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Dehumanization Of Hiroshima Bombing

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Barack Obama was the first president to visit Hiroshima, the first site of the world’s first atomic bomb attack in 2016. The threat of nuclear warfare is imminent. The devastation left by the atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima should serve as a reminder of the damage that it can do. The Manhattan Project allowed America to develop and research nuclear weapons. The World’s first successful nuclear chain reaction was achieved in 1942. This would lead to the United States deploying Nuclear weapons on Nagasaki and Hiroshima which would force Japan to surrender to the allies on August 15, 1945, unwillingly.

It is difficult to determine America’s rationale behind the use of nuclear weapons. Did racism and the dehumanization of Japan justify …show more content…

Since I am interested in examining America’s collective attitudes and reactions to the atomic bombings, this would be excellent place to start. One newspaper article published in the Dallas Morning News by Wick Fowler on September 18th, 1945 details an American journalist visit to Hiroshima. The author states, “Only a few Americans have traveled to this devastated Japanese Metropolis…and the 550-mile ride was something I shall always associate with low forms of travel and existence.” Was this a critique of Japan? The article also highlights the power of the bomb and states, “Except that it took only one bomb for this job.” And “Hiroshima, proving ground for man’s mightiest weapon is a ghostly shambles.” It is apparent that Americans believed the bomb was necessary. The article goes on to state, “It gave the Japanese an excuse to surrender, and that made the cost almost negligible compared with what it would have been had the war continued.” I found this to be powerful and by analyzing more newspaper articles from the period would provide me with an overview of America’s collective attitude towards the bombings. However, one difficulty with working with these sources is that more than often the perspectives of Japanese citizens is omitted and articles from this period seem to focus much more on the destruction of the atomic bomb. However, this does not mean that American journalists did …show more content…

A source that I found from this database was the Statement by the President Announcing the Use of the A-Bomb at Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. In this statement, President Truman begins by justifying the bombing with “The Japanese began the war from the air at Pearl Harbor. They have been repaid many fold. And the end is not yet.” He also threatens Japan and states, “It was to spare the Japanese people from utter destruction that the ultimatum of July 26 was issued at Potsdam. Their leaders promptly rejected that ultimatum. If they do not now accept our terms they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth.” It remains that the atomic bomb was used as a retaliation to Japan bombing Pearl Harbor and rejecting the ultimatum. How does President Truman’s attitude align with the American public at the time? Was it similar or different? Did this influence or represent America’s collective attitude towards Hiroshima? This source is useful in examining America’s justification for Hiroshima. I found it interesting that President Truman continues to threaten Japan despite the destruction that it caused. The challenges working with this source is to determine the overall influence of this statement on American mass

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But he had no compelling reason to do so. The bomb provided a promising way to bring about a prompt Japanese surrender without the disadvantages of other alternatives, and in Truman’s mind, its use did not require a lengthy consideration” (Walker pg. 96). After the bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, people decided that the bombs were actually required. The people thought that if the bombs weren’t dropped, thousands of American lives would have died while America invaded Japan. The problem with this logic is that many people died in those bombings.

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Name: Course Instructor: Class: Date: Critical Book Review: Prompt and Utter Destruction Introduction Within weeks, word on the US dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki began to spread that the main reason behind the bombs was to save the lives of Americans (Bernard). It was put that hundreds of thousands of American military causalities were saved through the bombings.

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As stated in document A, President Truman believed that it was his duty as president to use every weapon available to save American lives. By making the decision to employ atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it successfully brought an end to World War II. Now, while these bombs did ultimately spare thousands of American lives, it did also put an end to about 200,000 lives as shown in document E. Document A stated that Admiral William Leahy, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, opposed using the bomb because it killed civilians indiscriminately. He believed that an economic blockade and conventional bombing would convince Japan to surrender. As an opposite end of the spectrum though Truman’s advisor, James Byrnes thought that the use of “the A-bombs would not only cause Japan to surrender, but also impress the Soviet Union, and hopefully stop its expansion” (Doc C).

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As the Japanese forces were considered the aggressors of the conflict by the Allies and Japanese veterans alike, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justified. Their aggression previous to the bombing was demonstrated through the attack on Pearl Harbour, which led to America’s involvement in World War II. The attack was not one born out of vengeance and was not strategically logical, whereas there was a reason behind the bombing of Hiroshima, that reason being that the Japanese military would not agree to the clauses presented in the Potsdam Declaration. This declaration was given to the military officials as an invitation to surrender before the first bombing, providing ample time for them to make a decision to hopefully end the

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This accurate statement is an agreement that Truman’s decision to drop the bomb saved countless lives, and if it was not dropped many more lives would have been put to an end. In another reliable document it states, “From this background I believe, with complete conviction, that the use of the atomic bomb saved hundreds of thousands—perhaps several millions—of lives, both American and Japanese; that without its use the war would have continued for many months; that no one of good conscience knowing.” This statement comes out of a secondary source which explains how the use of the Atomic Bomb saved millions more lives, and stopped the most tragic war in history. To conclude this argument, the use of the Atomic Bomb was very essential to saving innumerable lives, and putting an end to a tragic, bloody

