Premium Essay

Atomic Bomb Justified Research Paper

Submitted By
Words 668
Pages 3
Was the decision to use the atomic bomb justified?

Many weapons were used in WWI and WWII. Some weapons were a form of gas, while others were the ammunition shot from firearms. The most destructive weapon was the atomic bomb. The atomic bomb was used by the United States against Japan. It was unleashed on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There is a considerable amount of controversy on whether or not the bombing was the right choice for the leaders of our country to make. I believe that the United States should not have used the atomic bomb by reason of the magnitude of loss of life it cost so many Japanese civilians.
First, the atomic bomb was a weapon developed during WWII through the Manhattan Project. This project was started in December of 1942 in fear of the Germans constructing their own nuclear weapon. By the time the bomb had been tested and completed, the war between the Allied …show more content…
President Truman made the choice, along with a cadre of advisers, to use the bomb, and that may have won the war for America. The reasoning behind the use of the bomb was based on many factors. However, the main influence believed to be the deciding point was that the use of the bomb was predicted to make the Japanese emperor surrender and hasten the war. Additionally, a multitude of American and Japanese lives had already been lost due to the fighting, which led President Truman and his advisers to the conclusion that the bomb would save more lives rather than prolonging the war. On the other hand, some historians say that President Truman possibly used the bomb to intimidate the Soviet Union with their production of a nuclear weapon. A large variety of reasons supported the decision to use the atomic bomb, but many historians believe these explanations weren’t a good enough justification to use the atomic

Similar Documents

Free Essay

The Manhattan Project

...Manhattan Project Research Paper Nuclear research all started when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and the United States entered into World War II. When the United States realized that Germany attempted to build an atomic bomb, Americans began to concentrate on their research about creating an atomic bomb. President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Manhattan Project, which included a group of top scientists, under General Leslie R. Groves, who worked around the clock to try to develop an atomic bomb within three years. The Americans and the British combined their efforts to research the development of the bomb and created plants and factories to work in. They created plants for three separate processes: electromagnetic, gaseous diffusion, and thermal diffusion. These plants helped create the plutonium and uranium 235 needed to manufacture the atomic bomb. The secrecy of the Manhattan Project was essential in order to develop the atomic bombs to end World War II. The United States and Great Britain kept the development of the atomic bomb a secret. In order to keep the secret, Groves spread the work out between laboratories so that the people working on the bomb could not figure out they were manufacturing. The members of the Manhattan Project asked the scientists questions about the bomb, and they gave answers back, but they did not know what the responses were for. The project consisted of so many restrictions for the employees in order to keep the secrecy...

Words: 1420 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

The Atomic Bomb a Necessity or a Wish

...The Atomic Bomb: A Necessity or a Desire Tanmay Bhanushali Year 10 Historical Paper “Great power imposes the obligation of exercising restraint” Leo Szilard - Hungarian-born Physicist and main scientist to oppose the atomic Bombings This was spoken in an interview titled “President Truman did not Understand”. This was between a US news reporter and Leo Szilard the key figure among the scientists opposing the use of the bomb. The interview was in August 15, 1960. Why was their so fierce Opposition? In what Way did Truman Not Understand? These answers lie in the depths of the controversy about the Atomic Bomb. Introduction The atomic bomb was a topic of major controversy but the main debate was about the necessity of the atomic bomb. Many say that the atomic bomb was dropped because it would save millions of American lives. However at that period the Japanese were also at the point of surrendering. Huge amounts of incendiary bombs were used in large-scale cities against japan. Many of the scientists in the Manhattan Project were disturbed about it. The incendiary bombs reduced much morale from the Japanese army and crippled the will power. However this small cripple made Japan even angrier because these incendiary bombs were used on innocent civilians and not the Japanese army. Many think that it was necessary to use the Atomic Bombs because Japan attacked America first and not the other way around. It is a fact that when Hitler attacked...

Words: 2649 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Pacific War Use of a-Bomb

...Modern History Conflict in the Pacific 1937-1941 Due: Thursday 28th of August, 2008 Alyce Wearne Task: Evaluate the argument that America was justified in using atomic weapons against Japan in 1945. As one of the most significant and consequential decisions in the history of the world, President Harry Truman’s allowance of atomic weapons towards the end of World War II, of which he himself understood would cause both mass devastation and indignation, is still one of the most controversial and heavily debated topics in today’s society. This was partially due to the adverse underestimation and seemingly ignorant approach the American’s had towards their latest development of mass destruction; almost oblivious to the immense aftermath of physical injury, civilian death and emotional torment it would produce for those involved. This decision, ultimately made by one man, affected not only America and Japan, but the world. Dispute over this was, and continues to be highly generated, the event causing anger and infuriation to millions across the world. This resentment did not just accumulate from the lack of awareness and slaughter of innocent life, but from the graphic images shown in newspapers, the casualties, and the torturous amount of death underwent as a result of the bomb. As a Japanese survivor documented: “The appearance of people was . . . well, they all had skin blackened by burns. . . . They had no hair because their hair was burned, and at a glance you...

