On December 7, 1941, approximately 360 Japanese planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, on Oahu, Hawaii1. The attack on Pearl Harbor completely surprised the American military and angered the entire country. Americans took the attack on Pearl Harbor as a personal blow and changed the minds of everyone who still believed in American neutrality in the war. The United States Congress declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941, officially entering the United States into World War II. With the start of the war, many changes occurred in the daily lives of ordinary Americans. There were many shortages of household items, such as flashlights, batteries, waffle makers, plastic toys, and tea2. On the East Coast, gasoline supplies were reduced by 20% and rationing of many household and food items was introduced into many American citizens' homes3. One of the most significant changes in ordinary American life during this period was brought about by conscription, which resulted in the loss of approximately 12,209,240 Americans in 1945 to join the armed forces. During World War II, the number of men at war meant that America desperately needed more manpower to manufacture weapons and supplies for the troops and to serve in the military itself . American women then found themselves pushed into these positions and were offered professions that were more respected, higher ranked, and better paid than before. The immense number of women who participated in World War II played an imperative role in increasing the freedom of American women in the workplace, in the military, and on the home front. The massive number of women who worked in factories and other workplaces was crucial. to the war effort because they made almost everyone from their country's paper ......ng in the army. Works Cited http://www.nationalww2museum.org/learn/education/for -students/ww2-history/ww2-by-the-numbers/us-military.htmlPenny Colman, Rosie the Riveter: Women Working on the Home Front during World War II, (New York, Crown Publishers Inc.) p. 8 http://www.nationalww2museum.org/learn/education/for-students/ww2-history/ww2-by-the-numbers/us-military.html Sherna B. Gluck, Rosie the Riveter Revisited: Women, war, and social change, (Boston, Twayne Publishers) p. 137Catherine Gourley, Rosie and Mrs. America, (Minneapolis, Twenty-First Century Books)Patience Coster, A New Deal for Women 1938-1960, (New York, Chelsea House) p. 12Margaret Regis, When Our Mothers Went to War, (Seattle, NavPublishing) p. 70Major General Jeanne M. Holm, In Defense of a Nation: Servicewomen in World War II, (Washington DC, Military Women's Press) p.. 9