In August 1945 one of the most important decisions in history was made, to use atomic weapons on the island of japan. President Truman had to make a decision that would have a massive impact on the war. This decision was not taking lightly. Truman looked for other ways to end the war, but this was the fastest way to end the war ("The Decision to Drop the Bomb," 2014). Making these choices, he had to factor in Pearl Harbor, and lives lost in battle. I believe his choice was an ethical choice and was the best choice to end the war quickly. On December 7, 1941, Japan brought the United States into World War II (Maranzani, 2011). Japan bombed our harbor in Hawaii, which was Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor was a devastating event that will always be remembered in history. That day 2400 brave soldiers were killed in the bombings; also, there were over 1000 crewman injured, and some people were never found (Maranzani, 2011). Over twenty American ships were destroyed or heavily damaged, and they bombed our air bases destroying over 300 planes (Maranzani, 2011). Over half of the casualties came from the USS Arizona. Many crewman on the ships that sunk had sailors trapped in them. This bombing brought us in the war, and we would continue to fight the Japanese until August 1945 (Maranzani, …show more content…
2011). America couldn’t let the Japanese get away with bombing Pearl Harbor. Truman said “When you deal with a beast, you have to treat him as a beast.” (Donohue, 2012). During the time from Pearl Harbor and when the bombs were dropped, Truman had to think about all the America lives that were sacrificed. In all the battles in the Pacific, America lost over 100,000 soldiers ("The Costs of War," 2013). Some soldiers were taken as hostages into prisoner of war camps. It is said that there are still people in Japan that were never released from the camps ("The Costs of War," 2013). Truman couldn’t let the lives of these people go in vain. I believe that the deaths of these soldiers made his decision to drop the bomb ethical. There were more reasons than payback and making sure our soldiers didn’t die in vain that went into the decision to drop the bomb.
The United States had to justify the cost of the Manhattan Project, which cost the U.S. 1,889,604,000 dollars. We had to impress the soviets to show them that “we mean business” because they had taken control over almost all of Eastern Europe (Donohue, 2012). As Yale Professor Gaddis Smith said, “It has been demonstrated that the decision to bomb Japan was centrally connected to Truman's confrontational approach to the Soviet Union.” (Donohue, 2012, para. 7). This idea was understood as an added benefit of dropping the bomb but not as its only
purpose. Another reason his choice was ethical, was weapons were created to be used (Donohue, 2012). By 1945, the bombing of civilians was already common practice in wartime. In fact, the earlier U.S. firebombing campaign of Japan that starting in 1944, killed around 315,922 Japanese (Donohue, 2012). This was actually a bigger number than the deaths caused by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The firebombing of Tokyo alone resulted in roughly 100,000 Japanese killed (Donohue, 2012). America gave the Japanese ample warning long before we dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki ("Leaflets Warning Japanese of Atomic Bomb, 1945," 2013). These leaflets were written in Japanese, and were telling them to leave because the United States planned to use deadly force unless they surrendered ("Leaflets Warning Japanese of Atomic Bomb, 1945," 2013). The message basically read: “petition your emperor to end this useless war or we will drop an atomic bomb on you, we urge you that you accept these consequences and begin to build a new and peace loving japan, you should work towards ceasing military resistance, otherwise we will forcefully end this war” ("Leaflets Warning Japanese of Atomic Bomb, 1945," 2013, para. 3-4). I believe Truman’s decision was not barbaric at all. He had to end the war quickly for all involved. While getting payback for what they did to the United States, he had to justify the cost of the bombs. I believe his decision was completely ethical, and that he made the right decision.
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.
The war was coming to a victorious conclusion for the Allies. Germany had fallen, and it was only a matter of time until Japan would fall as well. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson was at the forefront of the American war effort, and saw atomic weaponry as a way out of the most monumental war ever. As discussed in Cabell Phillips’ book, The Truman Presidency: The History of a Triumphant Succession, Stimson was once quoted as saying that the atomic bomb has “more effect on human affairs than the theory of Copernicus and the Law of Gravity” (55). Stimson, a defendant of dropping the bomb on Japan, felt that the world would never be the same. If the world would change after using atomic weapons, could it possibly have changed for the better? One would think not. However, that person might be weary of the biased opinion of White House personnel. He or she should care more for the in depth analytical studies done by experts who know best as to why America should or should not have dropped the atomic bomb. As more and more evidence has been presented to researchers, expert opinion on whether or not the United States should have dropped the two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has also changed. More and more researchers seem to feel that the atomic bomb should never have been used (Alperovitz 16). Despite several officials’ claims to enormous death estimations, an invasion of Japan would have cost fewer total lives. In addition, post atomic bomb repercussions that occurred, such as the Arms Race, were far too great a price to pay for the two atomic drops. However, possibly the most compelling argument is that Japan would have surrendered with or without the United States using the atomic bomb. In defiance of top...