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The United States decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima was barely motivated by the idea that it would intimidate the Soviet Union. Dropping the atomic bomb was designed to demoralize the Japanese and demonstrate to them that if they did not surrender, th . In Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson’s memoirs in document A, he writes, “The total strength of the Japanese army was estimated at about 5,000,000... I was informed that such operation (the invasion of Japan) might be expected to cost over a million casualties, to American forces alone” (Doc A). Stimson’s memoirs were written with the intention of being published and he knew he had to defend the government’s decision to drop the bomb and is writing from the point of view of someone

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As the United States were planning on how to invade Japan, there had been a lot of controversy between Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Staff Admiral William Leahy, Secretary of War Henry Stimson as to how to attack Japan until Secretary of State James Byrnes brought up the idea of bombing Japan without any warning, shocking Japan into surrendering. According to document A, “Truman believed that it was his duty as president to use every weapon available to save American lives.” The quote from document A shows that Truman had to use anything available in order to save American

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Hundreds of thousands died, almost half of the population of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The effects were devastating for the slowly dying, and family and friends of the dead. In document “Effects of Atomic Attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki” it shows a burned corpse and miserable doctors. But all would agree that the American government announced the Potsdam Declaration and warned Japan that “prompt and utter destruction” would follow the refusal of surrender. The US also dropped leaflets around the city telling citizens that “So, in accordance with America's humanitarian policies, the American Air Force, which does not wish to injure innocent people, now gives you warning to evacuate the cities named and save your lives.”

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Imagine living in a period in which the realities of war encased the world, and the lethal potential to end all suffering was up to a single being. During World War II, tensions between Japan and the United States increased. Despite pleas from US President, Harry Truman, for Japan to surrender, the Japanese were intent on continuing the fight. As a result, Truman ordered the atomic bomb, a deadly revolution in nuclear science, to be dropped on the towns of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. President Harry Truman, in his speech, “Announcement of the Dropping of the Atomic Bomb,” supports his claim that the dropping of the A-bomb shortened the war, saved lives, and got revenge by appealing to American anger by mentioning traumatic historical events and

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The decisions made to drop the A-bomb in Japan by president Harry Truman are often criticized, but to judge an opinion based off of the standards of this day and era is meaningless. Although everyone has different propositions, views, or opinions the decision that Truman made to protect his country seems like the only justifiable solution of ending this war. President Harry Truman had to make one of the most difficult decisions ever known to mankind. Many critics recognize the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as merciless acts to express the United States mobilization of their military superiority. Therefore, in question of this laborious outcome, how did the United States and Truman come to their commitment of terrorizing millions of lives

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There have been few national catastrophic events that have remained relevant to each new generation of people. Some of these circumstances occurred naturally while others caused great damage purposefully. The Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings of World War II are among the moments in time that are recognizable to each person worldwide. Although these bombings were extremely significant during the war and lead to Japanese surrender, there are many speculations concerning whether or not the bombings were crucial for the victory of the United States. The Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings were both extremely necessary because other strategies of the United States to end the war would not have been as effective, the United States needed a way to intervene

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Charles Crabtree and Kiyoteru Tsutsui, opinion contributors. “Why the US-Japan Partnership Prospered despite Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” The Hill, The Hill, 5 Aug. 2020, https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/510495-why-the-us-japan-partnership-prospered-despite-hiroshima-and/. DeNooyer, Rushmore, director. The Bomb. Public Broadcasting Service, 2015.

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Visual rhetoric is used as a tool to communicate and show the audience another way into the story and is used by many different authors. Like one particular author, Marjane Satrapi, who is an Iranian artist and writer; only child to an engineer and clothes designer. Satrapi grew up during the Iranian Revolution of 1979, when Iraq invaded Iran. Because of Satrapi's expierence she focused on letting the world know of her insight of what she had lived, and that is where her very successful book Persepolis came to be. Her specific use of visual rhetoric made the graphic novel more attractive to the reader's eyes.

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Thesis statement: Though many speculate that the act of dropping the atomic bomb on Japan (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) while not doing so on Europe (Germany and Italy) was racially motivated, racism played little to no role in these bombings. The United States of America and her allies were willing to end World War II at any cost, had the atomic bombs been available they would have been deployed in Europe. In the 1940’s there is no doubt that the United States of America was engulfed by mass anti-Japanese hysteria which inevitably bled over into America’s foreign policy. During this period Japanese people living in both Japan and the United States of America were seen as less that human.

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President Truman and his associates believed that if they dropped the bomb they would receive surrender from Japan. Thus, saving millions of American lives, and ending the war. Nevertheless, by saving American lives they would sacrifice thousands of Japanese civilians. They had other idea to have Japan to surrender, but were willing to take the one that would have the most consequences. They were thinking too much about the US instead of creating actually peace within the nations.

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