1. To Bomb? Or Not to Bomb?

2. Yes, we should drop the bomb…
The Japanese had shown near fanatical resistance, fighting to almost the last man on the Pacific islands, committing mass suicide on Saipan and unleashing kamikaze attacks at Okinawa. Fire bombing had killed 100,000 in Tokyo with no noticeable political effect. Only the atomic bomb could jolt Japan’s leadership to surrender.

3. Dead at Bataan

7. No, we should not drop the bomb…
Japan was ready to call it quits anyways. More than 60 of its cities had been destroyed by conventional bombing, the home islands were being blockaded by the American Navy, and the Soviets entered the war by attacking Japanese troops in Manchuria.

8. After firebombing… Bombers over the cities…

16. Soviets entering Manchuria

17. Yes, we need to drop the bomb…
With only two bombs ready, it was too risky to “waste” one in a demonstration over an unpopulated area.

18. No, the bomb was not necessary…
America refused to adjust its “unconditional surrender” demand to allow the Japanese to keep their emperor. Since their emperor was like a God to them, this prolonged their resistance.

20. Yes…
An invasion of Japan would have caused deaths on both sides that could easily have exceeded the death toll at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

21. No…
A demonstration explosion over Tokyo harbor would have convinced Japan’s leaders to quit without killing many people.

22. Yes…
The two targeted cities would have been firebombed anyways.

23. No…
Even if Hiroshima was necessary, the United States did not give enough time for word to filter out of its devastation before they bombed Nagasaki!

24. Yes…
Immediate use of the bomb convinced the world of its horror and prevented future use as countries created huge stockpiles (the peak number of nuclear bombs and warheads stockpiled at a given time was 32,193 in 1966).

25. No…
Did we drop it to justify the 2 billion dollars spent on its development? How many zeros is that… 20,000,000,000?

26. Yes…
The bomb’s use impressed the Soviet Union and halted the war quickly enough that they did not demand joint occupation of Japan.

27. No…
The two cities were of hardly any military value. Civilians outnumbered troops in Hiroshima five or six to one.
Japanese lives were sacrificed in the political power struggle between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
The U.S. bears the weight of being the first to use this weapon. Regular firebombing techniques could have caused as much damage.

28. Paul Tibbets, pilot of the Enola Gay, which dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945.

30. A Uranium bomb, the first nuclear weapon in the world, was dropped in Hiroshima City. It was estimated that its energy was equivalent to 15 kilotons of TNT. Aerial photograph from 80 kilometers away, taken about 1 hour after the dropping.

32. Ohmura Navy Hospital: A 14 year old girl after the bombing of Hiroshima at Ohmura Navy Hospital on August

42. A Church in Nagasaki

51. VIDEO CLIP 16 MIN DESKTOP 08-09 VIDEOS WWII HOLOCAUST
PROFILES OF COURAGE AND CONTROVERSY: THE ATOMIC BOMB

52. Now, what do you think?
Write a persuasive letter to President Truman convincing him to either go ahead with the bombing or to change his mind.
Essay will be graded on 6 traits.
Essay must be at least 4 paragraphs.
Persuasion DEPENDS on strong vocabulary and excellent word choice as well as a strong belief.
Use Block Format for the letter