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Why We Dropped The Atomic Bomb Dbq

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World War II introduced the most dangerous weapon in the world, the atomic bomb. When the US used it on Japan we went to far and caused unnecessary damage to the people. Many people believe this to the only truth but, the real truth is that dropping the atomic bomb was a necessary evil we had to use in order to win the war in World War II and future wars to come. It save many american soldiers lives, stopped the Soviets from joining, and helped us win against Japan. First and foremost, World War II caused many casualties for both sides of the war. And America caused many Japanese deaths. In the end we had to drop the world's most dangerous weapon in order to stop American soldiers from dying at the expense of Japanese soldiers. In document …show more content…

During the war against Japan we dropped two nukes to defeat them and many people believed that it was over the top and unnecessary because they were on the edge of giving up. Like in document 7 when James Byrnes said “Japan was essentially defeated and that we could win the war in another six months.” (James Byrnes) This was simply not true in document 2 H. H. Arnold said, “Nevertheless the abrupt surrender of Japan came more or less as a surprise; for we had figured we would probably have to drop about 4 atomic bombs” (General H. H. Arnold) this is perfect evidence of how Japan was not willing to give up easily, because he was a General and the Commander of the American Army Air Force. So, Arnold would be able to know how war works better than anyone and if he believes that Japan would need four nukes to end the war, it means they would not give up easily. We even gave Japan a warning of the incoming bomb before it happened, like in document 5 “We call upon the Government of Japan to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces, and to provide proper and adequate assurances of their good faith in such actions. The alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction...” (Potsdam Declaration) The Potsdam Declaration warned the Japanese of impending doom but still they fought on without the outlook to give

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Prior to Hiroshima, the Japanese had determined that the only way that they would be able to mediate peace between them and the United States is if the Soviet Union was the one to do the mediating. Although Japan was aware that

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The President justified his actions by claiming that he “used it in order to shorten the agony of war, in order to save the lives of thousands and thousands of young Americans.” (Long). However; Japan was inching closer and closer to surrender. Furthermore, no one was knowledgeable of the aftereffects such a “weapon”

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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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In the battle of Iwo Jima, which took place from February 19 to March 26, 1945, a total of 6,821 Americans were killed in action. The battle of Iwo Jima is another example that shows the numbers of American lives wiped off by the Japanese military. The Japanese military had to be stopped in order to save American lives. According to Document E, the invention of the atomic bomb gave the United States a more efficient way to end war against Japan, which meant the end of devastation received by the Japanese and saving American lives. On the contrary, some may argue that the United States’s decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan was a diplomatic measure against the USSR.

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Many millions of US and Japanese casualties would have resulted if an invasion of the Japanese home islands was required. By the taking of these Japanese lives, the President has saved the rest. What once was a closed heart in Japan is now an open mind. While lives were saved, we must endeavor to control this power we have unleashed. God only knows what will happen to the world if these weapons have to be used

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Japan was weakening, “The food situation gradually becoming worse and worse…” Stated in source H. America had many industrial resources to use against Japan and so Japan had essentially been defeated. Japan pushed only for the sake of their countries honour as the shame of unconditional surrender goes against their code of honour. Furthermore a warning was given to Japan with America promising to drop the atomic bomb, however there was no evidence and so it could have easily been deemed a bluff. An American nuclear scientist stated, “A demonstration of the bomb best be made… Japan could then be asked to surrender.” This source seems somewhat reliable as it is from one of the American scientists and they would know the strength of the bomb.

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This tells me that Japan was trying to destroy U.S. warships, planes, and kill American soldiers, so the U.S. would not be able to stop Japan’s plans to expand its power. Another reason I think the atomic bomb should have been dropped is that if not, the loss of Americans would increase immensely. If Japan did not surrender to the atomic bomb the second time, the war would continue, which would make more soldiers all around the world die and cause financial and material damage. This shows me that a lot more American soldiers would get killed and the war would continue to destroy America and its Allies. This war was the most expensive war in the U.S. history, costing $4 trillion dollars in today’s money.

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From a first-hand fighter, Eugene Sledge stated,“ If you tried to help one of the Japanese, he’d usually detonate a grenade and kill himself as well as you.” This signifies that Japan would never give up during the war, and if they had to, they would kill someone on the spot if it meant another step forward for their country. Even so, the Japanese were starting to fall, every moment soldiers were dying and they didn’t know if they would even get to see the next day. On the other hand, America was in danger. They didn’t know Japan's next move and they knew they didn’t want to find out.

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In fact, Ralph A. Bard, Undersecretary of the Navy wrote to Secretary of War Stimson in a June 27, 1945 memorandum. “I define this decision as an emotional and reckless decision, Japanese government may be searching for some opportunity which they could use as a medium of surrender” (Bard). In fact, the Japanese government expressed desire to end the war, and would have accepted conditional surrender before the mainland invasion in November. The reason for dropping the bomb was forcing Japan to surrender unconditionally. In America’s opinion, Japan had lost the war; they did not have any capital to negotiate with.

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To avoid invading Japan and losing military forces, the bomb was created and dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This was an impact on the whole nation of Japan emotionally/ mentally, but physically on the general public of the two targeted cities. Discussions about the atomic bomb has always been common and all over the place. It’s important because the United States could be in a different

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Imagine that there is a decision to be made to launch the atomic bomb or not. The bomb was launched but was it justified? Years ago during WWll, a scientist Albert Einstein sent a letter to the president. It said that Germany was creating a bomb that would cause major destruction and the United States had to make one as well. Scientists started making the bomb and it became the Project Manhattan.

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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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Was America Justified in dropping the atom bomb on Hiroshima in August 1945? On August 6th, 1945 at 8:16 AM, a great yet horrific event in history occurred. This event is known as the dropping of the atom bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan, the event that would begin and end the pain and suffering of millions. The atom bomb was dropped by an American B-29 Superfortress bomber named Enola Gay and

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The Nanking Massacre was reported my many United States news groups and reinforced the American ideaology that the Japanese were simply savages. Terms like “the only good jap is a dead jap” (Jennings, Why the Bomb was Dropped) arose from the American hatred of them. Prior to the dropping of the bomb, the Allied Powers requested for Japan to surrender, but their requests were ignored. The ignorance of this request after being threatened to surrender not only angered the men in charge, but the sum of the American people.

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President Harry Truman gave an executive order in 1945 to drop to atomic bombs in popular downtown cities in Japan. With the guidance of many scientists and political leaders President Truman made the extremely tough decision to drop the bombs. After listening to arguments from both sides President Truman came to the conclusion that dropping bombs would be the best thing to do for this war. It would also show that the United States had an extreme military power. Many American politicians were for the idea of dropping the bomb, because they believed that it was the only way to end the war and get Japan to surrender.

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