The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• Editorial Board
• Alphabetical List of Authors
• Illustrations
• Introduction
• Organization of the Work
• Note On the Texts
• Part One: the Civil War
• The Crittenden Compromise
• South Carolina Ordinance of Secession
• South Carolina Declaration of Causes of Secession
• Mississippi Ordinance of Secession
• Mississippi Declaration of Causes of Secession
• Virginia Ordinance to Repeal the Ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America
• Missouri Act Declaring the Political Ties Heretofore Existing Between the State of Missouri and the United States of America Dissolved
• Ordinance of the Kentucky Convention
• Constitution of the Confederate States of America
• Farewell Speech to the United States Congress
• Inaugural Address
• First Inaugural Address
• Proclamation Calling the Militia and Convening Congress
• Proclamation of Blockade Against Southern Ports
• Message to Congress In Special Session
• Proclamation Suspending Writ of Habeas Corpus
• Message to Congress On Gradual Abolishment of Slavery
• Proclamation Revoking General Hunter’s Emancipation Order
• Emancipation Proclamation
• Emancipation Proclamation
• The Gettysburg Address
• Message to the Congress of Confederate States
• Act to Increase the Military Force of the Confederate States
• Last Order
• Part Two: Reconstruction
• Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction
• Veto Message With Wade-davis Proclamation and Bill
• Wade-davis Manifesto
• Special Field Order No. 15
• Second Inaugural Address
• Last Public Address
• Constitution of Indiana, Article Xiii
• Black Code of Mississippi
• U.s. Constitution, Thirteenth Amendment
• Freedmen’s Bureau Bill
• Second Freedmen’s Bureau Bill
• Veto of the Second Freedmen’s Bureau Bill
• Civil Rights Act
• First Reconstruction Act of 1867
• Veto of the First Reconstruction Act
• First Supplement to the First Reconstruction Act of 1867
• Second Supplement to the First Reconstruction Act of 1867
• Articles of Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
• Debate On Proposed Fourteenth Amendment
• U.s. Constitution, Fifteenth Amendment
• Enforcement Act of 1870
• Enforcement Act of 1871
• Enforcement Act of 1875
• The Constitution of the State of Mississippi, As Adopted In Convention
• Inaugural Address
• Civil Rights Cases
• Constitution of the State of Mississippi
• Part Three: Consolidating Markets
• The Homestead Act
• The Pacific Railway Act
• The Morrill Act
• The Gospel of Wealth
• Cross of Gold Speech
• First Inaugural Address
• First Annual Message
• Lochner V. New York
• Part Four: Consolidating Culture?
• Twelfth Annual Report of the Massachusetts State School Board
• Address On Colonization to a Deputation of Negroes
• Address of Booker T. Washington, Principal Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, Tuskegee, Ala., At the Opening of the Exposition
• Plessy V. Ferguson
• The Talented Tenth
• Treaty Between the United States of America and the Navajo Tribe of Indians; Concluded June 1, 1868; Ratification Advised July 25, 1868; Proclaimed August 12, 1868.
• Dawes Act
• Proposed Constitutional Amendment
• Massachusetts Constitutional Provision
• Reynolds V. United States
• The Late Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Et Al. V. United States
• Immigration Policy
• The Principles of Scientific Management
• Carrie Buck, By R. G. Shelton, Her Guardian and Next Friend, Plff. In Err., V. J. H. Bell, Superintendent of the State Colony For Epileptics and Feeble Minded
• Introduction to I’ll Take My Stand
• Part Five: Reform Movements
• National People’s Party Platform, Adopted At Omaha, Neb., July 4, 1892
• Coin’s Financial School
• Lecture II: What Pragmatism Means
• The Socialist Party and the Working Class
• Preamble
• The Subjective Necessity For Social Settlements
• Why the Ward Boss Rules
• Declaration of Principles of the Progressive Party
• The Income Tax
• Speech On Constitutionality of an Income Tax
• U.s. Constitution, Sixteenth Amendment
• Direct Election of U.s. Senators
• Resolution Opposing Direct Election of Senators
• U.s. Constitution, Seventeenth Amendment
• First Annual Meeting of the Woman’s State Temperance Society
• Prohibition Debate
• U.s. Constitution, Eighteenth Amendment
• U.s. Constitution, Twenty-first Amendment
• Women’s Suffrage
• The Fundamental Principle of a Republic
• Debate On Women’s Suffrage
• U.s. Constitution, Nineteenth Amendment
• Part Six: Consolidating Government
• The Pendleton Act
• Interstate Commerce Act
• Veto Message—distribution of Seeds
• Sherman Antitrust Act
• President’s Message to the Senate and House of Representatives
• Federal Trade Commission Act
• The Place of the Independent Commission
• Radio Address On Unemployment Relief
• Commonwealth Club Address
• Inaugural Address
• Federal Emergency Relief Act
• National Industrial Recovery Act
• Redistribution of Wealth
• A. L. A. Schechter Poultry Corp. Et Al. V. United States
• Fireside Chat On the Reorganization of the Judiciary
• National Labor Relations Board V. Jones & Laughlin Steel
• Part Seven: America In the World
• Monroe Doctrine—seventh Annual Message
• Roosevelt Corollary to Monroe Doctrine
• The Fallacy of Territorial Extension
• The Star of Empire
• Open Door Note
• Woodrow Wilson On Neutrality and War
• Statement On American Neutrality
• Address to the Senate
• Dissent In Wartime
• Espionage Act
• Free Speech In Wartime
• Sedition Act
• Schenck V. United States
• Fourteen Points Speech
• Covenant of the League of Nations
• Speech Against the League of Nations
• Kellogg-briand Pact
• Note On Chinchow
• Neutrality and War
• The Atlantic Charter
• The Four Freedoms
• Pearl Harbor Speech
• Sources

