Luckovich’s “Liberty Mourns” cartoon (2001) depicting the Statue of Liberty after September 11.

Henry Sugimoto’s 1942 painting of a Japanese family listening to the news of the Pearl Harbor attacks on their radio in California.

US President Franklin Roosevelt’s “Day of Infamy” speech delivered on December 8, 1941 in reaction to the attack on Pearl Harbor.

George W. Bush’s address to the nation on the evening of September 11, 2001.

The “introductory statement” to *Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack*, written in 1946.

An excerpt from *The 9/11 Commission Report: Executive Summary*, published in 2004.

“They Shall Not Have Died in Vain,” a poster to remember Pearl Harbor, created in 1942 and circulated throughout World War II.

A photograph of President George W. Bush at a Department of Defense remembrance service on October 11, 2001.

A poster, “Americans will Always Fight for Liberty,” created in 1943.

A photograph of rescue workers gathered in a debris pile at the World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

A photograph from December 7, 1941 of warships damaged at Pearl Harbor.

A photograph of President George W. Bush surveying the damage to the Pentagon from Marine One on September 14, 2001.

A propaganda poster, “Remember December 7th!,” created in 1942.

Questions

1. Looking specifically at the speeches given by Roosevelt and Bush following these events, what parallels can you draw between the two presidents’ style and intent? Cite specific textual evidence to support your conclusions.
2. Look specifically at the propaganda surrounding each of the events. What comparisons can you draw from these documents? What inferences can you make about how the posters and images of the events led to the rise of patriotism in America?
3. The attack on Pearl Harbor and the events of September 11 were similar, but there were also key differences between the two. Use the sources to describe the key differences in the intent of each attack. Look at the reports to compare and contrast resultant shifts in policy and procedure in the United States.

Activity

Looking at these two events in history raises questions about nationalism and terrorism. Ask students to define each of these terms and determine how they relate to the attack on Pearl Harbor and the attacks of September 11, 2001. Ask students to research the xenophobic reactions to each of these events and create a pamphlet describing how Japanese and Middle Eastern individuals were treated as a result of Pearl Harbor and September 11, respectively. Students should include evidence from various perspectives in each conflict.

Teaching Guide: Exploring Pearl Harbor and September 11

Resources

1. [Focus On: Pearl Harbor](http://www.nationalww2museum.org/see-hear/collections/focus-on/pearl-harbor.html), The National WWII Museum. 
2. [After the Day of Infamy: “Man-on-the-Street” Interviews Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor](https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/afcphhtml/afcphhome.html), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. 
3. [The September 11 Digital Archive](http://911digitalarchive.org/), Center for History and New Media, George Mason University. 
4. [September 11: Bearing Witness to History](http://amhistory.si.edu/september11/), National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. 

Overview

On December 7, 1941, the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was attacked by the Japanese navy, bringing about the US entry into the Second World War. Often referred to as “waking a sleeping giant,” the attack on Pearl Harbor began a course of events that ultimately led to the defeat of the Axis Powers. The attack on Pearl Harbor killed 2,403 Americans and wounded 1,178 others. Nearly sixty years later, 2,977 people died in the attacks of September 11, 2001, when suicide bombers linked to al-Qaeda hijacked four planes, flying two into the World Trade Center in New York and one into the Pentagon (a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania). These attacks led to a worldwide war against terrorism led by the United States. Both attacks caused widespread public response and xenophobia. This source set includes artifacts from both events in order to compare them. 

English

Attacks on American Soil: Pearl Harbor and September 11

attacks-american-soil-pearl-harbor-september-11_10_40fa0369c9e16dcdc77ca0b5f2a7ff92.jpg

Courtesy of Missouri History Museum via Missouri Hub.

Grooms, Dennis, “Rescue workers gathered in the center of a debris pile at the World Trade Center site in New York city after the September 11th terrorist attack,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/40fa0369c9e16dcdc77ca0b5f2a7ff92.

A photograph of rescue workers gathered in a debris pile at the World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 10 of 13 in the Primary Source Set Attacks on American Soil: Pearl Harbor and September 11