The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor could be considered one of the worst surprise attacks in
American history. For every Japanese crewman or pilot killed, almost thirty-eight Americans were killed.
Before the attack, the American government had tried to negotiate many times with Japan's
leaders to withdraw their troops from China and put an end to the war. Japan had already seized many
bases in northern Vietnam and occupied the south in July of 1941, threatening a route to China and the
British control of Malaya and Burma. President Franklin D. Roosevelt then froze all Japanese assets a…