Pearl Harbor Speech

December 8, 1941

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

To the Congress of the United States:

Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, 1 hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to the Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack.

It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from 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.

The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. Very many American lives have been lost. In addition American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam.

Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.

Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island.

This morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our Nation.

As Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.

Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us.

No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people, in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory.

I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces—with the unbounded determination of our people—we will gain the inevitable triumph—so help us God.

I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.

Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The White House,December 8, 1941.

SOURCES

In addition to The Congressional Record and its antecedents, and federal statutes available in Statutes at Large, the following sources were used in preparing selections reproduced in this volume. Selection titles, where not self-evident, are given after their sources.

• A. L. A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. U.S., 295 U.S. 495 (1935).
• Act to Increase the Military Force of the Confederate States. HR 367, February 10, 1865. Richmond: Confederate Imprints, 1861-65, reel 8, no. 540.
• Addams, Jane. The Subjective Necessity for Social Settlements: Philanthropy and Social Progress, Seven Essays. New York: T. Y. Crowell, 1893, 1-26.
• ———. “Why the Ward Boss Rules.” Outlook 58 (April 2, 1898): 879-82.
• Beveridge, Alfred J. “The Star of Empire.” In The Meaning of the Times and Other Speeches. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1908.
• Bryan, William Jennings. “Cross of Gold Speech.” In Official Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention. Logansport, Ind.: Wilson, Humphreys, 1896, 226-34.
• Buck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200 (1927).
• Carnegie, Andrew. “The Gospel of Wealth.” In “The Gospel of Wealth,” and Other Timely Essays. New York: Century, 1900, 1-47.
• Civil Rights Cases, 109 U.S. 3 (1883).
• Constitution of Indiana, Article XIII. In Special and Local Acts of the State of Indiana Passed at the 36th Session of the General Assembly. Indianapolis: J. P. Chapman, 1852, 24-25.
• Constitution of the Confederate States of America. In Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America 1861-1865. Vol. 1. 58th Cong., 2d sess., Senate Doc. 234: 64-66. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1904.
• A Contract with the People: Platform of the Progressive Party Adopted at Its First National Convention, Chicago, August 7, 1912. New York: Progressive National Committee, 1912.
• Covenant of The League of Nations. London: Stevens and Sons, 1920, 189-203.
• Davis, Jefferson. Inaugural Address. In Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America 1861-1865. Vol. 1. 58th Cong., 2d sess., Senate Doc. 234: 909-24. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1904.
• ———. Message to the Congress of Confederate States. In Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America 1861-1865. Vol. 1. 58th Cong., 2d sess., Senate Doc. 234: 8-11. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1904.
• Debs, Eugene. “The Socialist Party and the Working Class.” In Debs: His Life, Writing and Speeches. Chicago: John F. Higgins, 1908, 357-73.
• Declaration and ordinance, passed unanimously, December 20th, 1860. To dissolve the union between the state of South Carolina and other states united with her under the compact entitled, “The Constitution of the United States of America.” Charleston: Evans & Cogswell, 1860.
• Declaration Known as the Atlantic Charter. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1942.
• DuBois, W. E. B. “The Talented Tenth.” In The Negro Problem: A Series of Articles by Representative American Negroes of To-Day. New York: J. Pott, 1903, 33-75.
• Eastman, Joseph. “The Place of the Independent Commission.” 12 Const. Rev. 95, 95-102 (1928).
• Harvey, William. Coin’s Financial School. Chicago: Coin’s, 1894.
• Hay, John. “Open Door Note.” In Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1901, 129-30.
• Hayes, Rutherford B. Inaugural Address. In Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States from George Washington to JFK. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1961, 135-40.
• Hoover, Herbert. “Radio Address on Unemployment Relief.” Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1931.
• James, William. What Pragmatism Means; Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking. New York: Longmans, Green, 1914, 48-81.
• Johnson, Andrew. Veto of the First Reconstruction Act. 53rd Cong., 2d sess., Misc. Documents of the House of Representatives, 1893-94. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1895, 498-511.
• ———. Veto of the Second Freedmen’s Bureau Bill. 39th Cong., 1st sess., 1866, Ex. Doc. 25.
• Late Corp. of Church of Jesus Christ v. U.S., 136 U.S. 1 (1890).
• Lee, Robert E. “Last Order of Gen. Robert E. Lee.” In War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1st ser., vol. 46, pt. 1: 265-67. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1894.
