Model Essay Student’s Name Section Number Why the Atomic Bombs Saved Japan. The decision to use nuclear weapons to stop the War in the Pacific by President Harry S. Truman in August, 1945 remains controversial to this day. Most of Truman’s critics, the so-called revisionist historians, argue that Japan wanted to surrender and had already been defeated, making the use of atomic bombs unnecessary. They say the bombs were used mainly to demonstrate America’s power to intimidate the Soviet Union. The historians who support Truman, sometimes called the traditionalists, agree that Japan had been defeated but argue that Japan was not ready to surrender and was, in fact, preparing for one last great battle that would have cost millions of lives.
Necessity of the bomb lies with the amount of people that would have been killed in a land invasion, although it was vastly exaggerated. If next generation were raised on the path the Japanese were taking, they would grow up to become monsters. it saved many American Soldiers lives by stopping a land invasion of Japan and prisoners of war were being abused. But the Atomic bomb used against Japan was not necessary to end the war considering the numbers of American lives saved was vastly exaggerated, They were sending their battleships and pilots out on suicide missions as they were desperate, there was a vengeance for pearl harbour and racism towards the Japanese people, many victims of the bomb were civilians that had nothing to do with the war, the only reason Japanese weren’t surrendering is because they didn’t want to give up there emperor to the “unconditional surrender” and to demonstrate their power over the world. The bombing of Hiroshima was necessary to end the war as it would save many lives as suggests in source A “should adopt a position that rather than throw to this bomb we should have sacrificed a million American and a quarter of a million British live”.
This was morally acceptable to the Japanese; though the United States saw this as inhumane. The United States goes on to drop the atomic bomb which kills thousands of civilians.It is widely accepted, with some discrepancy, that Truman made this decision to save Japanese and American lives that would be lost in a land invasion. This also was considered morally wrong by other nations. This is where Blackburn’s argument of relativism threatens ethics. What may be seen as ethically acceptable to one region may be seen as a monstrosity to ethics in another.
Many Americans believe that the Japanese deserved to be bombed based on how they had previously treated the United States, which is another reason why it might have been justified. It was also a way for the United States to show the power and knowledge it possessed to the rest of the world. Devastating things came to be because of this monumental moment in history, but the debate is whether or not these horrible things were justified. It’s a matter of Machiavelli’s famous saying; does the end justify the means? For starters, fewer American soldiers and Japanese civilians died.
In fact, the debates behind using the atomic bombs against Japan began even before the decision was made. Many of the scientists such as Leo Szilard and Dr. James Franck, who made great contributions towards the creation of the bomb, campaigned against its use. President Truman said “We have used it in order to shorten the agony of war, in order to save the lives of thousands and thousands of young Amercicans”. It is completely understandable that President Truman’s aim was always to save the lives as many American people, but was it necessary to do it by dropping the atomic bombs on Japan? And was the reason behind the decision to drop the two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki purely to ‘save the lives of thousands and thousands of young Americans’?
“Ending the War Against Japan: Science, Morality and the Atomic Bomb” Summary The author of this essay gives three different options to end World War II. Option one states that the United States should make peace with japan. The United States knows that japan is very close to surrendering but has not surrendered because they are afraid that we will put their emperor on trail as a war criminal. The Japanese feel that the emperor is a descendent from the gods and they will do everything to protect him. If the United States is clear that they do not want to make him a criminal but instead a national symbol then maybe the Japanese might agree and surrender.
Alex Judson English Comp 102 2/16/2011 How did Hiroshima Happen? There are many controversies surrounding Hiroshima and the day that the United States decided to drop the Atomic Bomb. Many of these are about whether or not the U.S. was justified in dropping the bomb or not. One thing that we do know about that day however is that one survivor, Michihiko Hachiya, a doctor who lived in Hiroshima; he has an account that he kept of the events that took place that day. This essay is designed to describe how the United States became involved in the war, as well as explain what happened on that day in Hiroshima, Japan, August 6, 1945.
While Truman claimed that he dropped the bomb to “save lives” and create a quick end to the war, many people, known as revisionists, question the truth behind his acclaimed cause and believe there were ulterior motives behind his actions such as getting back at Japan for the Pearl Harbor Bombing, justify the expense of the bombs, and above all gain an edge in the upcoming Cold War. During the time most of America was more than accepting of reason given for why the bomb was dropped; to save American lives and bring the war to a timely finish. Many current day veterans who were once soldiers in the war were in concord with the idea that this was done for solely militaristic reasons. The use of these bombs meant a quick and clean finish to the offensive in Japan, no land invasion in Japan thousands of miles away, which would have caused numerous American causalities, and speedier return to status quo for Americans. Why wouldn’t most people bite on this idea, sounds like it will only bring good fortune in the future?
The bombs affected the children of the future, who are not to be blamed for anything that took place in the war. They also violate the Just War Theory, and did not give the US any tactical advantage in the war- the bombings were simply experiments to show the world America’s military standing. Along with that, US should not have taken revenge for Pearl Harbor on such a large scale. Some people argue that the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were justified as the Americans had the right to take revenge for the attack that occurred at Pearl Harbor. This isn’t true.
Some believe that the United States was correct in dropping these bombs on Japan because of the attack on Pearl Harbor while others believe that it was very wrong to dropped the bomb. I think the United States should have not dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki because the atomic bombs was too expensive and it was not really worth it, they wiped out two entire cities, and Japan was planning on surrendering. The atomic bomb they used on Nagasaki cost 2 billion