President Truman's Argumentative Analysis

Improved Essays
During WWII, the Americans and the Japanese were enemies, battling against each other, hoping the other would surrender. Because America wanted to rise as victorious, President Truman was in favor of using the bomb as a mean to establish American superiority. President Truman used the Pearl Harbor attack as a tactic to rationalize bombing Japan. He believed that the US should strike back at Japan because of the hardships the Japanese brought to the US. He insisted on attacking with atomic bombs and without any forewarning to force the Japanese to surrender. Even though Truman’s opinions were strongly favored against the Japanese, some believed the US should impose an attitude of fair play. Some insisted that either the United States give Japan

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    With over 200,000 casualties due to his mindset, he failed to account for the other opportunities he had to guarantee America’s success in the war. Other alternatives that could have been substituted for the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki include receiving assistance from the Soviet Union, intensifying existing war strategies and compromising on Japan’s capitulation. With all these in mind, President Truman had no right to put atomic bombs to use on the Japanese population. It is a shame that Harry Truman missed all these opportunities to end World War Two earlier than it did just because he saw it more fit to drop atomic bombs on a civilian population. This does not justify his actions though as mankind can never unseal the great magnitude of nuclear…

    • 1005 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Truman Hasty Decision Dbq

    • 821 Words
    • 4 Pages

    From order of President Truman, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, thus ending World War Two. President Truman’s hasty decision is not one to be honorable. This choice by the president was made with ignorance, lack of empathy, and lack of critical thinking. The bombing is unjustified due to Japan’s inevitable surrender, the amount of civilian casualties, and alternative opportunities to the bombing.…

    • 821 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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.…

    • 670 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One of the most controversial decisions in American history was Harry S. Truman’s decision to use atomic bombs on Japan during World War II. On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima and killed between 70,000 and 80,000 Japanese people. After three days, another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and killed 70,000 people immediately. Radiation from the bombs led to extensive damage as well. The Japanese then chose to surrender on September 2 which marked the end of the great war.…

    • 876 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    If the United States decided against using the atomic bomb, U.S. soldiers would have invaded Japanese islands. This operation was named Operation Downfall, and this invasion would have led to thousands of casualties. Japan was willing the literally fight to the death and President Truman knew that if we didn’t use the atomic bomb that the United States would continue to fight as long as Japan was still standing. An ironic justification for dropping the bomb is not only did it save American lives, but it also saved Japanese lives. It was predicted that if Operation Downfall took place that anywhere from 5 to 10 million Japanese casualties would have occurred.…

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    President Truman, should not give Japan any specific warning. Demand unconditional surrender and drop the bomb if Japan refuses. Because they bomb us so we should be able to, each have are share. But why should we not give the Japanese any description? It’s because we don’t want them knowing what is coming and what to expect, also we don’t want them getting prepared.…

    • 174 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Atomic Bomb Dbq Analysis

    • 878 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Beginning in 1931, Japan expanded into East Asia with the invasion of Manchuria and carried into 1937 with a brutal attack on China. Seeking to curb Japanese aggression and force a withdrawal of Japanese forces from China and Manchuria, the United States imposed these economic sanctions on Japan. In response on December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the United States Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This attack damaged America 's fleet and prevented serious American interference with Japanese military operations. Following that, two months later, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 ordering all Japanese-Americans to evacuate the West Coast, “Japanese-American Internment”.…

    • 878 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Although Franklin D. Roosevelt passed during the time of the bombing and Truman took control in office, he was alive long enough to realize what was happening. Roosevelt called this “the day which will live in infamy”. Roosevelt felt he wasn't keeping everyone safe if he was to drop the bomb, but Truman exceeded as he wanted to and carried out the Manhattan Project. The bomb was dropped by American’s, as response to what Pearl Harbor did and to stop what Japan’s future depended on. The usage of the bomb is still heavily debated, but its effectiveness, however violent, is undebatable.…

    • 1023 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    No one knew if Japan planned to attack again. Americans dropped the bomb in defense. President…

    • 742 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    From an astounding amount of examples against the idea that the U.S. only used the bomb to attack japan the answer is no. The bomb was used also, to intimidate the Soviet Union. In document H, as stated before Truman talks about why we must use the bomb to stop japan, but everything he says could also be applied to a future war, one with the Soviet Union.…

    • 1037 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Unbroken Dehumanization

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Throughout Unbroken and the various dehumanizing events of war and conflict, citizens relate and make sense of these activities in different ways. Nations perform isolation events and force humans to feel dehumanized when they are desperate to protect and defend their country. Concentration camps, slavery, nuclear bombs, and torn away from your home all relate to the conflicts of war. Imprisonment and forced labor was a major and common way to dehumanize the enemy in order to feel superior. In “Unbroken”, the Bird mandates the POWs to serve for Japan, and especially targets Louie with impunity in order to make him feel invisible.…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Decision to Drop the Bomb During the summer of 1945, things were looking pretty grim for Imperial Japan, as they were the last axis power left and had been under constant firebombing for the United States, President Truman chose to drop two atomic bombs, one on Hiroshima on August 6th and one on Nagasaki on August 9th. Since before either of the two bombs had been dropped, it has been debated whether or not it was the right decision. Truman stated that the bombs were dropped to save American lives, but many argue over the government’s other motives at the time. Many bring up valid points over why the bomb should not have been dropped and that the government public justification for dropping the bomb was based off of false information, but ultimately the motivation behind dropping the bomb, hidden by the government or not, outweighs the reasons for not dropping the bomb.…

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Decades after the atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Americans still question whether it was a good idea to drop them. One of the reasons the bombs should have been dropped is the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The United States and Japan were at peace until Japan bombed a military base in Hawaii and afterward, president Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on Japan. In his well-known infamy speech, FDR stated, “I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7th, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire.” America and its people saw the bombing as an act of war and in return, they declared war.…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Truman's Speech Analysis

    • 257 Words
    • 2 Pages

    I chose speeches from the Harry Truman category. The first speech I listened to was Truman Threatens Japan with Atomic Attack (http://www.history.com/speeches/truman-threatens-japan-with-atomic-attacks) by Harry Truman. The second speech I listened to was U.S.-Soviet Tension Builds (http://www.history.com/speeches/us-soviet-tension-builds) given by Secretary of State James Byrnes. I believe that both of these speeches could be considered great speeches.…

    • 257 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Truman Doctrine had its advantages and disadvantages…

    • 1112 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays