Thank God for the Atomic Bomb
In Paul Russell’s passage from Thank God for the Atomic Bomb, he describes how the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were fully necessary. Russell agrees with President Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bombs because of the logical reasons. He gives examples that compare to the overall effect to America, and the positive things that happen to America such as the fact that the war would be over. I agree with Fussell’s opinion because the atomic bomb solved many problems in one shot, including and most importantly the war. Before Paul Russell was a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, he was an infantry lieutenant in World War II and has had first hand experiences about what happens at
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Although, for me, it gives me enough information to tell me both sides, from looking at multiple resources I have come up with the idea that back then it was much more important for our country to win, and not only for “winning” but for also the long term effects for America. In Paul Russell’s passage from Thank God for the Atomic Bomb, he describes how the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were necessary. I too agree with this decision to drop the bomb because of the logos reasons. Russell completely agrees with President Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bombs because of the logical reasons. He gives examples that compare to the overall effect to America, and the positive things that happen to America such as the fact that the war would be over. Russell’s decision shows his ethics in life, one may say that because he doesn’t seem to care about what happens to the Japanese he is cruel and cold. But he is thinking about the good of our country and you have to remember that during World War II the world was much more different than in the present. The ethics and morals were much more different than those in the
The United States should not have dropped the atomic bomb because it was inhumane. By using that powerful bomb on japan lots of people died and lots of people lost their children, families, and it also ruined everything on their land so they can’t have access to anything. According to document ‘E,’ the evidence shows that it was hard for Japanese because they lost lots of people, 64,000 people total died from Nagasaki and 135,000 total died from Hiroshima which was terrifying. This evidence helps explain that the U.S. should not have dropped the atomic bomb because it took lives of civilians and innocent people.
1. Long after World War II and the use of the atomic bombs against Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a great debate remains. It seems that there are two main potential arguments as to why the bombs were detonated and whether or not they were even necessary to begin with. The first theory surrounds the notion of the national security interests of the United States. In this theory essentially, Truman’s actions had been defended and justified as necessary in order to quickly end the war with U.S. causalities kept to a minimum.
controversial decisions made in the modern era due to the ability to end the war, but along with
Was it necessary for Truman to drop the Atomic Bombs on Japan in World War II? On August 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped by a US aircraft on Hiroshima. This atomic bomb was dropped to force Japan into surrender, this bomb alone destroyed Hiroshima and over 90,000 people were instantly killed in the explosion and an additional 100,000 people perished from burns and radiation sickness. On August 9, 1945 only three days later, the second atomic bomb was dropped over Nagasaki resulting in an additional 80,000 casualties of the Japanese population. The people of Japan surrendered on August 14, 1945 soon after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Many people opposed to the use of the atomic bombs because people argued that Truman 's decision to use atomic bombs was a barbaric act of cruelty. People also argued that the US government had other ulterior motives to drop the atomic bomb that were necessary for America 's ideals. Necessary motives like presenting The Soviet Union a strong message for the Soviets to watch their step around America. A conventional way of warfare for Japan 's surrender would have costed many more American lives. Truman and others believed that the atomic bomb was necessary to save American lives but also Japanese lives. These actions from President Truman marked the end of the most destructive war in history. The two sources that will used and evaluated in this paper are is The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb by Dennis D. Wainstock (1996)
“Truman stated that his decision to drop the bomb was purely military. Truman believed that the bombs saved Japanese lives as well. Prolonging the war was not an option for the President,” (ushistory.org 1). President Truman and the United States government made a fair decision by dropping the atomic bomb on the Japanese citizens in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during 1945. The bomb allowed the United States to appear more powerful and led to them influencing the rest of the world. The dropping of the atomic bomb was also a just response to the previous atrocities committed by Japan to other countries including the United States. In the long run, the bomb saved more lives that would have been lost in the war, since the bombs caused the
The dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945 by the Americans is a very controversial issue with no definite answer. Both sides of the issue have very justifiable arguments. Reasons for dropping the bomb include the fact that Truman’s options were limited at this point in the war, that the bomb did have the desired outcome of Japans surrender and that the majority of reasons America had for dropping the bomb are justifiable. On the other hand, the atomic bomb was complete new technology and there is no way that Japan could have possibly been ready for it and for that reason the dropping of the atomic bomb is very
Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima was necessary in the sense that he was making the decision that best benefited the US and its goals. Losing millions of American lives in conventional warfare in Japan would surely be devastating, even though the moral issues are a problem when it comes to this decision, the decision for the use of the first atomic bomb was necessary to save lives. The first atomic bomb was also necessary for diplomatic goals and safety for the US, it was used to intimidate and restrain the USSR from attacking Japan and plotting against the US. Truman's decision to drop the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima was necessary, it was needed to prevent the potential loss of American lives by the thousands and protect
was fully justified in dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, because of the unprovoked and brutal attacks on civilians, grounded airplanes, and the docked U.S. Pacific fleet by the Japanese. By retaliating with the atomic bomb to end the war the United States showed the world the power and weapons of mass destruction that it possessed and that it was not afraid to use them. This also issued a warning to the Soviet Union, who at the time was our ally, but was slowly turning into an enemy. In addition to showing the world the United States power, the atomic bombs crushed Japan not just physically, but also morally giving them no other option, but to surrender. Japan was on the edge of surrender with a great amount of inner turmoil, but Japans military leaders had declared no surrender and ordered their people to fight to the death of the last man, woman, and child, so in using the atomic bomb we forced them to the breaking point and saved millions of lives. Without the dropping of the atomic bombs the U.S. would have invaded the Japanese homeland in Operation Downfall where a great slaughter would have ensued. Nearly 500,000 Purple Heart medals were pre-made in anticipation of the invasion, but the atomic bombs saved this massive loss of life. The results brought about by the atomic bombs were very devastating and gruesome; they caused thousands of deaths and injuries and should not be employed except in the most dire
The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are generally seen as successes in Truman’s presidency, although there are a large number of people who see it as a failure as well as a horrendous crime against humanity. However, by making the decision to
World War Two and the Atomic Bomb World War II is one of the most historic points in the history of the world. The war was by far the most devastating in the history of the world. There were many controversial actions during the war, but one of the biggest was the decision by the United States to drop atomic bombs. The atomic bomb should have been used to end the war because it saved more lives than continuing the war. The official bombing order was signed on July 25, 1945, by Thos.
“In 1957, with the arms race in full swing, the Department of Defense had decided it was just a matter of time before an airplane transporting an atomic bomb would crash on American soil, unleashing a radioactive disaster the likes of which the world had never seem.” On August 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, killing 20,000 soldiers and 70,000 – 126,000 civilians. On August 9, 1945, the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing 39,000 – 80,000. A total of 129,000 – 226,000 people were killed in combining both bomb droppings. Dropping both atomic bombs on Japan was necessary to end the war because the military needed to end the war, the Japanese were given fair warnings
The prospect of the atomic bomb was considered to be problematic in the face of Judeo-Christian morality. What were some rationales for religious or moral opposition for the bombs? What influence did the possibilities of nuclear war have on religion and morality?
In 1945, two atomic bombs were dropped over Japan on Hiroshima and Nagasaki which resulted in thousands of civilian deaths and a detrimental impact on the environment.
As the war continued and violence escalated, bombings caused enormous destruction and high death tolls, leading inevitably to the use of the atomic bombs. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki represented a culmination in the destructiveness of bombings, not a significant deviation from previous bombing practices. The alternatives to the use of the atomic bomb were likely to have caused equal suffering for the Japanese people. The use of the atomic bomb was no less moral than these horrific wartime practices. Harry Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb against Japan was justified by Japan’s refusal to immediately surrender. Harry Truman gave the Japanese time to surrender in order to preserve the existence of their people. They did not comply and as a result endured the consequences. (Walker) Yet an alternate perspective states that it was quite unnecessary to drop the Atomic Bombs in that Japan was practically an already defeated opponent. If a conditional surrender were to be issued by the United States to Japan in
Some regard the atomic bomb as “the thank God for the atom bomb”. This places God on the U.S. side and regards the bombs as our saving grace. This bomb forced the Japanese to surrender which in turn proved the U.S. to be the heroes who saved the American’s lives.1 The Americans intended on ending the war but did not expect to end it with such a large number of casualties. The results of the atomic bomb and how it effected the Japanese people both emotionally and physically will be addressed. “The bombs marked both an end and a beginning—the end of an appalling global conflagration in which more than 50 million people were killed and the beginning of the nuclear arms race and a new world in which