• Lincoln, Abraham. First Inaugural Address. In Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States from George Washington to JFK. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1961, 235-39.
• ———. Address on Colonization to a Deputation of Negroes. In Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Vol. 5, 370-75. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1953.
• ———. Gettysburg Address. In Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Vol. 7, 22-23. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1953.
• ———. Last Public Address. In Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Vol. 8, 399-405. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1953.
• ———. Proclamation Suspending Writ of Habeas Corpus. In Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Vol. 6, 451-52. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1953.
• ———. Second Inaugural Address. 87th Cong., 1st sess., 1865. House Doc. 218.
• Lindbergh, Charles A. “Neutrality and War.” In Radio Addresses of Col. Charles A. Lindbergh, 1939-1940. New York: Scribner’s Commentator, 1940.
• Lochner v. New York, 198 U.S. 45 (1905).
• Mann, Horace. Annual Report, Together with the Report of the Secretary of the Board. Vol. 12: 42-43, 90-138. Washington, D.C: GPO, 1848. (Twelfth Annual Report of the Massachusetts State School Board.)
• Massachusetts Constitution, Article 18. In Acts and Resolves Passed by the General Court of Massachusetts. Boston: William White, 1855.
• McKinley, William. First Inaugural Address. In Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States from George Washington to JFK. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1961, 169-77.
• Mississippi Constitution of 1868. In Journal of the Proceedings on the Constitutional Convention of the State of Mississippi. Jackson: E. Stafford, 1871.
• Mississippi Constitution of 1890. In Journal of the Proceedings on the Constitutional Convention of the State of Mississippi. Jackson: E. L. Martin, 1890.
• Mississippi Ordinance and Declaration of Secession from the Federal Union. Jackson: Mississippian Book and Job Printing Office, 1861.
• National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel, 331 U.S. 416 (1937).
• An Ordinance to Repeal the Ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America, by the State of Virginia. Richmond: C. L. Ludwig, 1861.
• Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896).
• Populist Party Platform, from Convention Held July 4, 1892, in Omaha, Nebraska. The World Almanac, 1893. New York, 1893.
• Preamble, Constitution and By-Laws of Industrial Workers of the World. Chicago: I.W.W., 1905.
• Reynolds v. U.S., 98 U.S. 145, 153-169 (1878).
• Roosevelt, Franklin Delano. First Inaugural Address. In Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States from George Washington to JFK. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1961, 235-39.
• ———. “Fireside Chat on the Reorganization of the Judiciary.” In The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt. New York: Macmillan, 1941, 122-23.
• ———. “Commonwealth Club Address.” In The Philosophy of Government: Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Speech at the Commonwealth Club, San Francisco, California, September 23, 1932. New York: Democratic National Committee, 1932.
• Schenck v. U.S., 249 U.S. 247 (1919).
• Shaw, Anna Howard. “The Fundamental Principle of a Republic.” In Wilmer Albert Linkugel, The Speeches of Anna Howard Shaw: Collected and Edited with Introduction and Notes. Ph.D. diss., University of Wisconsin, 1960, 259-92. Original source, The Ogdenburg Advance and St. Lawrence Weekly Democrat, July 1, 1915.
• Sherman, William T. “Special Field Order 15.” In Memoirs of General William T. Sherman. Vol. 2, 250-52. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1957.
• Slaughter-house Cases, 83 U.S. 36 (1873).
• Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. “Address to the First Annual Meeting of the Woman’s State Temperance Society.” In History of Woman Suffrage. Vol. 1, edited by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Matilda Joslyn Gage, 493-97. New York: Arno & The New York Times, 1969.
• Stimson, Henry L. “Note on Chinchow.” In The Far Eastern Crisis. New York: Harper & Bros., 1936, 96-97.
• Sumner, William Graham. “The Fallacy of Territorial Extension.” In On Liberty, Society, and Politics: The Essential Essays of William Graham Sumner. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1992.
• Taylor, Frederick Winslow. The Principles of Scientific Management. New York: Harper & Bros., 1919, 5-29.
• Twelve Southerners. “Introduction: A Statement of Principles.” In I’ll Take My Stand: The South and the Agrarian Tradition. New York: Harper, 1930.
• U.S. Congress. Senate. Resolution Concerning Election of Senators. 53rd Cong., special sess., 1893. Misc. Doc. 31.
• ———. Articles of Impeachment of Andrew Johnson. 40th Cong., 2d sess., 1868. Misc. Doc. 42.
• ———. Second Freedmen’s Bureau Bill. 39th Cong., 1st sess., 1866. Ex. Doc. 25.
• ———. Senate. Black Code of Mississippi. 39th Cong., 2d sess., 1865. Ex. Doc. 6, “Freedmen’s Affairs,” 190-97.
• Wade-Davis Manifesto. New York Daily Tribune, Aug. 5, 1864.
• Washington, Booker T. Address of Booker T. Washington: Report of the Board of Commissioners Representing the State of New York at the Cotton States and International Exposition Held at Atlanta, Georgia, 1895. Washington, New York: Wynkoop, Hallenbeck, Crawford, 1896: 190-93. (Atlanta Exposition Speech.)

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