against the atomic bomb, history homework help

Each Reply should build on each student post, maybe add a new thought or angle on their post. Ask questions add to the discussion.

student 1 (Stan): against the atomic bomb

There I was reading the instructions thinking this assignment is right up my alley. That was until I got to news that I was to be against the bombing. Personally I am a firm believer that sometimes you need to use brute force to take out your opponent but today, I will attempt to look through a different lens.

The unnecessary dropping of the atomic bombs cost Innocent lives. How can Americans truly live with themselves knowing the death and destruction they caused to thousands upon thousands of non-combatants on August 6th 1945 and again on the 9th of August 1945. This type of warfare is not in line with how we want the rest of the world to perceive the U.S. as always taking the easy stern blow. We are a peaceful people and through diplomacy, we can overcome any disagreement we may have with another country.

Anti-Japanese sentiments were common throughout the US in the early 1900’s and for this reason, I believe Americans had less compassion for the Japanese people. Stereotypes and propaganda during this time were commonplace. Racism towards Orientals, especially Japanese people and not just their leadership ran ramped within the country. Children’s toys, in popular music and even in the ever popular Bugs Bunny Cartoons, Anti-Japanese sentiment was everywhere. It was being messaged to the American people that the Japanese were evil people with little squinty eyes, thick coke bottle glasses and buck teeth. That they would stop at nothing and they all wanted to kill American.

Prior to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, the US vowed to only target and bomb military objectives and not to intentionally bomb any civilian back in September of 1938. The negligent use of Nuclear weapons wasn’t specified at the time as they were not in existence. Sure, some will say that the U.S. wasn’t a part of the League of Nations when this took place but that doesn’t excuse them from leading the way as a civilized country. It is disappointing that we allowed Washington and our military to take such drastic measures. The senseless bombings never should have taken place.

Student 2 (Ryan): in support of the atomic bomb

The civilian casualties were inevitable, this is a war on foreign soil and since Pearl Harbor, that war has been established in our back yards. The way I see it, we had only one of two choices to make. The first being that we send more of our battered and beaten troops from Europe to Japan in order to combat the enemy in their land, in their homes using the plans set forth through Operation Downfall. Though, this would not have saved the lives of those civilians overseas. Japan would have crumbled the way Germany did and put our families, our sons and fathers at risk along with those civilians. On the other hand, the atomic bomb. This certainly did put those below it in harm’s way. But had we continued to cherish the lives of our enemies people, we may have been the ones with leveled cities, bellies up. Could you say they cared for our loved ones the way we cared for theirs? We all know someone whose life was taken in Okinawa, Iwo Jima, or any other Pacific bout.

This was a moral dilemma that would keep any many awake. But the enemies are not men, they are monsters. We did not engage the enemy in combat until they enforced their hostility on us. They brought the atomic bomb on themselves. We simply obliged by delivering it to their doorsteps.

Student 3 (Tony): against the atomic bomb

I am against the use of atomic weapons. I believe the use of an atomic bomb on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki to be completely inhuman and goes against the League of Nations ruling in 1938. In September 30, 1938, the League of Nations passed a unanimous resolution for the protection of civilian populations against bombing from the air in case of war. In that resolution, the League noted that the Intentional bombing of civilian populations is illegal, and that any attack on legitimate military objectives must be carried out in such a way that civilian populations in the neighborhood are not bombed through negligence. This ruling was in the best interest of human life and the United States directly disobeyed that ruling. Not only will the bombings cause mass casualty and end possible Nobel Peace Prize winning recipients, it caused massive follow on repercussions. “Since the atomic bomb explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, high incidences of leukemia, thyroid cancer and other tumors have been reported as atomic bomb-induced tumors” (Shintani 1999). “There was a significant correlation between the incidence and the dose of radiation to the brain. The present findings strongly suggest that meningioma is one of the tumors induced by atomic bombing in Hiroshima” (Shintani 1999).

Additionally, The Manhattan Project cost the American people “$2 billion, employed 120,000 people, and involved the construction of thirty-seven installations in nineteen states — with all of its activity hidden from Congress, the American people, and even Vice President Truman. Directed by General Leslie Graves and scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the nation’s top physicists assembled the first bomb in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and successfully tested it on July 16, 1945” (Henretta 2017). The government was completely overwhelmed by its frightening power (Henretta 2017).

Works Cited:

SHINTANI, T., HAYAKAWA, N., HOSHI, M., SUMIDA, M., KURISU, K., OKI, S., . . . KAMADA, N. (1999). High incidence of meningioma among hiroshima atomic bomb survivors. Journal of Radiation Research, 40(1), 49-57. doi:10.1269/jrr.40.49

Henretta, J. A. (2017). America: A Concise History, Volume 2, 6th Edition. [Bookshelf Online]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/97813191198…