Words: 5990 - Pages: 24

Premium Essay

My Paper

...shaped the development of atomic energy. Was the nuclear arms race a product of Cold War tension rather than its cause? The Atomic Bomb and the Origins of the Cold War The nuclear age began before the Cold War. During World War II, three countries decided to build the atomic bomb: Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Britain put its own work aside and joined the Manhattan Project as a junior partner in 1943. The Soviet effort was small before August 1945. The British and American projects were driven by the fear of a German atomic bomb, but Germany decided in 1942 not to make a serious effort to build the bomb. In an extraordinary display of scientific and industrial might, the United States made two bombs ready for use by August 1945. Germany was defeated by then, but President Truman decided to use the bomb against Japan. The decision to use the atomic bomb has been a matter of intense controversy. Did Truman decide to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki in order, as he claimed, to end the war with Japan without further loss of American lives? Or did he drop the bombs in order to intimidate the Soviet Union, without really needing them to bring the war to an 2 end? His primary purpose was surely to force Japan to surrender, but he also believed that the bomb would help him in his dealings with Stalin. That latter consideration was secondary, but it confirmed his decision. 1 Whatever Truman’s motives, Stalin regarded the use of the bomb as an anti-Soviet move, designed...

Words: 8814 - Pages: 36

Free Essay

Jon Von Nomann

...John von Neumann From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Von Neumann" redirects here. For other uses, see Von Neumann (disambiguation). The native form of this personal name is Neumann János Lajos. This article uses the Western name order. John von Neumann | Von Neumann in the 1940s | Born | Neumann János Lajos December 28, 1903 Budapest, Austria-Hungary | Died | February 8, 1957 (aged 53) Walter Reed General Hospital Washington, D.C. | Residence | United States | Nationality | Hungarian and American | Fields | Mathematics, physics, statistics, economics | Institutions | University of Berlin Princeton University Institute for Advanced Study Site Y, Los Alamos | Alma mater | University of Pázmány Péter ETH Zürich | Doctoral advisor | Lipót Fejér | Other academic advisors | László Rátz | Doctoral students | Donald B. Gillies Israel Halperin | Other notable students | Paul Halmos Clifford Hugh Dowker Benoit Mandelbrot[1] | Known for |  [show] | Notable awards | Bôcher Memorial Prize (1938) Enrico Fermi Award (1956) | Signature | John von Neumann (/vɒn ˈnɔɪmən/; December 28, 1903 – February 8, 1957) was a Hungarian and American pure and applied mathematician, physicist, inventor and polymath. He made major contributions to a number of fields,[2] including mathematics (foundations of mathematics, functional analysis, ergodic theory, geometry, topology, and numerical analysis), physics (quantum mechanics, hydrodynamics, and fluid dynamics)...

Words: 9454 - Pages: 38

Free Essay

Political Science

...Canadian International Council Strengthening the Non-Proliferation Regime: The Role of Coercive Sanctions Author(s): T. V. Paul Source: International Journal, Vol. 51, No. 3, Nuclear Politics (Summer, 1996), pp. 440-465 Published by: Canadian International Council Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40203123 Accessed: 30/11/2010 19:58 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cic. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Canadian International Councilis collaborating...

Words: 9239 - Pages: 37

Free Essay

Nuclear Power

...POSITION PAPER: COMMERCIAL NUCLEAR POWER Authors Thomas B. Cochran Christopher E. Paine Geoffrey Fettus Robert S. Norris Matthew G. McKinzie Natural Resources Defense Council issue paper: october 2005 Natural Resources Defense Council issue paper Commercial Nuclear Power ABOUT NRDC NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has more than 1 million members and e-activists nationwide, served from offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco. For more information, visit www.nrdc.org. Copyright 2005 by the Natural Resources Defense Council. Natural Resources Defense Council issue paper Commercial Nuclear Power EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Because of the sheer magnitude and urgency of the global climate challenge, the United States must consider all forms of energy—as long as they do not otherwise undermine international and environmental security. Unfortunately, the nuclear power industry in its present state suffers from too many security, safety, and environmental exposure problems and excessive costs to qualify as a leading means to combat global warming pollution. Large-scale nuclear plants remain uneconomic to build. And while the nuclear fuel cycle emits little global warming pollution, nuclear power still poses globally significant risks that need to be further reduced, including:...

Words: 9865 - Pages: 40

Free Essay

One Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.

