Thesis statement: Though many speculate that the act of dropping the atomic bomb on Japan (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) while not doing so on Europe (Germany and Italy) was racially motivated, racism played little to no role in these bombings. The United States of America and her allies were willing to end World War II at any cost, had the atomic bombs been available they would have been deployed in Europe. In the 1940’s there is no doubt that the United States of America was engulfed by mass anti-Japanese hysteria which inevitably bled over into America’s foreign policy. During this period Japanese people living in both Japan and the United States of America were seen as less that human. Japanese-Americans living on the west coast were savagely and unjustifiably uprooted from their daily lives. These Japanese-Americans were pulled from their jobs, schools, and home only to be pushed to …show more content…
The alternative for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his advisors was doing nothing and letting Nazi Germany develop atomic power and going on to use it to conquer the world. The United States of America wanted to end World War II on both the Atlantic and Pacific fronts and needed the quickest possible method to do so. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s advisors concluded that hundreds of thousands of American lives would be lost on an assault on the island of Japan. The U.S. Armed Forces was over 16,000,000 strong and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s main motive for dropping the atom bombs was to save American lives.5 The fact of the matter is World War II was started by the Axis powers which were Germany, Italy and Japan. The Axis powers alone turned Europe upside down. The Axis powers main goal was to conquer the world. Germany was set to own Europe, Italy to gain Africa as well as other little parts of Europe, and Japan was set to rule all of Asia. They signed their steel pact treaty and began
As opposed to righteous view that America was safeguarding its position in the war, the Japanese American internments were created out of resentment and racial prejudice fostered by other Americans. As the article “Personal Justice Denied” stated, the internments were led by “widespread ignorance of Japanese Americans contributed to a policy conceived in haste and executed in an atmosphere of fear and anger at Japan” (Doc E, 1983). It may seem like a precautionary cause to make internments but there aren’t any other extreme measures for other fronts. Caused by a hatred stirred by media and society’s view, many people disdain the Japanese.
In 1945, Japan was losing World War Two, but was split between surrendering or fighting till the end. As they chose to fight instead of surrender, that is when Harry Truman was notified about the successful test of the “most terrible bomb in history”. Multiple hours were spent doing research, and billions of dollars were used for its production. Since an atomic bomb is serious the heat released in a nuclear explosion creates a sphere of burning gas that can range from hundreds of feet. Since Harry Truman was president at the time it was his decision whether or not he was going to use the bomb to end the war.
Atomic Bombs DBQ Imagine you are a WWII pilot that is about to drop an enormous atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. What are your thoughts? On August 6th and August 9th, 1945, two atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
Japanese living in the United states during World War II were faced with challenges that no other citizens or ‘aliens’ would have faced simply because they were of Japanese descent. The United States had no reason or real issue to enter in World War II. However, after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor suspicions against those of Japanese descent rose. “The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 came as a shattering blow to the United States- but it should not have come as a complete surprise”(Grolier.pg.36). Prior to this attack there was no threat felt by America or its residents from the Japanese.
Was America right to use atomic weapons against Japan? The dropping of the atomic bomb in Japan at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was the end of WWII. However, there has been much conflict considering the use of the bomb. In this essay, I will discuss reasons from both sides of the argument and justify my opinion.
Whilst the Japanese were being sent to the camps, many people on the west coast were hanging racist signs in storefronts and neighborhoods giving the obvious notice that Japs were not welcome. This attitude of hatred is what caused the poor conditions of the internment camps on the west coast, carried out and justified by the idea that the white Americans were better than the Japanese Americans due to the suspicion of espionage. The Japanese Americans were thought of as spies therefor they were thrown into internment camps where the discriminatory attitude of western Americans brought upon their unjust treatment. The pressure of WWII caused the American government to make unecessary precautions in hopes of protecting a nation when they in fact they divided it.
Due to the increasing fear of a Japanese attack on the West Coast, Lt. General John L. Dewitt recommended that all people of Japanese descent living in America be removed to the interior of the country. In the article “An American Tragedy: The Internment of Japanese-Americans During World War II” by Norman Y. Mineta, former US Secretary of Transportation, Dewitt backed up his suggestion with rumors that “ethnic Japanese on the West Coast were signaling Japanese ships out in the Pacific ocean” and they “had stockpiled numerous rounds of ammunition and weapons” (Mineta 161). In order to combat this threat in case of enemy invasion, the camps would detain the Japanese Americans so they cannot aid the enemy. The warped logic used to imprison 110,000 people purely based on ethnic background was convincing enough to the American people that they didn’t even question
In the twentieth century, the United States dropped two atomic bombs, which were the most powerful weapons at that time, on Japan. It happened on August 6 and August 9, 1945. The atomic bombs killed 226,000 Japanese and ended the war. However, America should not have dropped the atomic bombs for two reasons. First, it was not necessary to drop the bomb to win the war militarily or to get the Japanese to surrender.
After the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S. citizens feared another Japanese attack. They began to believe false rumors that Japanese Americans were sabotaging the United States by mining coastal harbors and poisoning vegetables. A wave of prejudice against Japanese Americans had risen from U.S. fear and uncertainty, eventually resulting in the internment, or confinement of Japanese Americans, where they were rounded up and shipped to “relocation centers” (Danzer et al. 800). Pearl Harbor paranoia from the United States caused Japanese Americans to struggle for change and
As all the world has known, the biggest atomic bomb in warfare history by the end of World War 2 is the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima that hit on August 9th, 1945 by the direct order of our 33rd president of The United States Of America; Harry S. Truman. He thought this bomb would bring a close ending of the war (World War 2) and it definitely did but it was too much to handle afterwards when it hit. There was no choice for Truman because there was no other way to bring the war into a close. It was the last call, but they didn’t realize that after they released the bomb, it was hard to decide whether it was a mistake or the right decision. The bomb killed innocent people of 199,000 (plus more).
One reason why the U.S government’s decision was not justifiable is because many of the Japanese-Americans were innocent people who legally received their American citizenship. For example, in Monica Sone’s “Camp Harmony”,
President Harry Truman gave an executive order in 1945 to drop to atomic bombs in popular downtown cities in Japan. With the guidance of many scientists and political leaders President Truman made the extremely tough decision to drop the bombs. After listening to arguments from both sides President Truman came to the conclusion that dropping bombs would be the best thing to do for this war. It would also show that the United States had an extreme military power. Many American politicians were for the idea of dropping the bomb, because they believed that it was the only way to end the war and get Japan to surrender.
Abstract Imagine not being able to walk outside at night or having to sell your possessions and abandon your home to spend years behind barbed wire—even though you’d done nothing wrong. For Japanese Americans during World War II, this scenario was reality. The freedom they once had is now gone, as they are put into concentration camps no longer in their home. Now having to line up for meals and to do laundry, thing you did before on a normal basis, while being hovered over. The internment of Japanese Americans in the U.S. was the act of forcing those of Japanese decent to relocation and incarcerating them during World War II.
As a result, all Japanese were discriminated in the U.S.A. as biased perceptions were already set in their minds. They were judging the Japanese as the whole, just because the attack of a small part of the
The U.S. government did the right thing when they dropped the atomic bomb on Japan. The dropping of the bomb was necessary and justified because the Japanese first bomb Pearl Harbor. The Japanese military was killing thousands of Americans and showed no sign of surrender. During World War II the American bombed two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Japanese military was growing stronger and showed no sign of surrendering. Just a few weeks before the dropping of the atomic bombs 123,000 Japanese and Americans killed each other in Okinawa.