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Why Did Truman Sell The Atomic Bomb?

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World War II began in 1941 and was fought until 1945. World War II was a very destructive war because of the new technologies that were used. The newest invention created by the United States during the war was the atomic bomb. There were three atomic bombs that were secretly developed under the code name the Manhattan Project. When the Japanese were resisting surrender President Truman had a huge decision to make on whether or not to use the bombs. Both of the remaining bombs ended up being released on Japan. The first one to be released was dropped on Hiroshima then the second one was dropped on Nagasaki. It was necessary for President Truman to drop the atomic bombs on Japan to provoke them into unconditionally surrendering because he wanted …show more content…

“The Japanese military command rejected the request for unconditional surrender, but there were indications that a conditional surrender was possible” (The Decision to Drop the Bomb). One of the reasons why Truman was leaning towards releasing the bomb was because he wanted the war to come to a speedy end. “…the invasion of Japan could have resulted in the death of twice as many Americans as had already been killed in the European, North African and Pacific theaters”(Forbes. Miller, Henry). Truman wanted the war to come a speedy end not just because of how long it had been going on for but because of how many American lives had been taken. “The federal government spent about $350 billion during World War II – or twice as much as it had spent in total for the entire history of the U.S. government up to that point” (U.S. Economy and Industry During World War II). Truman also wanted it to end quickly because of how much money had been spent during the …show more content…

It was also a more effective than sending in U.S. soldiers to fight against Japanese soldiers. If US soldiers were to be sent in to fight against Japanese soldiers there would have been a lot more casualties. “The atomic bombings probably did play a part in averting a bloody ground invasion and saving thousands of US lives…” (ABC News). President Truman wanted to prevent as many more soldiers on our side from dying. “Truman was committed to achieving this goal as quickly and with as few casualties as possible” (U.S. History). Truman wanted to achieve his goal of winning the war as soon as possible and without any more

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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.

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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).

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1. Source B mentions that the reason for Truman dropping the bomb was to save American lives, but it was a speech to the nation. Source A transmits a completely different message. It mentions that “the end of Japanese war no longer depended upon the pouring in of [the Russian] armies.” They way this phrase is interpreted is that Truman dropped the bomb because he no longer wanted the help of the Soviets so he didn’t have to share the reward, which was Tokyo.

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In 1945, America used a new and controversial weapon to annihilate thousands of Japanese civilians to end World War II. Stretching from 1939 to 1945, WWII was a battle between the Axis and Allied powers. The Axis powers wanted to attack communists and imperialize nations. The Allied powers wanted to defend themselves against the Axis powers and protect their nation. The Allied powers defeated the Axis powers, but Japan continued to attack the Pacific coast.

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World War II was one of the biggest conflicts in the history of the world. It was a conflict between the Allies — Britain, American, and France — and the Axis Powers — Germany, Italy, and Japan. America entered the war in 1941 when the Japanese surprise attack our naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. At the start of the conflict, the 32nd President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was our Chief in Command that had just let the nation through one of its most trying times, the Great Depression. In 1942, Roosevelt began a top secret project led by Robert J. Oppenheimer.

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President Harry Truman was justified in dropping the atomic bomb since it saved millions of American lives by ending the war as soon as possible, and established the United States as the greatest country in the world. With the bomb, America could “attack those that have hurt [America]” and save many American lives (Truman, Doc A). As part as revenge for Pearl Harbor, America was able to redeem itself against Japan with this bomb. It would make a statement to the world and force an unconditional surrender from Japan, as fast as possible. That would end the war and potentially save millions of young American soldiers.

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This article, written by Tom Nichols begins by expressing an explanation to why Truman dropped the bomb on Japan. Nichols starts off by questioning if the dropping of the “special bombs” was actually necessary. He then goes on to explain that back in 1945 this decision was the right one and that Truman thought that by dropping the bombs it would bring the war to a close. As the article goes on Nichols continues to question the use of the bomb, whether it was a racist act, done for political means, and if Truman would have used the nuclear weapon on the Germans. This article is a great resource for my research paper, because it provides the possible reasoning to why Truman made the official decision to drop the bomb.

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Two reasons that president Truman dropped the Atomic Bomb on Japan. One reason that Truman dropped the bomb on japan was he wanted to shorten the war to save soldiers lives. If truman hadn't made the call thousands of American soldiers would have been killed storming the beaches of japan, just like when they stormed the beaches of normandy fighting the germans in the european theater. A second reason that Truman wanted to drop the bomb was to send a message to the soviet union to say don't mess us after the war was over. At this point many countries were trying to create the Atomic Bomb

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The Potsdam Ultimatum was also rejected by the conceited Japanese government officials because they didn’t want to have to surrender. Truman made the ultimate decision to save U.S. lives over the Japanese. The final supportive piece of evidence was that we had the necessary technology. Our Boeing B-29 fighter planes helped to drop the 5 ton atomic bombs, and evidently ended the war. To sum it up, the Japanese needed to be stopped, and from their past actions, the U.S. knew that they weren’t going to surrender on their own power.

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This shows that not just Truman thought it would save American lives and end the war quickier. In document H, which is a WWII soldiers opinion, it says “only a few weeks before Hiroshima, 123,000 Japanese and Americans killed each other. War is immoral. War is cruel.” If we hadn't dropped the atomic bomb more would be dead and that would affect the world as we know it like, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the new population from 1941-1946 (time of war) dropped so more people were dying than being born then if one million more died our population would of dropped even more and there wouldn’t be enough men to repopulate, so if we didn’t

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World War II was one of the most destructive conflicts in human history, with an estimated 60 million deaths, America's use of the atomic bomb to end WWII gave rise to a debate on the ethical justification for using such weapons. The carnage began in September 1939 the day that Germany invaded Poland, and in 1945 it ended with a mushroom cloud enveloping Nagasaki. This bloodshed involved two main powers, the Axis powers made up of Germany, Japan, and Italy battling against the Allied forces of the Soviet Union, Britain, and the United States. This war was caused by the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles and the economic depression in Germany, leading to the German conquest of regaining former power. After Germany's defeat, sights were

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943 Words | 4 Pages

According to the article, 13 Key Pros and Cons of Dropping the Atomic Bomb on Japan, it states, the first pro being that it ended the war. It made Japan surrender and ended the war quicker. The second pro was that it saved lives in the US. It prevented a massive number of civilians in the US possibly losing their lives, not to mention the soldiers themselves. The third pro was that it showed strength.

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The allies were still fighting the Japanese in the Pacific even the war in Europe ended. President Truman had choices about using the atomic bomb. He warn Japan to surrender, but Japan did not respond. “We 
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Although the two atomic bombs killed thousands of innocent civilians the decision to drop the atomic bombs was a military necessity because it saved American troops, it helped shorten the war, and the Japanese were given fair warning and could have surrendered. The bombs “the Little Boy” and “the Fat Man” saved thousands of American troops. Japanese troops were known for fighting till the death which would have caused the war to go on longer and America would have suffered more casualties. “U.S. Army Chief of staff George Marshall thought the Americans would suffer 31,000 casualties in the first 30 days, while Admiral Ernest King, Chief of Naval Operations, put them between 31,000 and 41,000” (Atomic Bomb, 2023).

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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.

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