Final answer:
Franklin D. Roosevelt's speech to Congress after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, known as the "Day of Infamy" speech, called for a declaration of war against Japan. The speech emphasized the surprise and deliberate nature of the attack and marked the United States' entry into World War II.
Step-by-step explanation:
President Franklin D. Roosevelt's address to Congress following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 is an essential historical artifact that illustrates the United States' entry into World War II. In this "Day of Infamy" speech, Roosevelt communicates the severity of the Japanese attack by using powerful rhetoric to describe it as a deliberate and secret assault. He declared December 7th 'a date which will live in infamy,' which has since become a hallmark of the speech. In his address, Roosevelt sought a declaration of war against Japan, stating that the United States was suddenly and deliberately attacked by Japan's forces. Congress quickly acted on Roosevelt's request, and the United States declared war against Japan, subsequently leading to declarations of war by Germany and Italy against the United States. This marked the full scale entry of the U.S. into the global conflict, transforming the war into a true world war.
Furthermore, the speech was delivered in a manner that emphasized the surprise nature of the attack and conveyed the imminent threat that the Japanese empire posed not only to the United States but to other colonial holdings in the Pacific. The attack had extensive consequences, pushing the previously isolationist United States to become the 'Arsenal of Democracy' and rallying the American public into supporting the war effort.