why when i read in books about pearl harbour or in movies say (it was end of innocense)?what does it mean?

Answer 1

Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor the borders of the United State had not been breached by our enemies with an act of war. The country had been isolated from attack, partially by the distance of our shores from other aggressive countries of the time; and the fact that the United States was more of an isolated country. The politics of the time was for us to stay out of the politics of other countries and wars.

The attack on Pearly Harbor changed that thinking and angered the country into the war that was overseas.

Answer 2

Back then, the US was strictly Isolationists. WWI had taken a lot of the volunteers (I think they were all volunteers?) and we were in a deep Depression. We felt invulnerable with both oceans around us, and wanted nothing to do with Europe's continual wars. Roosevelt tried to get us to support Brittain during the Blitz, but couldn't get Congress' support. It took the "sneak attack" to break that resistance. If Japan had never attacked, we probably would have let them have SE Asia....at least for a while. Maybe the Philipines and the Bataan March would have done it..

Pearl Harbour woke us up--that we were no longer "safe" behind the Oceans! I think it was one of the Japanese admirals who said something to the effect that the attack would simply awaken a hornet's nest! And that it did!

Answer 3

That probably relates to American neutrality and detachment from global conflicts. America involved itself in WWI but for only 10 months. It was enough to dissuade US interest in involving itself again in foreign conflicts. Between the wars the US became more or less isolationist; focused upon itself and it's own interests and gratifications. So when you read about the loss of innocence that's another way of saying the loss of it's own identity as an isolated, safe, nation. Pearl Harbor thrust America in a global conflcit it was neither prepared to fight or win at the time. It required a major shift in american perspectives on the worls, on lifestyle, on priorities, and the ability to sustain loss. Our innocence.

Answer 4

People say that for various reasons. For a definitive answer check history books.

However, I see it as two-fold.
(1) Our "innocence" was the notion that we could remain uninvolved in world conflict and remain untouched by it. Many in the U.S. promoted a policy of non-involvement in World War II, even after news of the atrocities in Europe began to leak out. the feeling was "It's their conflict, we should let them fight it."
The world, in the form of the Empire of Japan - in this case, was not content to let us remain uninvolved and they literally "came to get us." We thought we could sleep peacefully while the war raged elsewhere, but were rudely awakened when Japan brought it to our door.

(2) The second aspect of the idea of the "loss of innocence" involves the things to which Pearl Harbor led. For example, our involvement in a horrific world conflict and how we ended it: by unleashing two weapons of mass destruction in Japan. The United States remains the only nation on earth to have actually deployed a nuclear weapon against an enemy. It's kinda hard to remain "innocent" after doing something like that.

In addition, it is important to note what happened to Americans of Japanese descent as a direct result of Pearl Harbor. Despite the majority of them having American citizenship - indeed a huge percentage were actually born in the U.S. - Americans of Japanese descent were interred in what can best be described as Prisoner of War camps. Technically, they were concentration camps, but I avoid that term because people tend to think "concentration camp = genocide" because of what happened at the Nazi camps in Europe.

They were forced into camps without due process or any legal remedy simply because they were of Japanese descent and Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor and was now our enemy. You can imagine how Japanese Americans and those who were aware of their plight would have lost the innocent notion that America is always just and free after being deprived of possessions, property, and liberty and forced to live in one room tar paper shacks for years.

Answer 5

it means America finally realized that we're not the only ones able to wreak havoc....that we might be in danger...
It's also when the fear kicked in....