ipl-logo

Truman Dbq 11 Analysis

718 Words3 Pages

Truman was elected as president on 12 April 1945 within 3 months, following the sudden death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. During his first two months in office, Truman made the decision to drop the atomic bomb in Japan. “Nobody is more disturbed over the use of atomic bombs than I am but I was greatly disturbed over the unwarranted attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbour and their murder of our prisoners of war. The only language they seem to understand is the one we have been using to bombard them. When You have to deal with a beast you have to treat him as a beast. it is most regrettable but nevertheless true.” The above quote was from Truman’s letter, written on 11 Aug 1945, to Samuel McCrea Cavert, the then General Secretary of the Federal …show more content…

The quote is a pro-nuclear bombing perspective as he feels that American lives are worth more than the Japanese population. Truman tries to convince people that the bombing helped to save American soldiers’ lives and he has done this for the American people. He shows no sympathy towards the Japanesecivilian lives to an extent that he is willing to destroy the Japanesecities. The above lines are similar to the previous quotes where Truman justifies this decision to drop the bomb. “President had to decide,” reinstates the supreme power that Truman believes he has in deciding the fate of Japan. The word “had to” implies that he had no other choice and it was his duty to do so. He portrays a positive imagery towards the young American soldiers justifying that he doesn't want to spill the blood of his own people unnecessarily as they are like “flowers' ' — innocent and unspoilt. However,his justification by comparing 250,000 American soldiers to that of a “couple” of Japanese cities reveals a dismissive attitude to the true extent of life lost in Japan. Thus to Truman, the dropping of the atomic bomb was necessary to bring an end to the war and prevent the loss of American armed forces

Show More
Related

Pros And Cons Of Truman And The Use Of Atomic Bombs

642 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

Prompt And Utter Destruction Summary

1394 Words | 6 Pages

Walker does not just take the reader on a tour of the decision-making process of President Truman and shows what made him to order the use of Atomic bombs on Japan, but he also provide an exploration of the historical situation that prompted the decision. He also examines the viewpoint of the Japanese, not only regarding the impact of the bombings on their ultimate decision to surrender, but also how their Allies called for an unconditional surrender. This call could possibly have led to the Japanese Emperor, Hirohito, being tried on counts of war crimes, which may have possibly made the Japanese to be reluctant on surrendering even in light of a crushing defeat (Huczko). Samuel Walker also provides useful insights into contribution made by the decision to use Atomic weapons on Japanese decision to surrender.

Read More

How Did Truman Use The Atomic Bomb Dbq

301 Words | 2 Pages

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).

Read More

Was Truman Justified Dbq Essay

803 Words | 4 Pages

According to Truman’s memoir, he states “it should be used without specific warning” (Doc 2). This evidence shows that the U.S. used the atomic bombs without warning because of the way Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Since there was no warning, it harmed more people than Japan did in the Pearl Harbor attack. To summarize, the U.S. used the atomic bombs against Japan as an act of revenge for Pearl Harbor. This act of revenge harmed and destroyed many lives of the

Read More

Truman Bombing Dbq

148 Words | 1 Pages

The U.S. viewed bombings as a necessity because Truman gave the Japanese a chance to surrender when he issued the Potsdam Declaration. In his message, Truman warned the Japanese that if they would not unconditionally surrender that they would be struck with “prompt and utter destruction.” Similarly, by bombing the Japanese it would spare up to 1 million American lives along with 250,000 British casualties because U.S and allied soldiers didn’t have to attempt to invade the heavily guarded Japanese territories. Another reason the United States needed to bomb Japan was dominance. The secretary of state thought it would put the U.S. in a dominant position in the postwar and have power over the Germans.

Read More

Truman Justified Dbq

798 Words | 4 Pages

It stopped the fire raids, and the strangling blockade; it ended the ghastly specter of a clash of great land armies” (Doc 5). This quote from Henry Stimson explains how the fighting between Japan and America was like no other, the militaries were very powerful and that meant there would be more blood, and more death, and the use of the Atomic bomb was the least horrific outcome to the war. Secondly, the use of the atomic bomb saved many lives on both sides of the war, and that is another example of why Truman’s decision is justified. The reason President Truman’s decision is justified is because the bomb saved many lives on both sides of the war, even though there were innocent deaths, there would have been hundreds of thousands to even millions of deaths on each side of the war, so yes the decision is justified because it ended the chances of dying in war drastically. One piece of evidence from the pilot of the Enola Gay states “I am convinced that we saved more lives than we took.

