Dropping of the Atomic Bomb

"Who Done It" Page

Thesis and Summary Page: Ashley Williams and Laura Johnson

Supporting Evidence: Ashley Williams and Laura Johsnon

Primary Sources, Media, and Visuals: Ashley Williams and Laura Johnson

Works Cited Page: Ashley Williams and Laura Johnson

"Who Done It" Page: Ashley Williams and Laura Johnson

Works Cited

http://www.answers.com/topic/j-robert-oppenheimer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Oppenheimer

http://www.essaynetworks.com/2008/06/10/was-the-second-bombing-on-nagasaki-necessary/>

http://history1900s.about.com/od/worldwarii/a/hiroshima.htm

http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v16/v16n3p-4_Weber.html>

http://longstreet.typepad.com/thesciencebookstore/2008/07/index.html>

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/hamby.htm

http://www.planetearthpeaceparty.com/2008/02/brig-gen-paul-warfield-tibbets-jrwar-hero-or-war-criminal/

http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Soviet2.html

Pictures

Atomic Bomb Explosion

Innocent Victims Injured because
of Atomic Bombs. Here the victic was
injured because of the massive blast that
the atomic bomb

Tsutomu Yamaguchi was the only two-time
survivor of the atomic bomb droppings
in Hiroshimaand Nagasaki

The explosion of the bomb was so intense that
people's clothes were burned to their skin. The bomb
created long-lasting effects

Boeing B-29 Bomber plane was
used to drop the first atomic
bomb. The crew was named
the Enola Gay Crew. The crew was
named after Enola Gay Tibbets,
who was the mother of the pilot,
Paul Tibbets.

"Little Boy" Bomb. Was dropped on
Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945.
It was the first official bomb to ever
be used during war

"Fat Man" atomic bomb. It was dropped on
August 9th, 1945 on Nagasaki, Japan

The bombcompletely destroyed
everythingin both Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. Notmuch was left after
the bombings

How an atomic Bomb works

Photo Galleries, Newspaper Articles, Documents, Photos, Interviews

Photo Gallery
Gallery of the Dropping of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Atomic Bomb Pictures and Histroy
Relates Atomic Bomb Droppings in History

Interview wtih Szilard
Interview with Leo Szilard about how he also didn't agree with President Truman

Newspaper Headline
Article on Hiroshima, Japan

Document
Diary Entries on the Droppings of the Atomic Bombs

New York Times Newspaper Article
Article from the New York Times Newspaper about the Droppings of the Bombs
Video:

Atomic Bomb 'Fat Boy' Dropped On Nagasaki - For more of the funniest videos, click here

Video Displays more detail of the Bomb Droppings

Truman Diary Entries
Letters Written by Truman in his Diary

National Geographic Video
Video created by National Geographic Network on the Atomic Bomb Droppings

Spiegel Interview
Interview with Spiegel

Primary Sources of Atomic Bombing Website
Collection of various primary sources on World War Two and Dropping the Bombs

The Atomic Bomb - News Footage from 1945
Features Presiden Harry S. Truman

Information on the Enola Gay Crew
This Website Features Names and History of the Enola Gay Crew Members

History Channel Video of Dropping the Atomic Bomb

Why was America Unjustified?

Presiden Truman in 1945

A reason that America was unjustified in dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was because Japan was ready to surrender only a few months after the warning was given out. With nearly 60 cities destroyed because of American troops as well as bombs, Japan saw that there was little more hope for them and in order to save lives they would surrender.

A document sent to the American generals stated the Japanese terms of surrender. The terms included:

· Complete surrender of all Japanese forces and arms, at home, on island possessions, and in occupied countries.

· Occupation of Japan and its possessions by Allied troops under American direction.

· Japanese relinquishment of all territory seized during the war, as well as Manchuria, Korea and Taiwan.

· Regulation of Japanese industry to halt production of any weapons and other tools of war.

· Release of all prisoners of war and internees.

· Surrender of designated war criminals.

However, because of the inflexibility of the terms, Japan was rejected of their pleads for peace. It is arguable that the Japanese were unwilling to adjust their terms, but after several attempts to create peace America should have granted them their requests. This would have saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

In addition, the U.S. generals did not give enough time for word to filter out that they were going to atomic bomb Nagasaki. Had they given out the warning sooner, innocent lives would not have been lost. Also, if the Japanese were aware of the disastrous effects of the bomb they would have surrendered unconditionally in order to protect the lives of their people.

The Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings did not defeat Japan, nor did they persuade Japan to accept surrender unconditionally. The emperor, along with other government officials, decided that the war should be ended even if it meant accepting defeat as early as May of 1945. If America had given them more time to retreat and prove that they were determined to create peace the atomic bombs would not have been necessary.

