Emily Ferreira The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb When faced with the decision to drop a bomb that would kill hundreds of thousands of people but end a war, what would you do? On August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay dropped the first-ever atomic bomb, Little Boy, on Hiroshima. The morality of this decision has been debated for years and will continue to be discussed for many years to come. So, was the decision that Harry S. Truman made genuinely justifiable? Truman's choice to drop the bomb on Hiroshima was horrific and inhuman. Many innocent men, women, and children had to bear the consequences of others' actions. We get a first-hand account of just a piece of the horror that a Japanese physician had to endure in Document 5. In the text, it says”, …show more content…
became too intense to endure... Those who could fled; those who could not perished...Hiroshima was no longer a city but a burned-over prairie.“ For many, this felt like going through hell. Many people went into shock and had wounds they knew were way past healing. They had to go through a slow and agonizing death. Many were left with no will to live and only to die as they saw their peers and loved ones die instantly before them. In Document 8, we can catch a glimpse of the aftermath. Hiroshima was a beautiful city where many people were full of life and made lifelong memories. When the bomb dropped, Hiroshima was no longer recognizable; it was no longer a city of sunshine and happiness; it was now dark, scorching hot, and full of pain. The dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima was completely unethical, and it’s hard to believe that anyone with morality would come to this decision. Document 7 provides us with reasons why the bomb was and wasn't needed or justified. We’re given the information that “the bomb was used partly to justify the $2 billion spent on its development, and that a demonstration explosion over Tokyo Harbor would have convinced the Japanese leaders to quit without killing many people.” Instead of going with this option, Truman chose to drop the bomb on
The first reason on why Truman made the right decision was because the atomic bomb ultimately helped to prevent the deaths of American troops. There would have been over 100,000 losses during the first stage of the attack against Japan, leading to over one million casualties of just Americans during the defeat of Japan(Tucker 1). Although there is no way to confirm the amount of predicted deaths, any amount of American deaths would have been avoided with the use of the atomic bomb. Comparing a million predicted deaths of Americans to the 140,000 (±10,000) that were actually killed in the Hiroshima bomb(Faragher 4), the decision implementing the bomb was executed in the correct way.
Truman had thought through the possibilities and had decided that using the bomb would be the most effective and quickest tactic. As a president Truman had a responsibility to protect his country, citizens, and foreign affairs, so deciding on the best method to establish everybody’s needs was difficult. There were many things to worry about: fighting on Iwo Jima and Okinawa, bombing Japan, and building the bomb. His decision was mainly based on how the US citizens felt and the following actions of japan. Japan refused to accept an unconditional surrender, which was demanded by the allied powers in order to stop the war against them. On August 6, 1945 Truman allowed Enola Gay to drop the atomic bomb on top of Hiroshima and later Nagasaki to end the war.
In discussion of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, one controversial issue has the dropping of the atomic bombs being justified. On the other hand others believe that there were other ways of getting Japan to surrender and it was not justified, the only way we could get Japan to surrender was to invade them. Our strategy was to island hop until we got to Japan. Many more lives were at steak when doing that. Not only would just Americans would die, but a lot of the Japanese would have died as well, and the death toll would have much greater. 199,000 deaths came after the dropping of the atomic bombs. However, many American lives were saved, what the Japanese did to Pearl Harbor, and the treatment of our American soldiers while
The United States of America’s use of the atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has spurred much debate concerning the necessity, effectiveness, and morality of the decision since August 1945. After assessing a range of arguments about the importance of the atomic bomb in the termination of the Second World War, it can be concluded that the use of the atomic bomb served as the predominant factor in the end of the Second World War, as its use lowered the morale, industrial resources, and military strength of Japan. The Allied decision to use the atomic bomb not only caused irreparable physical damage on two major Japanese cities, but its use also minimized the Japanese will to continue fighting. These two factors along
While many thought that the decision to drop the bomb was an inhumane choice by President Truman, it is, by far, the most practical of the decisions made by the American side. The main alternative that would have been used, if the United States had not of dropped the atomic bomb, would have been a full on invasion of Japan by the American forces. An example of this can be seen in the article “Atomic Bombing of Japan,” when the author states “Furthermore, proponents note, the main alternative to use of the atomic bomb being considered at the time was a mass invasion of the Japanese home islands. They contend that such an invasion would have been very costly in terms of U.S.