Read More

Truman Made The Right Decision Dbq

645 Words | 3 Pages

"There was a very strong possibility that the Japanese government might choose to resist until the very end"(Doc B). The argument for dropping the atomic bomb is strong because Truman knew that the war was going to cost and last way more if he didn't just use the bombs to end the war with them. This shows that he had all the right to just stop this madness and end the war quickly, easily, and fast. He knew that Japan wasn't going to surrender most likey so he was sick of his troops dying for no

Read More

Why We Have Dropped The Atomic Bomb Dbq

985 Words | 4 Pages

So, Truman made the difficult but necessary decision to drop the first atomic bombs. The mass destruction caused the Japanese to realize that they had already lost the war, and they needed to give up. All in all, the action taken by President Harry S. Truman was the right decision because it ended the war and saved American soldiers’

Read More

Atomic Bomb Dbq Essay

699 Words | 3 Pages

Much consideration and thought had to go into this decision. World War II had been going on for four years. Many casualties on both sides occurred. Many factors led to the dropping of the bomb including Pearl Harbor, it ended the war quickly which would save more lives, and the Japanese weren’t going to stop fighting. President Truman’s decision to drop the bombs was the right thing to do because it happened for the better.

Read More

Atomic Bomb Dbq Essay

567 Words | 3 Pages

Truman was the president of the United States at the time, so its obvious why he choose to drop the bomb. It would save more American lives this way. “It would have been morally wrong if we’d have had that weapon and did not use it and let a million more people die” (Doc L). If he didn’t drop it, about 400,000 to 800,000 American lives would have been lost (OI). If Japan couldn’t make war, there wouldn’t be war.

Read More

Atomic Bomb Dbq Essay

806 Words | 4 Pages

“Lewis estimates that the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to the extent that it induced Japanese surrender, saved the lives of roughly 30 million people” (Dr. Daniel McIntosh). In the press release announcing the dropping of the atomic bomb Truman made a statement that would strongly support the dropping of the bomb. He states, “We have used it to shorten the agony of the war, in order to save the lives of thousands of young Americans.” World War 2 was an agonizing war that America helped. On Top of saving American lives, lives of all nationalities were saved with the end of the

Read More

Inequity In Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle'

690 Words | 3 Pages

Inequity is a situation in which there is a reduction in neutrality between groups of people and a decrease in the justice served to them. However, this right has not been given fairly to people at all. The fight against inequity was improved upon and positively impacted by the Workers Rights movement. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, the industrial revolution was in full swing in the United States of America, but they needed people to operate the machines. When people were found to work these jobs, they were often minorities who were mistreated.

Read More

How Does Steinbeck Use Power In The Grapes Of Wrath

1014 Words | 5 Pages

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is a story that details the life of a poor Oklahoma family during the dust bowl. Before almost every chapter about the Joads, there is a vignette about an unnamed group of people that symbolize something that will happen to the Joads in the next chapter. This symbolism helps to demonstrate the Joads’ story and shows why the Joads’ story happened the way it did. In Chapter 21, Steinbeck shows the lack of decisions and individual thought by the migrants as well as the natives.

Read More

Argumentative Essay On Dropping The Atomic Bomb

863 Words | 4 Pages

However, the Japanese were committed to fight to the bitter end of the war and see it all the way through, regardless of the fact that the United States demanded unconditional surrender from the small country of islands. This further emphasizes that since the Japanese were not simply going to give up, Truman came to the conclusion that in order to save millions of lives, he had to take thousands. President Truman decided to drop the atomic bomb on Japan to warn the world about the new found power of the United States, force an unconditional surrender of the Japanese, and save millions of lives. With the controversy over whether or not Truman should have dropped the bomb, some consider the decision irrational and unnecessary.

Read More

The Atomic Bomb Argumentative Essay

581 Words | 3 Pages

President Truman was treating people even worst by putting them through the torture of the bomb and the resulting effects of the bomb. Time became a major factor into the decision, and dropping the bomb was a result of that fear. On the other side of the argument, the Japanese did bomb Pearl Harbor which was the catalyst that got America involved in the first place. We as a country should not need to compromise with the nation who started the battle.

Read More

More about Truman Dbq 11 Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document