Thesis and Summary
The United States was justified in dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki for three reasons. The first reason was the desire to save American lives, the second was to get revenge on the Japanese for bombing Pearl Harbor, and lastly was to warn the Soviet Union of the power the U.S. military has.
On Decmeber 7, 1941 Japan attacked Pearl Harbor causing the U.S. to fight back by dropping the atomic bombs. Japan destroyed our naval base by sinking 18 ships, destroying 365 planes, and killing 2,400 people. Franklin D. Roosevelt died which led to Truman taking office. Truman decided to drop the atomic bombs even though he was unaware of the possible outcome. We attacked Hiroshima's military center and Nagasaki's civilian city. This notified other countries that we had a strong navy and could defend ourselves. The dropping of the bomb was successful in the end when Japan surrendered unconditionally.
One reason why it was important to fight back against Japan was to prove to them that our military can defend our country. The attack on Pearl Harbor was devastating because of all of the lives lost, which made our country take revenge on Japan by killing 80,000 people in Hiroshima and 100,000 people in Nagasaki. 200,000 individuals got radiation sickness from the blast from the bomb. Although it was dangerous to attack Japan, it was successful because it led to their surrender.
Another reason why we believe the U.S. was justified in dropping the bombs was the desire to save American lives. Even though our soldiers risked their lives by dropping the atomic bombs, it saved many more American lives in the end. After the events of the atomic bombs took place, Emperor Hirohito was in shock and after several days he finally announced a recorded radio address to the nation announcing Japan's surrender. Japan underestimated the power of our military and in the end, they knew that if they fought back we would fight back even harder. Therefore, we ended up protecting Americans and possibly saving thousands of lives by preventing another attack.
The last reason that the U.S. thought it was necessary to drop the atomic bombs was to prove to the Soviets that the U.S. had a strong military. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor with 353 Japanese fighters, 18 planes, and bombers and torpedos that blew up 4 of our U.S. navy battleships. The U.S. wanted to fight back with a higher power which brought on the Manhattan Project kept in New Mexico. This was a top secret led by the physist J. Robert Oppenheimer involving 600,000 Americans. Without testing the U.S. didn't know the power of this bomb, but we felt that it was the right thing to do to prove we weren't weak and we did not want to give up. After the surrender of Japan, the Soviets realized that our military was a lot stronger than they expected.
The United States was justified in dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki for three reasons. The first reason was the desire to save American lives, the second was to get revenge on the Japanese for bombing Pearl Harbor, and lastly was to warn the Soviet Union of the power the U.S. military has.
On Decmeber 7, 1941 Japan attacked Pearl Harbor causing the U.S. to fight back by dropping the atomic bombs. Japan destroyed our naval base by sinking 18 ships, destroying 365 planes, and killing 2,400 people. Franklin D. Roosevelt died which led to Truman taking office. Truman decided to drop the atomic bombs even though he was unaware of the possible outcome. We attacked Hiroshima's military center and Nagasaki's civilian city. This notified other countries that we had a strong navy and could defend ourselves. The dropping of the bomb was successful in the end when Japan surrendered unconditionally.
