After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States was very suddenly at war. Fear, outrage and hatred of the Japanese over the surprise attack was aimed at the Japanese Americans living in the U.S. It became a common belief that the amount of destruction, including most of the U.S. Naval fleet, was because Japanese Americans helped plan the attack. There was also the immediate fear that with the Pacific fleet severely damaged, the Japanese would invade the West Coast of the United States. 