Persuasive Essay On Hiroshima Bombing

858 Words4 Pages
In 1945, World War II (1939-1945) had been going on for six years. The United States had entered the war in 1941 and had only been fighting for four years. In a desperate attempt to end the war, the United States decided it would be a good idea to scare people by using the nuclear bombs they created (Brumfiel). On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped a bomb named “Little Boy” on the Japanese city, Hiroshima. Three days later, on August 9, the U.S dropped another bomb called “Fat Boy” on the Japanese city, Nagasaki (Hall). After the bombings, many conclusions came on why these particular cities were chosen and what the ending effects were; with this came many scientific studies. There are many reasons the U.S. chose to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, there was two specific reason for the bombings, and they were different for each city. According to Geoff Brumfiel, there was two main reasons for bombing the cities: to scare the Japanese into surrendering and to test the power of the bomb (“Why did the U.S choose Hiroshima”). The reason Hiroshima was chosen explained by historian, Alex Wellerstein, written by Brumfiel is "Hiroshima is compact," Wellerstein says. "’If you put a bomb like this in the middle of it, you end up destroying almost the entirety of the city.’” (“Why did the U.S choose Hiroshima”). Nagasaki on the other hand is a little more complicated considering it was not the original target. In an article by Alex Wellerstein, it is stated “ The initial