Why did we drop the bomb on Hiroshima? There are lots of arguments for and against dropping the bomb’s on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since the day that that monumental event took place people have debated whether the U.S.A. should have drooped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Opinions on whether it was right or wrong differ, an absolutist might say that you are killing so it is wrong. But and a relativist would say that in the long run you would be saving thousands of lives both civilian and military. Is that not what all military leaders strive for? But was it fair to pick a civilian target? Is war between soldiers of a nation or the nations them selves? How you answer these questions dictates what you opinion on this controversial subject is. Why did president Truman drop the bomb and was he right to drop it where he did? Why should the U.S.A. have dropped the bomb? With the end to the Japanese role in the war it would effectively bring the war to an end. After pearl harbour the Americans had been humiliated. The government and the people wanted to see someone pay for the tremendous loss of life in that fateful attack. The bombs where the perfect way to get their own back for that incident at Pearl Harbour and show the world that they were boss and should not be challenged or the consequences would be devastating. It spelled out America’s start of the new dominant military power over every other nation. No one would ever challenge America after they had seen what they where destructive power they were capable of. It would also bring an end to the U.S.A’s war with Japan. There is also the fact that the Americans had spent millions of dollars to build the bomb. If they did not use it the public would question whether they should pay tax for something like this to be build and never use it. The public unless shown that it was needed would loose faith in their government's choice of spending. But even after The U.S.A. had inflected such a terrible curse On the people of Hiroshima, they droped a second bomb on another Civilians Area with Just as much horror as the first. Inflicting the same death and destruction on thousands more. The second bomb showed that the USA was prepared to continue using such force if the Japanese did not surrender and admit defeat.
The quicker the war ended, the less casualties Americans would suffer. Second, he sought to justify the money and effort that was put into the Manhattan Project. If he did not use the bomb, people would blame him for the lives lost towards the end of the war because he withheld such a powerful weapon. Third, using the bomb would impress the Soviets, make them more subordinate to American desires, and improve overall relations with them. Fourth, Truman realized he lacked reasons to avoid using the bomb. In the military, diplomatic, and political sense, the bomb was the best route. Morality would be the only issue, but these were not a major preventive. Lastly, Truman claimed the Japanese were like a beast and the only way to deal with them was to treat them like a beast. After the attacks on Pearl Harbor, hatred had been built up against the Japanese. This hate diminished any hesitation Truman may have experienced in his decision to drop the
The United States was justified in dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki for many reasons. First of all, just to start out, the bombings had nothing to do with Japan, it was about the Cold War and the real reason America used these weapons was to show Russia that the US possessed them. Second, the war in the Pacific had been raging for almost four years. The two battles immediately preceding the bomb decision were Iwo Jima and Okinawa, two battles where the Japanese fought to the death and the cost in American casualties was horrific. It was predicted that the invasion of the Japanese mainland at the Island of Kyushu -- scheduled for November of 1945 -- would be even worse.
Under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration the atomic bomb was being developed. After Roosevelt died, his vice president Harry Truman was appointed President of the United States. Truman was never informed about the bombs development until an emergency cabinet meeting (Kuznick 9). Truman had to make the fatal decision on whether the bomb was to be dropped on Japan. With the idea of going to war, Truman had to think about the lives of the thousand American soldiers. The American soldiers had begun using the method of island hopping, because the bomb was not available. The idea of dropping a bomb was that the war itself could possibly end in its earliest points. The dropping of the atomic bomb could also justify the money spent on the Manhattan Project (Donohue 1). With a quote by Franklin D. Roosevelt “This will be a day that will live in infamy”, Pearl Harbor was a tragic day for Americans. The United States had lost many soldiers, which they had claimed that they will eventually get revenge. The alternates of dropping the bomb was also discussed at the Interim Committee. The American government was trying to get an invitation response from the Japanese government. If the United States did not drop the bomb and ‘Operation Downfall’ ha...
There were many arguments and factors as to if Truman decided correctly and if the United States should have dropped the bombs. There were many disputes supporting the bombing. Some being the Japanese were warned early enough, it shortened the war, and it saved many Americans lives. There are also voluminous quarrels against the United States bombing the Japanese. Some of these are the bombing killed innocent Japanese civilians who did not deserve it, the Japanese was about to surrender before we bombed them, and the United States only blasted the Japanese because of racism toward them. Though there are many valid reasons for and against the bombing, there is still much controversy today whether president Truman made the right decision.
The attack at Pearl Harbor was the event that caused the U.S. to decide to be involved in the war. After this incident, the U.S. was trying to find a way to retaliate and counterattack against Japan. Some thought that the only way to do so was by using atomic bombs. People like, General Dwight Eisenhower, Harry S Truman, and a group of scientists believed that the use of the bomb would do good, and finally end everything. Eisenhower believed that because the use of the atomic bomb was successful in New Mexico, it would also be successful in Japan as well. Harry S Truman thought that even the atomic bomb was the most destructive weapon in the history of the world, it could be made the most useful. He stated that, “it was ...