...E SSAYS ON TWENTIETH-C ENTURY H ISTORY In the series Critical Perspectives on the Past, edited by Susan Porter Benson, Stephen Brier, and Roy Rosenzweig Also in this series: Paula Hamilton and Linda Shopes, eds., Oral History and Public Memories Tiffany Ruby Patterson, Zora Neale Hurston and a History of Southern Life Lisa M. Fine, The Story of Reo Joe: Work, Kin, and Community in Autotown, U.S.A. Van Gosse and Richard Moser, eds., The World the Sixties Made: Politics and Culture in Recent America Joanne Meyerowitz, ed., History and September 11th John McMillian and Paul Buhle, eds., The New Left Revisited David M. Scobey, Empire City: The Making and Meaning of the New York City Landscape Gerda Lerner, Fireweed: A Political Autobiography Allida M. Black, ed., Modern American Queer History Eric Sandweiss, St. Louis: The Evolution of an American Urban Landscape Sam Wineburg, Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts: Charting the Future of Teaching the Past Sharon Hartman Strom, Political Woman: Florence Luscomb and the Legacy of Radical Reform Michael Adas, ed., Agricultural and Pastoral Societies in Ancient and Classical History Jack Metzgar, Striking Steel: Solidarity Remembered Janis Appier, Policing Women: The Sexual Politics of Law Enforcement and the LAPD Allen Hunter, ed., Rethinking the Cold War Eric Foner, ed., The New American History. Revised and Expanded Edition E SSAYS ON _ T WENTIETH- C ENTURY H ISTORY Edited by ...

Words: 163893 - Pages: 656

Premium Essay

Corporate Environmental and Social Management

...CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL MANAGEMENT Unit 46 Assignment Table of Contents Introduction............................................................................................................................ 2 I. The development of global, European and national policies relating to sustainability. 2 1. Changing attitudes of public, politicians and businesses to the environment since 1945 .................................................................................................................................... 2 2. Brundtland definition of ‘sustainable development’ .................................................. 4 3. The international and UK policies to sustainable development since Earth Summit of 1992 ................................................................................................................................ 4 4. Triple bottom line........................................................................................................ 5 II. The commercial case for considering social and environmental matters in business management .......................................................................................................................... 6 1. 2. 3. Stakeholders and how they impact on business policies ........................................... 6 Is adopting CSR policies cost-saving? .......................................................................... 7 Primark Ethical Trading ................................

Words: 7353 - Pages: 30

Premium Essay

Moral

...Chapter 7 : Moral Issues 7. 1 The Environment 7. 2 Life 7. 3 Rearmament and War 7. 4 Business Ethics 7. 5 Sexuality and the Family 7. 6 Discrimination 7. 7 Freedom of Information 7. 8 Science and Technology Chapter Overview This chapter will discuss the contemporary moral issues. There are eight main sub-headings and examined in turn. Students may not only learn about moral facts, principles and theories, but also some important moral issues so that they will kept in phase with current issues in facing the challenge out there. This chapter also encourages students to ...

Words: 28274 - Pages: 114

Free Essay

India-Usa Relationship

...Indo-U.S. Relations in the Post Cold - War Period (1992-2006) By Debasish Nandi Supervisor : Dr. Abhijit Ghosh October, 2012 Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment to the Ph.D (Arts) Degree in Political Science Department of Political Science, The University of Burdwan, Golapbag, Burdwan, Pin - 713104, West Bengal, India. Content Page No. 1. Preface 2. Acknowledgement I-II III 3. Abbreviations IV-VI 4. Chapter - 1 : Introduction 1-10 5.Chapter - 2 : Indo-U.S. Relations in the Cold War Period 11-41 6.Chapter - 3 : Indo-US Diplomatic Ties in the Post- Cold War Period 42-79 7.Chapter - 4 : Indo-U.S. Economic, Technological and Scientific Co-operation 80-131 8.Chapter - 5 : 9/11 Incident: US Attitude towards Terrorism Vis-à-vis India and Pakistan 132-169 9.Chapter - 6 : India’s Nuclear Links with the USA 170-204 10. Chapter - 7 : Conclusion 205-214 11. Select Bibliography 215-237 Preface Indo-U.S. relations constitute important and influential relations in this world politics. It influences not only the U.S.-Pakistani and the Sino-Indian relations to a great extent; ‘Indo-U.S. relations in the post-Cold War period (1992-2006)’ has been the title of the present dissertation. Beginning against the back ground of the U.S.-Pakistani Arms Assistance Agreement of 1954, the Indo-U.S. relations had witnessed many ups and down in the following years. For example, there had been flourishes...