Truman’s decision to drop atomic bombs on the Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, proved to be the best he could have made considering the position he and America were in and due to the fact that it prevented worse tragedies from occurring. The dropping of the atomic bomb had many positive effects. For one thing, the end of the war would not have been coming soon if Truman had not ordered the bombs to be dropped. The dropping of the bombs did cause tragedy and death, but not as bad as the death rate would have been if the bombs had not been dropped. It all boils down to this: if you were in President Harry S. Truman’s position, would you have let the world’s deadliest war prevail until there was no one left to
Why President Truman Decided to Drop Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki At 02:45 August 6th 1945, the B-29 Superfortress the Enola Gay took off from the specially lengthened North Field on the Island of Tinian in the Marianas. The plane piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets was 7 tons. At 0815 hours the bomb doors of the B-29 opened and flying at approximately 32,000 ft the uranium based atom bomb code-named “Little Boy” was unleashed upon the city of Hiroshima. Over 70,000 men women and children were killed by blast alone. And over the next half century approximately another 40,000 would die from related illnesses.
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 ...
On August 6, 1945, the first bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. Three days later on August 9, the second bomb hit Nagasaki. Whether the United States made a moral and ethical decision is still an ongoing debate. President Truman was faced with a difficult choice. The U.S. chose to adopt a stance that seemed to limit the amount of casualties in the war, by significantly shortening it with the use of atomic weapons. It was certainly a reasonable view for the USA to take, since they had suffered the loss of more than thousands of lives, both military and civilian. To the top rank of the US military the death toll was worth it to prevent the “many thousands of American troops that would have been killed in invading Japan.” This was a grave
Imagine being put in the place of President Truman and having to make the decision to either bomb Hiroshima, or elongate the war, causing enormous amounts of deaths on both sides. "The Japanese military had a million soldiers, 3,000 Kamikaze aircraft, and 5,000 suicide boats available to defend its home islands. Civilians were also being prepared to fight to the death" [Tucker]. These are the lengths that Japan has gone to while attempting to win the war. During the early years of WW2, America wasn't even going to join the war because of negative views towards European conflicts.
On August 6th President Truman and the United States government made the history-altering move dropping an Atomic Bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, only to follow it up 3 days later with a second bomb in Nagasaki. The dropping of these bombs continues to be a controversial and debated action made by United States President Harry Truman. When the bombs were dropped, it was because the United States claimed they believed this was the only way to save lives and end the war swiftly. This is not a very accurate assessment of the situation at hand. Not only did the United States have other possible options, but they had other motives behind why they wanted to drop the bombs.
On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb used in warfare against the city of Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later on August 9th, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. Just six days after the second atomic explosion, Japan announced its unconditional surrender to the United States after almost four years of war. Philosophers have argued that President Truman took a utilitarian point of morals when deciding to use nuclear weapons: do what is best for the largest number of people. Others say he blatantly ignored Kant’s teachings regarding the morality of attacking non-combatants. Regardless, President Truman was faced with one of the most morally difficult decisions any
When the topic of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagisaki is brought up, many wonder whether or not the United States should have dropped the bomb in the first place. The short answer is, we shouldn’t have. But there are specific reasons as to why that is. And while not everyone agrees with either side, there is a wrong and a right one. It’s easy to make a choice based on just statistics and vague numbers thrown out, however, when you think about the people who suffered as a result of these bombs and the generations still burdened with the side effects of radiation poisoning; if given the choice, would you have dropped the bomb?
Atomic bombing Justification: What led the U.S. to use their atomic bombs? What led to the atomic bomb being deployed was the fact that War World 2 was not going to end and the continuous loss of life. It was a complex decision, which was influenced by various factors. Factors include, the civilians of Japan were already dying to firebombings without any backlash from the U.S. and the desire to end the war quickly. Despite the difficulty of the decision, the United States' attack was deemed justified.
Dropping the atomic bomb was a decision that no man would want to take on. Truman went with all the facts and his gut feeling. There was Great loss for Japan but even some of the Japanese soldiers were happy that the United States dropped the bomb. For it most likely saved their lives the emperor was willing to sacrifice everyone so he wouldn’t have to surrender. Whether you decide to agree with the bomb dropping or not it wasn’t about the bomb it was about ending the war. The atomic bomb is what ended the war quicker than any other options the United States had making it the best choice.