• What was Japan doing in the Pacific that
escalated WWII?

• What battle in the Pacific permanently weakened
the Japanese navy?

• What battle eliminated the Japanese navy?

• What decision did President Truman make to
force the surrender of Japan?

·The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, it was the impetus for the United States’ entrance into World War II.

·The Battle of Midway was one of the most important naval battles of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. It was fought between the U.S. and Japanese navies on June 4-7, 1942. This battle turned the tide of the war in the Pacific in favor of the Americans.

·The Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 19–20, 1944) was a major naval battle of World War II that eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions.

·As president, it was Harry Truman’s decision if the weapon would be used with the goal to end the war. “It is an awful responsibility that has come to us,” the president wrote. President Truman had four options: 1) continue conventional bombing of Japanese cities; 2) invade Japan; 3) demonstrate the bomb on an unpopulated island; or, 4) drop the bomb on an inhabited Japanese city. Truman ordered the bomb dropped on two Japanese cities (Hiroshima & Nagasaki). His decision created a controversy that is with us today.

popular sovereignty   influenced the declaration of independence because the colonists wanted to have freedom to do they wanted so they put into writing