Ethical Issues In Ww2

To ensure his plan, the Manhattan Project was created to develop an atomic bomb that would have a chained reaction in order to get a massive explosion. However, the goal was to create this nuclear technology before German scientists could figure it out. To test the atomic bomb and to see if it would be successful on Japan, they created the Trinity Test 210 miles south of Los Alamos (which was the headquarters of the Manhattan Project) which tested a plutonium implosion device. The results were successful and when they dropped the bomb from the tower, it created a crater and shattered windows 125 miles away! Furthermore, as President, it means Truman is appointed Commander in Chief, meaning he runs the armed forces. President Truman is justified to his decision of dropping the atomic bomb because it’s his duty as President to make those calls. Equally important, in Document A, President Truman states, “...[The atomic bomb] would be likely to bring the war to an end.” In the best interest of the Americans, Truman knew dropping a 5-ton bomb would quickly end the war against Japan, therefore making the Americans feel secure and

The atomic bombs were dropped with purpose of solving diplomatic reasons and to inevitably make Japan surrender. The diplomatic goals the US had at the time was to prevent Russia from joining the war against Japan, but the US wanted to win the war before the USSR joined in order to prevent Stalin from claiming land in Japan and spreading communist influence throughout Asia. So in order to impede the potential spread of Russian influence and communism in post­war Japan, the US had to end the war as soon as possible or else the potential spread of Stalin and the Soviet Union’s influence might bring forth more devastating and graver consequences for the future of the US. The atomic bomb was a diplomatic and intimidating way of keeping the Soviet

The United States president, Harry S. Truman declared to drop the bomb on August 6, 1945 for various reasons. The most reluctant reason why President Truman dropped the bombs was to save a numerous amount of American lives (Document 8). This included the people captured by the Japanese and the soldiers who would of fought a massive battle against the Japanese soldiers (Document 5). The estimated lives of the civilians killed in the bombings

During World War II, President Harry S. Truman ordered for an atomic bomb to be dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6th ,1945. The second and last atomic bomb to ever be dropped was in the city of Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945. Many Americans believed dropping the atomic bomb was necessary to end the war in a more timely manner, however, many others believed dropping the atomic bomb was too extreme of a measure to take against Japan. With the creation of the atomic bomb, the United States had a weapon of mass destruction that no one else yet had. Therefore, with the power the atomic bomb possessed, some people believed its use should only be used as a last resort. If Japan would not surrender during this war, then the United States would have a valid and necessary reason in using the power of an atomic bomb. For the other Americans that believed in the immediate drop of the atomic bomb, dropping it would end the war sooner, which would then decrease the amount American soldiers who would be killed during the war. Whether dropping the atomic bomb on Japan was the most ethical decision that President Truman could have ordered is still debated.

The politics and strategic side of this bombing story had just as much turmoil and drama as the actual bombing itself. When America was making its atomic bomb, other countries like Great Britain, Germany, and Russia also had the idea to create an atomic bomb. However, the U.S. was the only county to make them because they had the manpower and resources to make these bombs. Like mentioned before, some government officials, including President Truman, believed that dropping the bomb was not a bad idea. These people thought it was beneficial to drop the first bomb for both Japan and the U.S.. They believed this because the U.S. had planned an invasion of another Japanese island, and if the

When the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki all living things in a five square mile radius of where the atomic bombs impacted died instantly, it ended the war and saved thousands lives. The following documents tell you about the importance of dropping the atomic bomb and the thinking behind there strategies. The US wanted Japan to surrender and wanted no more bloodshed and wanted the Soviet Union to be surprised. As stated in document 13 the Americans concern for Japan's unwillingness to resign, “imminent threat of a landing, on Japan proper by us, to convince them of the hopelessness of their situation”1. and again in document 16 shares thoughts for Russia involvement, “atomic attack against Japan would shock the Russians”2 finally document 17 shows the stubbornness of “Japan to agree Japanese leadership would probably not have surrendered if the Truman administration had clarified the status of the emperor when it demanded unconditional surrender prolongation of the war and cost a large number of human lives”3. Although some people think dropping the atomic bombs on Japan wasn’t justified, I think that dropping the atomic bombs on Japan was justified.

