DBQ: Dropping the Atomic Bomb on Japan
The decision President Truman had to make regarding dropping a fission bomb onto Japanese cities in order to end the war would have been too hard for most of us to handle. America was weary after 4 years of almost total war with Germany, Italy, and Japan and the war needed to end. At this point, Japan was alone and dragging its feet after many losses. From the history we know, the decision was justified as it ended a devastating war with no end in sight and it saved more lives than were lost. People will always argue over whether or not Japan might have surrendered earlier but we are looking at what President Truman knew at the time.
The airmen of WW2 are often overlooked for how much of a role they played. In Document E Colonel Tibbets of the Enola Gay said that “we saved more lives than we took” in regards to the bombing. Japan had industrialized very quickly but it was still stuck on the idea of the Bushido code. It was evident after Guadalcanal and Midway that Japan’s air force and their navy had been crushed. This is a prime example of how American industry played such a …show more content…
In Document K Secretary of War Henry Stinson says clearly, “The decision to use the atomic bomb was a decision that brought death to over a hundred thousand Japanese… But this deliberate, premeditated destruction was our least abhorrent alternative”. America had been bombing civilian and industrial cities for almost a year which alone caused many more deaths than the bombs. Also, the operation to invade the Japanese mainland would have ended in a bloodbath of millions of civilian deaths including those in Hiroshima and Nagasaki because the Americans had already planned to bomb those industrial cities months before. It was fair for the Japanese to fear occupation but anyone could tell that the germans and the americans were some of the nicest
The decision President Truman had to make regarding dropping a fission bomb onto Japanese cities in order to end the war would have been too hard for most of us to handle. America was weary after 4 years of almost total war with Germany, Italy, and Japan and the war needed to end. At this point, Japan was alone and dragging its feet after many losses. From the history we know, the decision was justified as it ended a devastating war with no end in sight and it saved more lives than were lost. People will always argue over whether or not Japan might have surrendered earlier but we are looking at what President Truman knew at the time.
The airmen of WW2 are often overlooked for how much of a role they played. In Document E Colonel Tibbets of the Enola Gay said that “we saved more lives than we took” in regards to the bombing. Japan had industrialized very quickly but it was still stuck on the idea of the Bushido code. It was evident after Guadalcanal and Midway that Japan’s air force and their navy had been crushed. This is a prime example of how American industry played such a …show more content…
In Document K Secretary of War Henry Stinson says clearly, “The decision to use the atomic bomb was a decision that brought death to over a hundred thousand Japanese… But this deliberate, premeditated destruction was our least abhorrent alternative”. America had been bombing civilian and industrial cities for almost a year which alone caused many more deaths than the bombs. Also, the operation to invade the Japanese mainland would have ended in a bloodbath of millions of civilian deaths including those in Hiroshima and Nagasaki because the Americans had already planned to bomb those industrial cities months before. It was fair for the Japanese to fear occupation but anyone could tell that the germans and the americans were some of the nicest