To what extent was Harry Truman’s decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki justified?
The Battle of Pearl Harbor was one of the most atrocious events that happened in U.S. history. On December 7, 1941, Japan made a surprise aerial attack on the United States naval base and airfields at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. More than two thousand Americans died and a thousand two hundred were wounded. Eighteen ships were badly damaged, including five battleships. The next day, President Franklin Roosevelt with the support of the Congress, declared war on Japan. It led United States’ official involvement in World War II. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because of a deteriorating relationship with the U. S. The “New World Order”, expansion and resources, and economic sanctions were factors that conducted to another disaster on the Second World War.
According to document A, President Truman believed that it was his duty to protect and save American lives And that's exactly what he did. If we did not go through with the atomic bomb, then we would have had to get Japan to surrender another way, yeah we could have put up an economic blockade and continuously bombed them like Admiral William Leahy wanted to do in in document A. Or we could have invaded and lost many more lives in the process, the war would have dragged on costing more American lives and more money for the United States.
Historian Robert James Maddox starts the debate by siding with Truman and states that he made the right decision in dropping the bomb. Maddox uses several influential meetings, speculations and the presidents’ personal opinions on the situation to defend his statement. Some examples he uses include, Japanese military power and mentality, saving American lives, and unconditional surrender. In short, because the use of the atomic bomb occurred, the Japanese military lost their lust to fight to the end, countless lives were saved, and Japan surrendered. Therefore, although many Japanese lives were lost in the conflict the right decision was made by Harry Truman to authorize the usage of the bombs.
The use of the atomic bomb against Japan was completely justified in both cause and impact. An intense weapon was necessary to force a quick Japanese surrender. The bomb saved thousands upon thousands of American and Japanese lives that would have been lost if the war continued or an invasion occurred. The bomb was the only way to end the suffering of the millions who were being held captive by the Japanese oppressor. The weapon of mass destruction also sent a powerful message to the shaky Soviet allies. The choice to use the atomic bomb was justified because it compelled a Japanese surrender, saved countless lives, served as retribution for the sufferings of many people, and acted as an anti-Soviet deterrent.
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...
Why did the United States drop the Atomic Bomb? The atomic bomb is the subject of much controversy. Since its first detonation in 1945, the entire world has heard the aftershocks of that blast. Issues concerning nuclear weapons sparked the Cold War. We also have the atomic bomb to thank for our relative peace at this time due to the fear of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD).
President Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the direct cause for the end of World War II in the Pacific. The United States felt it was necessary to drop the atomic bombs on these two cities or it would suffer more casualties. Not only could the lives of many soldiers have been taken, but possibly the lives of many innocent Americans. The United States will always try to avoid the loss of American civilians at all costs, even if that means taking lives of another countries innocent civilians.
As the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 the United States officially entered World War Two. The Japanese government later learned later that this single event sets off an explosion that subsequently caused the United States to attack the Midway Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Pearl Harbor was one of the United States largest naval bases and the largest in the Pacific Ocean. This attack ceased all trade with Japan and officially added Japan as one of the US enemies. With a new world war started it created new concerns for the army. “World War II introduced a whole new set of problems in naval tactics” (Smith, 1). The main change driving these changes was the fact that aircraft carriers became more prevalent and common in every major countries naval force. Japan was able to pull off the Pearl Harbor attack as a result of aircraft carriers to launch their airplanes. As a result of the battles leading up to the Battle of Midway and conflicts with Japan this created a lot larger of an impact on WWII as a whole and to boost unity in America leading to a more prosperous period of history following the war.
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 December 7, 1941 Japan launched a surprise attack on a U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii with the possibility of forcing the U.S. to join World War II. About 2,400 Americans were dead, 21 ships had been sunk, and 188 aircrafts were destroyed. On August 6 and 9 of 1945, the U.S. retaliated and dropped two atomic bombs called Fat Man and Little Boy on the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The U.S. was not justified in dropping the atomic bombs on Japan because of the locations that were bombed, the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, and the lack of previous bomb testing.
There are many people who oppose the use of the atomic bombs; though there are some that believe it was a necessity in ending the war. President Truman realized the tragic significance of the atomic bomb and made his decision to use it to shorten the agony of young Americans (“Was the Atomic Bombing”). The president knew of the way the Japanese fought. They fought to the death and they were brutal to prisoners of war. They used woman and children as soldiers to surprise bomb the enemy. They made lethal weapons and were taught to sacr...
Both sides of the war had suffered tremendous losses and the numbers would have continued to grow over the course of the war. By choosing to drop the atomic bomb on Japan, I believe the lives saved in the long run outweigh the initial number of lives lost. There is no way to put a price of one human life against another, but the total number of deaths prevented could have been multitudes compared to the hundred thousand killed in the atomic blasts. From the numbers alone, I support President Truman’s utilitarian