Name:_____________________________________

Document 1: The Decision to Drop the Bomb: General Overview

. America had the bomb. Now what?When Harry Truman learned of the success of the Manhattan Project, he knew he was faced with a decision of unprecedented gravity. The capacity to end the war with Japan was in his hands, but it would involve unleashing the most terrible weapon ever known.American soldiers and civilians were weary from four years of war, yet the Japanese military was refusing to give up their fight. American forces occupied Okinawa and Iwo Jima and were intensely fire bombing Japanese cities. But Japan had an army of 2 million strong stationed in the home islands guarding against invasion.

For Truman, the choice whether or not to use the atomic bomb was the most difficult decision of his life.First, an Allied demand for an immediate unconditional surrender was made to the leadership in Japan. Although the demand stated that refusal would result in total destruction, no mention of any new weapons of mass destruction was made. The Japanese military command rejected the request for unconditional surrender, but there were indications that a conditional surrender was possible.Regardless, on August 6, 1945, a plane called the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. Instantly, 70,000 Japanese citizens were vaporized. In the months and years that followed, an additional 100,000 perished from burns and radiation sickness.

Winston Churchill, Harry Truman, and Josef Stalin meet at the Potsdam Conference. The decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan was made here

A "mushroom" cloud rises over the city of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, following the detonation of "Fat Man." The second atomic weapon used against Japan, this single bomb resulted in the deaths of 80,000 Japanese citizens.

Two days later, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. On August 9, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, where 80,000 Japanese people perished.On August 14, 1945, the Japanese surrendered.Critics have charged that Truman's decision was a barbaric act that brought negative long-term consequences to the United States. A new age of nuclear terror led to a dangerous arms race.Some military analysts insist that Japan was on its knees and the bombings were simply unnecessary. The American government was accused of racism on the grounds that such a device would never have been used against white civilians.Other critics argued that American diplomats had ulterior motives. The Soviet Union had entered the war against Japan, and the atomic bomb could be read as a strong message for the Soviets to tread lightly. In this respect, Hiroshima and Nagasaki may have been the first shots of the Cold War as well as the final shots of World War II. Regardless, the United States remains the only nation in the world to have used a nuclear weapon on another nation.Truman stated that his decision to drop the bomb was purely military. A Normandy-type amphibious landing would have cost an estimated million casualties. Truman believed that the bombs saved Japanese lives as well. Prolonging the war was not an option for the President. Over 3,500 Japanese kamikaze raids had already wrought great destruction and loss of American lives.The President rejected a demonstration of the atomic bomb to the Japanese leadership. He knew there was no guarantee the Japanese would surrender if the test succeeded, and he felt that a failed demonstration would be worse than none at all. Even the scientific community failed to foresee the awful effects of radiation sickness. Truman saw little difference between atomic bombing Hiroshima and fire bombing Dresden or Tokyo.The ethical debate over the decision to drop the atomic bomb will never be resolved. The bombs did, however, bring an end to the most destructive war in history. The Manhattan Project that produced it demonstrated the possibility of how a nation's resources could be mobilized.Pandora's box was now open. The question that came flying out was, "How will the world use its nuclear capability?" It is a question still being addressed on a daily basis

AJ Software & MultimediaThis map shows the range of the destruction caused by the atomic bomb dropped over Hiroshima. Exploding directly over a city of 320,000, the bomb vaporized over 70,000 people instantly and caused fires over two miles away

DOCUMENT 2: Recommendation to President Harry S Truman from Chief of Engineers, Manhattan Project

TOP SECRETTHIS PAGE REGRADED UNCLASSIFIEDOrder Sec Army By TAG per720564THIS DOCUMENT CONSISTS OF 2 PAGE(S)NO. 1 OF 12 COPIES, SERIES A

RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE IMMEDIATE USE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS A. H. Compton E. O. Lawrence J. R. Oppenheimer E. Fermi

[signature] J. R. Oppenheimer For the Panel

June 16, 1945 You have asked us to comment on the initial use of the new weapon. This use, in our opinion, should be such as to promote a satisfactory adjustment of our international relations. At the same time, we recognize our obligation to our nation to use the weapons to help save American lives in the Japanese war.……(2) The opinions of our scientific colleagues on the initial use of these weapons are not unanimous: they range from the proposal of a purely technical demonstration to that of the military application best designed to induce surrender. Those who advocate a purely technical demonstration would wish to outlaw the use of atomic weapons, and have feared that if we use the weapons now our position in future negotiations will be prejudiced. Others emphasize the opportunity of saving American lives by immediate military use, and believe that such use will improve the international prospects, in that they are more concerned with the prevention of war than with the elimination of this specific weapon. We find ourselves closer to these latter views; we can propose no technical demonstration likely to bring an end to the war; we see no acceptable alternative to direct military use.…..Source: U. S. National Archives, Record Group 77, Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, Manhattan

Engineer District, Harrison-Bundy File, Folder #76.