On August 6th 1945 the first atomic bomb as dropped in an attempt to end the war efforts in the pacific. This year will mark the 69th anniversary of the dropping of the bomb, and even after all this time there is still much debate over if dropping the bomb was the right thing to do or not. One of the main reasons I have seen arguing for the dropping of the bomb was that it saved American lives, and that it saved more people than it killed. However, saving American lives was not the only motivation for dropping the atomic bomb, the argument could even be made that saving the lives of soldiers was not even first on the list of reasons for dropping the atomic bomb. Among the reasons for dropping the bomb was to justify the cost of the Manhattan Project, to impress the Soviets, a lack of reason not to use the bomb, and responding to Pearl Harbor.
The dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan were ethical decisions made by President Harry Truman and the United States government. By the time of the atom bomb was ready, the U.S. had been engaged in military conflict for over four years and lost over 400,000 soldiers. Truman claimed, "We would have the opportunity to bring the world into a pattern in which the peace of the world and our civilization can be saved" (Winkler 18). The bomb was aimed at ending the war immediately and avoiding prolonged battle in the Pacific Theater and the inevitable invasion of Japan. President Truman hoped that by showing the Japanese the devastating weapon the U.S. possessed, that the war could be brought ...
These reasons have a plethora of evidence supporting them, as well as evidence disproving the opposing side. The atomic bomb’s impact on the ethics surrounding war and humanity left a significant mark which is still seen today. There was no real reason to have dropped that weapon, and the fact that the United States did is disgraceful to humanity. U.S. General and later President Dwight D. Eisenhower said it best when he stated, “Japan was at that very moment seeking some ways to surrender with a minimum loss of ‘face’... it wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing” (Alperovitz, 1990, p.
To choose whether or not it was morally sound to use the atomic bomb, we must first examine the background as to what circumstances it was dropped under. In 1945, American soldiers and civilians were weary from four years of war, yet the Japanese military was refusing to give up their fight. American forces occupied Okinawa and Iwo Jima and intensely fire bombed Japanese cities. But Japan had an army of 2 million strong stationed in the home islands guarding against Allied invasion. After the completion of the Manhattan Project, For Truman, the choice whether or not to use the atomic bomb was the most difficult decision of his life. First, an Allied demand for an immediate unconditional surrender was made to the leadership in Japan. Although the demand stated that refusal would result in total destruction, no mention of any new weapons of mass destruction was made. The Japanese military commander Hideki Tojo rejected the request for unconditional s...
To what extent was Harry Truman’s decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki justified?
“Remember Pearl Harbor—Keep ‘em Dying,” were words spat from soldiers’ mouths in the United States military during World War II. Anger filled millions of citizens in the United States after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Were these unresolved feelings between Japan and the United States the cause of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Did the United States have a concealed passion to show their strength and scientific advancement? Was the United States terrified of another invasion taking place on their soil? Why were the atomic bombs created and used in the first place? The actions of the United States were derived from the initial attack by Japan, which was due to Japan’s unwillingness to surrender. The atomic bombs were initially created because Germany was believed to be in the process of creating their own nuclear weapons. Many people in the world today believe the bombings of Japan were not necessary; that the bombings were the United States’ way of depleting the Japanese culture. These theories are completely incorrect. The truth behind this unresolved conflict is the bombing of Hiroshima was necessary, where as the bombing of Nagasaki was unnecessary. These actions all occurred because of Japan’s refusal to surrender, the United States’ want to save American lives, and the Allies’ want for the war to finish.
..., in a way that would undoubtedly change the image of the American military. The bomb on Hiroshima did just that, and left Japan with only the option to consider a surrender that would end the war. The first bomb was a horrific, necessary military operation. The bomb that destroyed Nagasaki just three days later, with a warning after the fact, was an animalistic attack. With the combination of the bomb on Hiroshima and the Russian invasion, the attack on Nagasaki was completely unnecessary. If the United States had never used the second bomb, the same conclusion would have been reached, but without the added destruction and brutal murder of innocent, noncombatant Japanese.
The official reason given for dropping the bomb was to bring a quick end to tht war and save American lives. However, Takaki presents many different explanations as to why the decision to use the bomb was made. He disagrees with the popular belief that the decision to use the bomb was made solely to quickly end the war in the Pacific and to save American lives. Takaki presents theories such as international concerns, American sentiment, and racism in an attempt to more fully explain why this decision was made.
The effects of the atomic bomb might not have been the exact effects that the United States was looking for when they dropped Little Boy and Fat Man on Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively (Grant, 1998). The original desire of the United States government when they dropped Little Boy and Fat Man on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not, in fact, the one more commonly known: that the two nuclear devices dropped upon Hiroshima and Nagasaki were detonated with the intention of bringing an end to the war with Japan, but instead to intimidate the Soviet Union. The fact of Japan's imminent defeat, the undeniable truth that relations with Russia were deteriorating, and competition for the division of Europe prove this without question. Admittedly, dropping the atomic bomb was a major factor in Japan's decision to accept the terms laid out in the Potsdam agreement, otherwise known as unconditional surrender. The fact must be pointed out, however, that Japan had already been virtually defeated.
On August 6, 1945 the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. This was an extremely controversial military strategy in the United States. Was the United States justified in the dropping of the atomic bomb? The U.S. feared the rise of communism and gave aid to any country against it. The U.S. also fought countries threatening the spread communism. One of these countries was Japan. We began a harsh and brutal war against Japan and against communism. This war was killing many soldiers and Japan was not backing down. President Truman decided to use the atomic bomb when things were getting worse. The decision to use the atomic bomb was a difficult one and many people wonder if it was the right choice.