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Was The Us Justified Dbq Essay

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The United States entered WW2 after the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl harbor in 1941. To inspire the Japanese surrender in 1945 , and ultimately end the war, the US dropped the world's first two atomic bombs on the civilian population of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since the surrender, there has been debate over whether the decision to use atomic weapons was justified and whether it was the only way to end the war. The use of this atomic weapon was not justified and it was not the only way to inspire surrender and allow the U.S to win the war. There were plenty of alternative options that the U.S. had already begun to employ and these other alternatives would not have added much more time to the war. Despite the possibility of civilian …show more content…

government stays adamant that there were no other options to prompt Japan to surrender, this is simply untrue. General H.H. Arnold, Commander of the American Air Force during WW2, revealed that their “[prevention of] the arrival of incoming cargo of critical items… had made it impossible for Japan to carry on a large-scale war…”(Source B). Here he explains that the US strategy to cut off supplies severely weakened Japan’s defenses. This shows that if the U.S. had kept steady with these non-violent tactics, the war could have been ended just as easily as with a weapon. In addition, the U.S. was planning a land invasion of Japan to induce their speedy surrender. Henry L. Stimson mentioned in his memoirs that they had extensively planned “an intensified sea and air blockade and greatly intensified strategic air bombing… to be followed… by an invasion of the main island of Honshu…”(Source A). This shows that the U.S. had detailed plans to blockade around Japan and invade the mainland using their island hopping strategy. All of this demonstrates that there were options for the U.S. that did not involve direct endangerment of civilians and could just have easily ended the …show more content…

Nuclear physicist Leo Scillard thought that “[the U.S.] could win the war in another six months,”(Source F) without the use of atomic weapons. This shows how the U.S was not facing the prospect of a severely prolonged war. While many believed the atomic bomb was the quickest way to end the war, there was still a quick method that did not involve endangering as many civilians. Additionally, in July of 1945 Dwight D. Eisenhower recalled that “reports indicated the imminence of Japan’s collapse”(Source C). Meaning that Japan was already nearing collapse, before the U.S. had even decided to use atomic weapons. With evidence that Japan was nearing defeat and would likely surrender or be defeated in approaching months, the U.S. was not in a dire situation that required such destructive

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791 Words | 4 Pages

The U.S. should have been patient and thought of what the effects of their actions would be and not acted on it. Document C illustrates how Japan at the time was already deciding to surrender due to the influence of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Knowing how much damage it had done they were open to giving up to not have more things happen to them. Also, Document D discussed how using different tactics could have been acted upon. Frank stated “You see what sort of weapon we had but did not use”, this explains how one can give a warning, a statement but nothing was given a chance or an explanation.

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Harry Truman gave many warnings before he put in place the dropping of the atomic bomb. He wrote a press release announcing the Atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6th,1945 defending using the atomic bomb. He stated that “japan began the war from the air at Pearl Harbor. They have been repaid manyfold, and the end is not yet (Doc 8)”. Truman was tired of his country suffering from this long World war he put

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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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443 Words | 2 Pages

By the time Truman had to make his decision Japan’s military resources were eliminated (Blum 2). Not only were there naval ships and planes destroyed, but also, there “lifeline to oil was severed” (Blum 2). Additionally, the amount of firebombing taking place left Japan defenseless (Blum 2). The man in charge of air attacks, General Curtis Lemay even went as far to say that “there was nothing left of japanese cities but “garbage can targets”(Blum 2). All of these circumstances lead up to what would have been the surrendering of Japan before the bombs were dropped.

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According to General HH Arnold, Commander of the American Army Air Force during WWII, Japan was already too weak before the United States dropped the atomic bombs (Document B). He believed that the use of the atomic bomb was unnecessary to get Japan to surrender, because they were on the verge of collapsing. However, this did not keep the Japanese from fighting relentlessly against the United States. In addition, in Document C, Eisenhower remembers telling President Truman Japan’s collapse would take place promptly. Also, according to Eisenhower, the USSR cannot

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642 Words | 3 Pages

On the clear mornings of August 6 and 9, 1945, the first atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagaski. Gigantic clouds of ominous dark smoke stained the sky, signaling the end of a seemingly incessant war. Americans and Europeans rejoiced throughout the world; many lives were spared from the brutality of continuing the war. Although this was an extremely hard decision to make and the results were devastating, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a military necessity. To begin, America had already seen how ruthless and cruel the Japanese could be.

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They had the choice to save their people from the destructive consequences of battle, but instead they chose to keep fighting a war they had already lost (Doc. I). The Japanese refused the ultimatum because Hirohito “resisted facing reality and never acted resolutely”(OI/ history.com). In other words, the Japanese government wasn't facing the facts, and wished to continue in a war that would largely damage their cities, population, and any hope of being successful. Instead, they went on with fighting, which ended with them losing two of their major cities and an increased number of civilian casualties. As you can see, the decision to drop the atomic bombs was justified due to the fact that the Japanese weren't going to stop, so we needed to end

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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 caused Japan to surrender, and World War 2 ended. The atomic bomb was justified because the U.S. needed Japan to surrender to end the war. The atomic bomb was justified because it was one of the possible ways to end the war with Japan. Document 1, says “They concluded that no technical demonstration they might propose, such as over a deserted island, would be likely to bring the war to an end”. This indicates that there was no other way of using the same strategies, such as island hopping, which was to capture the surrounding islands to invade Japan.

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They were so desperate that they were sending kamikaze to U.S. ships in the Pacific (Doc. C). This action showed America just how desperate the Japanese truly were, meaning that they were already winning the war (Doc. C). According to the Air Force Strategy Bombing Survey, “certainly prior to 31 December 1945, and in all probability prior to 1 November 1945 (well before the date of the [proposed] invasion) Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped” (Doc. K). This means that the Survey agreed that the war would have ended even without the bombing. Furthermore, Dwight Eisenhower stated, “I was one of those who felt that there were a number of cogent reasons to question the wisdom of such an act.... first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and second because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives.

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Japan also attacked the U.S ships in the Pacific Theater using Kamikaze pilots (Doc. C). Japan also showed the U.S they were willing to kill themselves and sacrifice their own people to destroy Americans. The U.S offered an ultimatum but Japan refused it and didn’t accept the terms (Doc. I). In the same way as the ultimatum, there were also many warnings. At the point in the war before the droppings, surrendering was a clear option.

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852 Words | 4 Pages

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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1133 Words | 5 Pages

On August 6th and 9th in 1945, without any warning the world was abruptly forced into the atomic age. This happened when the first atomic bomb obliterated the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Churchill, 2013). Many Americans at the time believed that these bombings were warranted. They were convinced that the atomic bombings were the central reason Japan surrendered and bombing Japan was the most efficient and economical way to end World War II.

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420 Words | 2 Pages

One of the biggest debates in american history was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. During World War 2, the United States dropped two atomic bombs in an attempt to make Japan surrender. Prior to the United States dropping these bombs, Japan was refusing to surrender and was going to win the war at all costs. The fact that Japan was not going to give up shows how the atomic bombs were a military necessity.

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994 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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