Document 3: Petition to the President of the United States, July 17, 1945. Drafted by Leo Szilard and signed by 68 members of the Metallurgical Laboratory in Chicago

Document(s) 4: Truman makes the decision

Harry S. Truman, Diary, July 25, 1945

President Truman told his diary on July 25, 1945, that he had ordered the bomb used. Emphasis has been added to highlight Truman's apparent belief that he had ordered the bomb dropped on a "purely military" target, so that "military objectives and soldiers and sailors are the target and not women and children."

We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world. It may be the fire destruction prophesied in the Euphrates Valley Era, after Noah and his fabulous Ark.Anyway we "think" we have found the way to cause a disintegration of the atom. An experiment in the New Mexico desert was startling - to put it mildly. Thirteen pounds of the explosive caused the complete disintegration of a steel tower 60 feet high, created a crater 6 feet deep and 1,200 feet in diameter, knocked over a steel tower 1/2 mile away and knocked men down 10,000 yards away. The explosion was visible for more than 200 miles and audible for 40 miles and more.This weapon is to be used against Japan between now and August 10th. I have told the Sec. of War, Mr. Stimson, to use it so that military objectives and soldiers and sailors are the target and not women and children. Even if the Japs are savages, ruthless, merciless and fanatic, we as the leader of the world for the common welfare cannot drop that terrible bomb on the old capital or the new. He and I are in accord. The target will be a purely military one and we will issue a warning statement asking the Japs to surrender and save lives. I'm sure they will not do that, but we will have given them the chance. It is certainly a good thing for the world that Hitler's crowd or Stalin's did not discover this atomic bomb. It seems to be the most terrible thing ever discovered, but it can be made the most useful...

Truman quoted in Robert H. Ferrell, Off the Record: The Private Papers of Harry S. Truman (New York: Harper and Row, 1980) pp. 55-56. Truman's writings are in the public domain.

Handwritten Truman’s handwritten order, July 30, 1945. Harry S. Truman Administration, Elsey Papers.

DOCUMENT 4: “Eye Witness Account”: My A-bomb experience and the Spirit of Hiroshima (condensed excerpt)- Miyoko MatsubaraAt 8:15 a.m., August 1945, when a single atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, I was 12 years old and a student in the first year of junior high school... I was working with 250 classmates that day, and I am one of about fifty who survived….So, let me tell you what happened that August 6… One of my good friends, Takiko Funaoka, suddenly shouted, "I hear a B-29!" …. I quickly dropped to the ground. At the same moment, I heard a roar so deafening it seemed to shake the very foundations of the Earth. The force of the blast was tremendous, and I instantly thought the bomb must have fallen directly on me…. When I regained consciousness, that bright red Hiroshima had turned black. The air was so clogged with dirt it was impossible to see….I stood up and gazed around in utter shock and amazement…. All that remained of my shirt now were some tatters over my chest. Also, my skirt had been reduced to the elastic band and some pieces hanging like rags from my hips. I stood there in my dust-darkened undershirt and underpants. The tops of my feet were so burnt and swollen I thought they would burst. I realized that my hands, arms, legs and face - more than a third of my body -were severely burned. The burns were so severe my skin had swollen and was peeling off like slippery cellophane strips, exposing the bright red flesh underneath. The skin of my fingers and arms dangled here and there like rags. It was a sickly yellow flecked red with fresh blood. Terrified by my injuries, I was suddenly seized by the desire to get back to my family. I ran off, forgetting completely the heat and the pain, heading for where I might find people, falling and crawling in the dark over the rubble, desperate to get home…I finally reached the foot of a bridge. I was astonished at the number of wounded gathered on the banks seeking refuge - young people, old people, their clothes burned off their bodies by the heat rays, then- faces blackened by dirt, blood pouring from their wounds. Some were charred completely black; only their white teeth seemed visible. Many walked or ran along as if possessed, the flesh of their faces horribly exposed….I'm not sure how many days had passed since the bombing when my temperature suddenly shot up to nearly 40 degrees. My stools were bloody, my gums bled, and my hair began falling out, leaving me half-bald. This went on for about ten days, and at one point led me so close to death I drifted off into unconsciousness. During the 55 years since I was exposed to the A-bomb, I have lived in continual battle with the scars that bomb left on my mind and body. It was not until 1954 that I was able to return to an active role in society, and that was because I found a job as a houseparent for blind children.

The dropping of the atomic bomb was not merely an act of war. When those bombs destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the human race stepped into the nuclear age. Today, we still have more than enough nuclear weapons to kill every creature on Earth many times over.

