Was The Atomic Bomb Justified

In the 1940 's, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan ending World War Two. The bombs speedily ended the war with Japan, but not without consequences. Since conquering Japan by land took a lot of resources and manpower, it resulted in many American lives unnecessarily lost. Eager to end the war, President Harry S. Truman decided that the atomic bombs must be dropped on Japan. While it was necessary to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, dropping another atomic bomb three days later on Nagasaki was unnecessary. Economically, dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima was beneficial to the United States. However, dropping the atomic bomb on Nagasaki was a rather hasty decision. With the war in Germany coming to an end, Americans were …show more content…
As with war, many families are left biting their fingernails waiting and hoping that their family members make it home safe. Added that the war in Germany was coming to a close, Americans were eager to see the Pacific war come to an end as well. This added pressure from the American people to find a way to quickly and efficiently end the war with Japan was put on Truman. After Roosevelt died, the secretary of war, Henry Stimson informed Truman of the new weapon of mass destruction that had been created . The atomic bomb was more devastating than the fire-bombings the United States dropped on Japan even though the fire-bombings had a higher death toll. But, why did the United States believe that the atomic bomb would end the war? The simple reason would be that the atomic bombs did not end the war. Top military officials agreed that the atomic bombs played no decisive role in ending the war . It was more likely that the United States wanted to test out the new weapon they had made and its effects on a real city, which is why Hiroshima and Nagasaki were chosen as the real world testing grounds. A wall of mountains surrounds Hiroshima and Nagasaki, making them ideal places to test an atomic bomb. Just in case the blast goes farther than expected, the mountains would be in the way to stop the additional blast. However, even if the United States wanted to test the atomic bomb, why would they need to bomb Nagasaki as well? Revenge. After the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States was yearning for a chance to get back at the Japanese . The Japanese were also known for ruthlessly killing not only soldiers, but also civilians including men, women, and children who occupied conquered land. The American Coordinating Committee was one of the many