As many countries joined WWII, many of them were finding new ways to protect themselves. Thus the atomic bomb was born. The Germans found a way to split a uranium atom that created a huge explosion thanks to famous scientist, Albert Einstein. It wasn't long before the U.S. heard of this and started doing the same thing. In 1941, America hired a German physicist ad created a secret project called The Manhattan Project. The U.S. tested the first bomb on July 16, 1945 in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Once they saw the power this bomb had and what it was capable of, they decided to use it against Japan. On August 6, 1954 the first ever atomic bomb was dropped over Japan’s city Hiroshima. This explosion abolished 90 percent of the city and assassinated …show more content…
The U.S. carelessly made decisions about the atomic bomb and how it would be used. The United State’s main focal point was to assure that Japan will surrender but the U.S. never thought about the outcomes and how it would affect Japan. Doc A states, “Truman believed that it was his duty as president to use every weapon available to save American lives.” This reveals how the president selfishly made this decision thinking only about his nation’s safety while not even considering the lives that would be deeply affected in Japan. Document A again explains how American officials were already debating on how to use the atomic bomb without even knowing how this powerful bomb would work. This continues to show us how reckless and sloppy America was with its plan for the bomb. Document D talks about a story of a survivor who experienced the attack at an early age in his classroom. He states " It is hard to tell, his skull was cracked open, his flesh was hanging out from his head. He has only one eye left, and it was looking right at me...he told me to go away." This demonstrates how it was mentally scarring for their people to experience. Students were at loss since they were too young to understand what to do in a case like this. The bombing of Nagasaki caused 39,000 deaths and left 25,000 injured. The historical narrative, Hiroshima as Victimization argues that
Section A Plan of Investigation I have always felt very strongly opposed to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan. While reading The Untold History of the United States by Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick, I came across a chapter that focused on ‘atomic diplomacy’ and was immediately interested. I was surprised by the complicated politics of the decision and the people, government officials, military leaders, and scientists, who all had a role to play in this major event of history. I was particularly intrigued by James Byrnes, the Secretary of State in Truman’s cabinet, who the authors seemed to indicate heavily impacted Truman and his decision to use the atomic bomb. Thus, the purpose of this investigation is to evaluate to what extent James Byrnes, the Secretary of State in Truman’s cabinet, influenced President Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan by analyzing published works from historians.
When the Aerial photos were taken and the smoke cloud had reached a whopping 41000 feet above sea level the pictures came out spectacular. The equivalency of this bomb had been calculating as 15000-20000 tons of tnt. The test had been put forward of everything as there is documentation of a letter written by, Leslie Groves to Henry Stimson(Doug Legend). It explains how this is a top secret project and shall not be told or shared with any other
During the time President Truman authorized the use of the most devastating weapon ever used against Japan in World War II, the United States was making preparations to seize the Japanese motherland. The defenses that the Japanese military were preparing had shown American strategists that there was still some fight left in a supposedly doomed enemy. High-ranking members of the military and civilians brought forth President Truman a variety of choices on how to force Japan to surrender. These choices included invading Japan, negotiating a peace settlement, bombing Japan through aerial warfare, and compressing the naval blockade. The atomic bomb would become an alternative once the bomb itself became operational.
In an attempt to get Japan to surrender to the Allies, in August 1945, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the nation. The first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and the second on Nagasaki. Although these bombs did contribute to Japan’s surrender and the end of the war, the use of this atomic weapon was an irrational and horrible decision. The United States should have abstained from using the two atomic bombs on Japan for the sake of civilian lives and possible alternatives to their decision. These bombs not only had detrimental effects on Japan, they also led to an arms race amongst several nations.
Then I looked at myself and found my clothes had turned to rags due to the heat….My skin was peeling and hanging…I saw a man whose skin was completely peeled off the upper half of his body and a woman whose eyeballs were sticking out… The heat was tremendous. And I felt like my body was burning all over.” Takahashi tells the tragedy and devastation that the bombs caused, describing the complete indiscrimination they had that was previously stated in the Franck Report.
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.
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.
In 1939, the scientific community, specifically German physicists had learned the secrets of splitting a uranium atom (The Manhattan Project” 2015). America realized that Adolf Hitler’s Germany obtained a massive amount of scientific talent. With their access had necessary raw materials and knowledge of the splitting of the uranium atom, they had the industrial capacity to produce an atomic bomb(“Manhattan Project”2014). The atomic bomb would eventually become the turning point of weaponry during World War II. On October 11, 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt received a letter from Albert Einstein about the splitting of the uranium atom which could be beneficial in developing weapons for America during World War II.
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.
This is showing that Conant suggested that they should bomb two major cities with civilians to make it, “the most brutal and destructive way possible.” It was meant to show people the power of what America could do, which ruined life for almost 100 years and will continue after all of this current generation dies. “To Truman, the A-bomb was just another weapon to use. Under this interpretation, there are no justifiable grounds for the moral condemnation of killing about 200,000 Japanese in the two cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki” (Yagami). This is an article about the bombings of 1945 before the ones August 6th and 9th.
Was America Justified in dropping the atom bomb on Hiroshima in August 1945? On August 6th, 1945 at 8:16 AM, a great yet horrific event in history occurred. This event is known as the dropping of the atom bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan, the event that would begin and end the pain and suffering of millions. The atom bomb was dropped by an American B-29 Superfortress bomber named Enola Gay and
Imagine living in a period in which the realities of war encased the world, and the lethal potential to end all suffering was up to a single being. During World War II, tensions between Japan and the United States increased. Despite pleas from US President, Harry Truman, for Japan to surrender, the Japanese were intent on continuing the fight. As a result, Truman ordered the atomic bomb, a deadly revolution in nuclear science, to be dropped on the towns of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. President Harry Truman, in his speech, “Announcement of the Dropping of the Atomic Bomb,” supports his claim that the dropping of the A-bomb shortened the war, saved lives, and got revenge by appealing to American anger by mentioning traumatic historical events and
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.
Did this influence or represent America’s collective attitude towards Hiroshima? This source is useful in examining America’s justification for Hiroshima. I found it interesting that President Truman continues to threaten Japan despite the destruction that it caused. The challenges working with this source is to determine the overall influence of this statement on American mass
Emotions Derived from World War II Depicted in JAWS Jaws expresses America’s complex feelings concerning war and cultural stereotypes. The film displays the fear and guilt that accumulated from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. On August 6th, 1945, the US Army Air Forces detonated the first deployed atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima.