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Was The Atomic Bomb Justified Dbq Essay

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Imagine your entire city going up in flames faster than you can blink. Houses, stores, and schools were all reduced to nothing but ashes. Almost everyone that you used to know is now dead, in no more than an instant. This is what it would have been like to live in Hiroshima on the dark day of August 6, 1945, when the United States released the first nuclear weapon in the history of all warfare. They would drop a second over Nagasaki a mere three days later. The atomic bombs had been developed by the U.S. over the course of World War II under the Manhattan Project. President Harry Truman then decided to use them on Japan in a desperate attempt to end the war. Despite the fact that it saved American lives, the dropping of the atomic bombs on …show more content…

This is detailed in Document 3. “But this deliberate premeditated destruction was our least abhorrent alternative” (Doc 3). Although it did save American lives, the atomic bomb was not the least abhorrent alternative. It has already been shown that it was not necessary to end the war because Japan was nearing surrender. The mass destruction caused by these bombs was like nothing before and can hardly be described as anything other than abhorrent. Women and children were killed, and entire cities were erased from existence. This clear lack of respect and ethical reasoning highlights that there were more negatives than benefits of the bombs. Document 8 says, “The record of General Macarthur’s operations from 1 March 1944 through 1 May 1945 shows 13,742 US killed compared to 310,165 Japanese killed.” These numbers support the fact that the number of Japanese casualties far exceeded that of America. The decision to drop the atomic bomb added to this total, and made the comparison between American and Japanese deaths even more striking. Therefore, this so-called “least abhorrent alternative” only ensured the deaths of more than 100,000 more innocent

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Afterwards, the United States declared war on Japan, and joined allies against the axis powers. The United States’ use of the atomic bombs is justified because it saved American lives; Japan was given fair warning, and their aggressions towards the U.S. The atomic bombs on Japan saved many American lives. Document 15 reads: The entire population of Japan is

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In 1945, Japan was losing World War Two, but was split between surrendering or fighting till the end. As they chose to fight instead of surrender, that is when Harry Truman was notified about the successful test of the “most terrible bomb in history”. Multiple hours were spent doing research, and billions of dollars were used for its production. Since an atomic bomb is serious the heat released in a nuclear explosion creates a sphere of burning gas that can range from hundreds of feet. Since Harry Truman was president at the time it was his decision whether or not he was going to use the bomb to end the war.

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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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If the atomic bomb were not dropped the war would have lasted longer, ending in more lives lost and wasted materials. Another reason that dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justified is, the Japanese had already done so much damage to the US with pearl harbor, They had it coming with damage done to them. “A Kamikaze Pilot's Manual” (Document #9) In the three pictures you can see the horrifying pearl harbor attack summed up in only 3 images, before, during, and the aftermath.

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It was completely necessary for the United States to drop the atomic bombs on Japan to end World War II. It’s still very controversial as to if this bomb really did limit the casualties that could would have occurred if the US didn’t drop the

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First of all, in the case of the Americans the bomb was compared to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Truman says in a press release, “We have used it against those who attacked without warning at Pearl Harbor, against those who have abandoned the pretense of obeying international laws of warfare” (Doc I). Second, the bombing of Pearl Harbor was an uncalled for action that was against the “laws of international warfare” and was rectified by the atomic bomb. The soldiers in Europe were extremely relieved that they would not have to invade, which would be a fatal battle where our soldiers would be shot at constantly and have bombs flying around them while they were rushing the beaches of Japan (Doc H). This bomb avoided the invasion of Japan which would have ended in an estimated 1.7 to 4 million casualties for the Allied powers (OI ladailypost.com).

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The dropping of the atomic bombs was necessary to bring an end to the war. The Americans had lost an estimated 418,000 troops. The Americans could never have known how many people would be killed between the two bombs. The fact of the matter remains that an estimated 135,000 people were killed in Hiroshima and approximately between 50,000 to 74,000 were killed on the hit at Nagasaki.

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It is understandable as to why people believe that dropping the atomic bombs was inhuman, however, the pro’s outweighed the cons of dropping the bomb. The Manhattan project was the trials and tests that the US government was doing to try and create an atomic bomb. Without Truman’s intelligence strategy and his brilliant scientists led by Julius Oppenheimer, the bomb America would have not been able to end the war. Japanese soldiers were not going to surrender, and they would fight until the last man standing. The atomic bomb dropping was the nail in the coffin for the Americans during World War II in the Pacific.

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On August 6, 1945 the world’s first atomic bomb was dropped over the Japanese city of Hiroshima by an American B-29 bomber. This bomb as well as the second atomic bomb dropped on August 9, 1945 over the Japanese city of Nagasaki killed a combined 150,000 people on impact. Although these bombs killed an immense number of people, it was still better than continuing the war and allowing another country to attempt an atomic bombing on the US. Although there were many reasons to drop the atomic bomb, the most influential were that Japan was not going to surrender and there were no strong alternatives that would have had the same final effect on the war. America’s atomic bombing of Japan was the best action available because there were no strong

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Japan and America were fighting during World War II. America was pushing into Japan. The Americans could either drop the Atomic Bomb or continue the war on land. While some may say the United States was not justified in dropping the Atomic Bomb because Japan was trying to surrender, the United States was justified because it saved more lives in the long run, shortened the war, and It showed that America was a country not to be messed with. Dropping the Atomic Bombs, the United States helped save lives.

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In the twentieth century, the United States dropped two atomic bombs, which were the most powerful weapons at that time, on Japan. It happened on August 6 and August 9, 1945. The atomic bombs killed 226,000 Japanese and ended the war. However, America should not have dropped the atomic bombs for two reasons. First, it was not necessary to drop the bomb to win the war militarily or to get the Japanese to surrender.

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Soon the U.S was attacked by Japan. The President then decided to drop the atomic bomb to end this war and quickly. The use of the atomic bomb on Japan was justified because it ended the war, was a better alternative than the others given, and helped save lives. The atomic bomb used on Japan was justified because it ended the war.

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It was not to end the war. We are often taught that the use of the atomic bomb was necessary to end the war with Japan at the earliest possible moment, but judging by the statements of many high ranking political and military personnel, this is simply not the case. "The Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn 't necessary to hit them with that awful thing ... I hated to see our country be the first to use such a weapon,"Eisenhower said in 1963. On September 9, 1945, Admiral William F. Halsey, commander of the Third Fleet, was publicly quoted as stating that the atomic bomb was used because the scientists had a “toy and they wanted to try it out…”

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the bomb’s code name was “Little Boy”. Three days later, on August 9th, 1945, America dropped another bomb on Nagasaki with the code name “Fat Man”. As many as 200,000 deaths were caused by “Little Boy” alone and many people would die of radiation for years to come. The dropping of the Atom bomb on Hiroshima is an extremely debatable issue with no right or wrong answer. In this essay I will describe both sides to the argument then conclude using my final opinion on whether I am for or against the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima.

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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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