This thought brings me to my next motive of why Truman might have dropped the bomb. I do not think Truman was unaware of the lasting effects of the atom bomb, but by the time these facts were presented to him, piled upon facts about the actual bomb and the projects supporting them, it was to late to change his decision. He needed to save face for America (which brings me to the next motive of pressure) even if it public opinion was not his main concern. Truman did not want to look soft upon the Japanese, something further consideration and negation of the plan to bomb would have caused in some officials eye's. Also, Truman and much of the rest of the nation did not like seeing the U.S. as moral failures like many other nations. Who knows what the reaction to the President's decision would have been like if he had decided to let an invasion with hundreds and thousands of our men involved take place.

On August 6th, 1945, the Japanese woke up to their hometowns and country filled with flames and radioactive material. This event changed warfare as we know it, and will forever have an effect on the Japanese and American culture. These two bombs, Little Boy and Fat Man, killed thousands of people and in total, took a huge toll on the world then and today.

Therefore, The United States dropped it in order to finish the war. They wanted to prevent more deaths and if the atomic bomb didn’t stop them, nothing would’ve stopped them. For example, after Truman dropped the bomb he released a letter and sources from CNN quoted “that the decision to use the two nuclear bombs saved the lives of 250,000 Allied troops and 250,000 Japanese by helping to prevent an invasion”. Although it was rough because they didn’t know the long term effects on that the atomic bomb would have on the cities. If the U.S. didn’t drop the bomb the war could’ve gotten worse and be more deadly in the long run.

“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

On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first ever atomic bomb, known as "Little Boy" on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. They dropped a second one known as "Fat Man" three days later on Nagasaki. When the first successful atomic bombs were developed by the Americans, they did not hesitate in dropping the bombs on Japan. Since then, the event has become a very controversial issue over whether or not the US was justified in dropping the bombs. But the fact is that they were not; there were alternatives to the attack, they attack violated international war laws,and they had unforeseen long term effects, As a result, the attacks were not justified.

The decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was influenced by several different factors which ultimately justified the use of the atomic bomb. To begin with, the motives as to why the bomb was dropped on specifically Japan were completely reasonable despite the moral issues that existed. The presidents’ diary writings and public statements showed that one of the main motives as to why the bomb was dropped was to save more people than the amount that would have been dead from an actual invasion. This was a completely valid reason as the estimated number of allied deaths from invasion were significantly larger than the amount that died from an atomic bomb. His other big motive was to destroy Japan’s capacity to make war which would ultimately end the war. He had also written about his plans to team up with Russia with a goal to solely force Japan to surrender. Both these motives show he did it for peace and not out of revenge or hatred specifically towards Japan. Although the bombing happened after the attack on pearl harbor, this had very little to do with the decision to drop the bomb on Japan according to the president’s journal entries. There could be some

The decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the hardest decision for President Truman to make. He had the power right there in his hands to end the war but he would have to unleash the most powerful weapon known to man, at this time. Everyone was very tired of fighting but the Japanese would not give up so Truman decided to drop it. Even though we told Japan that if they did not surrender we would completely demolish some of their cities, they did not listen and they did not surrender. Maybe they did not think about what kind of weapons we would use because

On August 6, 1945 the United States dropped an atomic bomb named Little Boy on Hiroshima Japan. The approximate death toll was 200,000 people. Then three days later they dropped a second called Fat Man on Nagasaki Japan. The approximate death toll was 140,000 people. This was the first time in history that nuclear weapons were used in war. The United States reasonings for dropping the atomic bombs were that we wanted to force the Japanese to surrender so it would minimize american deaths, The US also needed to use the atomic bomb before the Soviet Union joined the war against Japan to create US dominance after, and finally the US wanted to use the first atomic bomb

Through the efforts of the “Manhattan Project” and the scientists within it, several nuclear bombs were created. Two of which, “Little Boy” and “Fat Man,” ended up being dropped on Japan. “Little Boy,” the only uranium bomb created was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 (Batchelder 99-105). “Fat Man,” the second nuclear bomb ever used in warfare, detonated above Nagasaki on August 11, 1945 (Batchelder 95-105). The leaders of the United States, decided that dropping the newly developed atomic bombs on Japan was the smartest action they could take at the time, given the current situation that the United States and the world was in. Dropping the bombs on Japan was mainly motivated by the belief that human lives could be saved. A massive invasion of the Japanese mainland was the only other option if no bombs were going to be dropped. The fact that the Japanese main army of approximately two million had never before been defeated on top of the Japanese terrain which was much better suited for guerrilla warfare than the mechanical ways of the U.S. put estimated American deaths alone well over the deaths at Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined (Batchelder 114-118).