Words: 72424 - Pages: 290

Free Essay

Is Aanteken

...International Security Lecture 1 March 30th, 2015 The politics of security knowledge What is international security? We could start thinking about the security council of the UN But also about the invasion of Afghanistan (chapter 7 UN in order to secure the international security) We can also think about security in terms of the invasion of Iraq in 2003. This was a unilateral act of war, but sure it can also mean other things We can think of the national security agency, the agency in charge of spying all the signals and communications to a certain extent. What’s interesting about the NSA, it is seen as a threat to the security of the privacy. Lately, with the reports of the UN development programme, we start talking about HUMAN security (not military security, but rather the security of individuals, having a livelihood that’s acceptable). Whether security is international or not, it can be a rather confusing word The protection of values we hold dear. We search for it, we pursue it, we achieve it, we deny it to others. * what is to be secured? Is it the security of states? Or individuals? * What is the actual threat that we’re facing? Primarily to be dealing with military threats, or are there other types of threats we are facing. Essentially contested concept A concept that ‘inevitably’ involves endless disputes about their proper uses on the part of their users – Walter Gallie There can be ambiguity (one persons freedom-fighter is the other’s...

Words: 16869 - Pages: 68

Premium Essay

Answers to Conceptual Sciences

...Answers to Conceptual Integrated Science End-of-Chapter Questions Chapter 1: About Science Answers to Chapter 1 Review Questions 1 The era of modern science in the 16th century was launched when Galileo Galilei revived the Copernican view of the heliocentric universe, using experiments to study nature’s behavior. 2 In Conceptual Integrated Science, we believe that focusing on math too early is a poor substitute forconcepts. 3 We mean that it must be capable of being proved wrong. 4 Nonscientific hypotheses may be perfectly reasonable; they are nonscientific only because they are not falsifiable—there is no test for possible wrongness. 5 Galileo showed the falseness of Aristotle’s claim with a single experiment—dropping heavy and lightobjects from the Leaning Tower of Pisa. 6 A scientific fact is something that competent observers can observe and agree to be true; a hypothesis is an explanation or answer that is capable of being proved wrong; a law is a hypothesis that has been tested over and over and not contradicted; a theory is a synthesis of facts and well-tested hypotheses. 7 In everyday speech, a theory is the same as a hypothesis—a statement that hasn’t been tested. 8 Theories grow stronger and more precise as they evolve to include new information. 9 The term supernatural literally means “above nature.” Science works within nature, not above it. 10 They rely on subjective personal experience and do not lead to testable hypotheses. They lie outside...

Words: 81827 - Pages: 328

Free Essay

Good

...ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND BEHAVIORAL FACTORS Mgmt 605-M02 Mondays 6:00-8:10 p.m. DESCRIPTION This course links the classical management process to the analysis of human behavior. How do people think, analyze a situation, and how they behave. The practicing manager should gain theoretical knowledge on which to base experience and/or intuition when making decisions or solving problems involving the human dimension in the organization. In this course you are going to learn a series of models: 1) The individual—to help you understand, predict, and modify an individual’s behavior. 2) Perception of people—how such perception differs from other perceptions aspects and its importance 3) Functions of the managerial brain—how it works, makes decisions, solves problems, creates ideas 3) Dimensions of communications—to enable you to understand the basics of transmittal of knowledge 2) Two person interactions—so that you can understand conflict, leadership behavior, negotiations. 3) Small group functions,--so that you can understand when and why they are strong and get results and when they are weak and become failures 4) The large organization—so that you can utilize their strengths in marshalling human resources to get the work out and how they can adapt to changing times. If you have any problems with this course, doing the work or meeting standards, speak to your instructor before you receive failing grades or other unpleasant consequences. When you discuss...

Words: 22795 - Pages: 92

Premium Essay

Power of Logic

...retrieval system, without the prior written consent of The McGrawHill Companies, Inc., including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning. This book is printed on acid-free paper. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 DOC/DOC 0 9 8 ISBN: 978-0-07-340737-1 MHID: 0-07-340737-2 Editor in Chief: Michael Ryan Editorial Director: Beth Mejia Sponsoring Editor: Mark Georgiev Marketing Manager: Pamela Cooper Editorial Coordinator: Briana Porco Production Editors: Melissa Williams/Melanie Field, Strawberry Field Publishing Cover Designer: Ashley Bedell Cover Photo: © Dan Trist/Corbis Media Project Manager: Thomas Brierly Production Supervisor: Louis Swaim Composition: This text was set in 10.5/12.5 Goudy by Aptara, Inc. Printing: Printed on 45# New Era Matte by R.R. Donnelley & Sons, Inc. Credits: The credits section for this book is on page 647, following the Answer Key in the back of the book, and is considered an extension of the copyright page. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Howard-Snyder, Frances The power of logic—/Frances Howard-Snyder, Daniel Howard-Snyder, Ryan Wasserman—4th ed. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN: 978-0-07-340737-1; ISBN: 0-07-340737-2 (alk. paper) 1. Logic I. Title. BC61.L28 2009 160—dc22 2008365431 www.mhhe.com About the Authors Frances Howard-Snyder is Professor of Philosophy at Western...

Words: 173379 - Pages: 694