An additional reason for the atomic bombing was to prove to the rest of the world, especially the Soviet Union, that America had a strong military. However, it was not worth killing an unbelievable amount of innocent lives in order to prove how powerful they are.

Albert Einstein, Scientis who greatly
contributed to the making of the
Atomic Bomb

Another reason for the bombing was to justify the nearly two billion dollars spent on the atomic bombs manufacture. General Eisenhower, along with many other officials as well as civilians knew about the production of the atomic bomb. If the government were to not use the bomb Americans would lose faith in their government and assume that they do not know how to spend their money wisely. Therefore the use of the bomb was apparently "necessary".

Even Albert Einstein, a scientist that assisted in the production of the bomb, thought that detonating it was incredibly inhumane.

"In the summer of 1939 Dr. Szilard put before me his views concerning the potential importance of uranium for national defense. He was greatly disturbed by the potentialities involved and anxious that the United States Government be advised of them as soon as possible." Einstein goes on to say, "I understand that he [Dr. Szilard] now is greatly concerned about the lack of adequate contact between scientists who are doing this work and those members of your Cabinet who are responsible for formulating policy."

The atomic bombs use greatly concerned Dr. Szilard, as well as Albert Einstein. There were various devastating repercussions that were overlooked by the American generals as well as President Roosevelt.

Robert Oppenheimer, Head Scientist of the
Manhattan Project (Creating Atomic Bomb)

Including on the opinion to not drop the bomb, the head scientist of creating the bomb during the Manhattan Project, Robert Oppenheimer didn’t agree with dropping it. When Oppenheimer saw how explosive the bomb was he said it had reminded him of a saying from a book “Bhagavad Gita: I am become death, destroyer of worlds.” Oppenheimer was distraught to think that something he had created had destroyed so many lives and he felt responsible for those who died because of the bombs. Robert Oppenheimer said towards the end of his life in regards to the atomic bombings, "I have no remorse about the making of the bomb and Trinity [the first test of an a-bomb]. That was done right. As for how we used it, I understand why it happened and appreciate with what nobility those men with whom I'd worked made their decision. But I do not have the feeling that it was

done right. The ultimatum to Japan [the Potsdam Proclamation demanding Japan's surrender] was full of pious platitudes. ...our government should have acted with more foresight and clarity in telling the world and Japan what the bomb meant." This quote expressed from how he felt about the bombing shows that he didn’t intend it to be used in such a horrific way.

Not only did the main directors of making the atomic bomb not agree with it, but the military was very limited compared to the amount of military. The two cities that America decided to bomb didn’t even have much military power. Civilians had outnumbered troops from six to one. If America really wanted to hurt Japan so badly by using such a powerful weapon, they should have bombed somewhere where it could have made a bigger impact against their military instead of innocent citizens.

Another reason to look at, why couldn’t America just use fire bombings instead of atomic bombings? America became the first and only country to use atomic weapons throughout every- single year of history throughout the whole entire world. Firebombing would have hurt Japan too, but America used the atomic bombs just to look superior compared to other countries, especially the Soviet Union. If anything, the U.S. should have only needed to bomb Japan once, besides the war was almost over anyways.

Stalin, Truman, and Churchill

Finally, it is an opinion of many people that the main reason America dropped the atomic bombs on Japan was because they wanted to scare and seem ahead of the Soviet Union at the time. Tensions were beginning to build up in Europe, especially with the Soviet Union and Stalin trying to seem more of a threat to America and other countries. By dropping the bomb, it was another way for America to “Flex its muscles” and seem powerful to all other countries at the time.

Introduction

Planes going to attack Japan

Thesis: The United States was unjustified in the dropping of the atomic bomb because it caused devastation to Japan that had long-lasting effects to its country and citizens.

Summary: In 1945, toward the end of World War II, President Harry S. Truman ordered the United States to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan because of their unwillingness to surrender. These two atomic bomb explosions are the only usage of nuclear weapons in world history. The first occurred on August 6^th, 1945 at Hiroshima, which the bomb was called “Little Boy” and then the second on August 9^th, 1945 at Nagasaki where the bomb was named “Fat Man”. These intense bombings killed 90,000-166,000 citizens in Hiroshima and 60,000-80,000 in Nagasaki. Not only were many Japanese citizens killed due to the flame burns, horrific flash or falling debris, but many suffered months later because of burns, radiation disease and other injuries and sickness. Through this devastating event, Japan finally announced its surrender on August 15 to the Allied Powers. The Instrument of Surrender was then signed on September 2, ending the Pacific War once and for all. The dropping of the atomic bomb is a very controversial topic on the effects it left for the Japanese people, and also a major contributor leading into the Cold War.