Source: http://www.proiectask.org/Hiroshimaystory.pdf

DOCUMENT 5: 8/9/45: Excerpt from public statement by President Truman. This was the second time he had publicly given reasons for using the atomic bomb on Japan: "The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because we wished in this first attack to avoid, insofar as possible, the killing of civilians. But that attack is only a warning of things to come. If Japan does not surrender, bombs will have to be dropped on her war industries and, unfortunately, thousands of civilian lives will be lost. "Having found the bomb we have used it. We have used it against those who attacked us without warning at Pearl Harbor, against those who have starved and beaten and executed American prisoners of war, against those who have abandoned all pretense of obeying international laws of warfare. We have used it in order to shorten the agony of war, in order to save the lives of thousands and thousands of young Americans. "We shall continue to use it until we completely destroy Japan's power to make war. Only a Japanese surrender will stop us." (Public Papers of the Presidents, Harry S. Truman, 1945, pg. 212).

Document 5: From: Transcript of "OPERATION DOWNFALL [US invasion of Japan]:  US PLANS AND JAPANESE COUNTER-MEASURES" by D. M. Giangreco, US Army Command and General Staff College, 16 February 1998

The sudden and unanticipated conclusion of the Pacific War with the dropping of atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was greeted with joy by all Americans, and especially by the more than three and a half million soldiers, sailors and Marines slated to invade Japan.   These forces were not only to come from the Pacific;  First Army, which had pummeled its way from Normandy to the heart of Germany, and Eighth Air Force, based in England, were on the way as well…  As James Jones later wrote: "What it must have been like to some old-timer buck sergeant . . . [knowing] that he very likely had survived this far only to fall dead in the dirt ofJapan's Home Islands, hardly bears thinking about."

MacArthur's staff had twice come up with figures exceeding 100,000 casualties for the opening months of combat on the southern island of Kyushu

Unit 11- World War 2 / Cold War Name:___________________

Notes on arguments for and against the U.S. dropping the atomic bomb on Japan (10 points)

As we watch the videos in class, and based on the 6 documents, please write down notes on specific arguments supporting and against the thesis. Please label each point with where it came from (M- movie, #-number of the document.)

*****Each source must be labeled at least once in the chart for full credit!(Use extra paper if necessary)

THESIS: The United States was justified in their decision to use atomic weapons against the Japanese to end World War II.Support for the THESIS Arguments against the thesis

THESIS: The United States was justified in their decision to use atomic

weapons against the Japanese to end World War II.Support for the THESIS Arguments against the thesis

Take a stance. Consider the following questions in deciding whether or not you feel the U.S. was justified in dropping the atomic bomb to end World War 2:

Is “collateral damage” (civilian deaths) ever acceptable in war? Is using a nuclear bomb any different than firebombing cities? Is either justifiable? Were lives (American and/or Japanese) actually saved? What were the other options? Was this necessary? What would the post-war consequences be? Was this a message to the USSR? Was “Pandora’s Box”

opened (once used, can the U.S. argue against its use by others?)

5 pts: Your stance. Having collected evidence for both sides of the argument, do you agree or disagree with the decision to drop the bomb? Support your stance with 3 specific reasons, stating what sources they came from.

Do you agree or disagree?_____________________________________3 Reasons for your stance:

1-

2-

3-

Notes on the debate:

Your side’s arguments: Other side’s arguments:

American Studies Name:_____________________________ Period:__

Unit 11: World War 2 / Cold War

Dropping the bomb: R.A.F.T. Assessment- DUE Tuesday, May 10Role: Military advisor to President Truman, July 1945

Audience: President Truman, Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces

Format: Recommendation letter on military action

Topic: Truman has asked you to prepare a recommendation on whether or not to use atomic weapons on Japan

Your RAFT must:

(10 points): include an EXPLANATION of two key arguments in favor of using the bomb

(10 points): include an EXPLANATION of two key arguments against using the bomb

(5 points): state your recommendation to the president, defending why you believe this is the right course of action

GRADE:

______________10- arguments identified from film, article, documents (T-chart on reverse side)

______________25- RAFT letter to Harry S Truman

SCORE: ______________ /35

NAME:________________________________________________

Having watched the videos and read the documents, please identify, in complete sentences using specific language, the 3 key arguments (whether you agree with them or not) affirming (supporting) AND negating the statement,

The United States was justified in their decision to use atomic weapons against the Japanese to end World War II.

Three key arguments affirming statement: Three key arguments negating statement

On the back, in a paragraph, explain whether you believe the United States was justified in dropping atomic bombs on Japan.

NAME:________________________________________________

Having watched the videos and read the documents, please identify, in complete sentences using specific language, the 3 key arguments (whether you agree with them or not) affirming (supporting) AND negating the statement,

The United States was justified in their decision to use atomic weapons against the Japanese to end World War II.

Three key arguments affirming statement: Three key arguments negating statement

On the back, in a paragraph, explain whether you believe the United States was justified in dropping atomic bombs on Japan.