Was The Us Justified Dbq Essay

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

had another solution. In fact, they were given the solution to them by the scientists working on the bomb. The solution was to demonstrate the atomic bomb so the Japanese would be able to see the effects and surrender accordingly. In document 4, it states,”...belief that the worldwide political and social consequences of the power of the weapon being developed…(require the United States to have that power to be) made known by a demonstration to the peoples of the world… Therefore we recommend that before this weapon be used without restriction…its powers should be…demonstrated, and the Japanese nation should be given the opportunity to consider the consequences of further refusal to surrender.”

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.

In 1945 World War 2 was coming to an end, President Truman was faced with a very tough decision on whether or not to drop the atomic bombs on Japan. On August 6 1945 an American B-29 bomber dropped the worlds first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, three days later another B-29 bomber dropped a second bomb on the city of Nagasaki in total the bombs killed well over a hundred thousand people. The use of the atomic bombs were necessary to end the war on Japan, although the bombs killed many people the use of the bombs saved hundreds of thousands of American lives, and eneded Japan’s reign of terror on the world. People believed that with only two atomic bombs ready that it was too risky to use one on a demonstration showing off the power of the bomb.

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.

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.

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.

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