Atomic Bomb Persuasive Essay

Sean Stelmach
Mr. Seely
Language Arts 8- 6
6 April 2023
Should we have dropped the Atomic Bomb? President Harry S. Truman would have to make a decision that would change the course of history forever. Bomb is a novel about the past, production, and use of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It tells the story of the race to build the most deadly weapon in history. The novel describes the motives and aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The people of the United States are split into two sides. One side supports the decision to drop the bomb, and the other does not. Truman made the correct decision to drop the bomb because American prisoners were treated inhumanely in Japan. It saved countless American and Japanese

The author emphasizes that “The Japanese military has done terrible things throughout Asia. They raped women, forced others to become sexual slaves, murdered civilians, and tortured and executed prisoners” (“Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb” 1). Japan has committed horrible atrocities throughout Asia. These horrible things acted as a motive for the United States to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. The author elaborates, “American prisoners were treated inhumanely, They were force-marched back up the peninsula toward trains and a POW camp beyond. They were beaten, deprived of food & water, tortured, buried alive, and executed” (“Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb” 4). If the atomic bomb were never dropped, then the Japanese military would have kept fighting. The number of casualties from this prolonged conflict would have been exponentially higher than the casualties from the bomb. Japanese soldiers and officials committed heinous crimes by torturing, executing, and burying alive American prisoners of war. The Japanese military has a history of raping women, making them sexual slaves, and murdering civilians throughout Asia. Using the atomic bomb would force them to surrender and end these atrocities, and the

The other side states, “The League of Nations issued a unanimous decision to outlaw the act of international bombing” (“Reasons against dropping the Atomic Bomb” 9). The League of Nations outlawed international bombing. People against the bomb stated that the use of the bomb was illegal at this point, but the U.S. was not in the League of Nations, therefore it does not apply to them. The article says, “The bomb was dropped on August 6 and 9. The next day, the Japanese requested a halting of the war. On August 14 Emperor Hirohito announced to the Japanese people that they would surrender” (“Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb” 14). The United States dropping the atomic bomb on Japan was the reason for its surrender. They knew that they could not risk the chance of another bomb being dropped. It was imminent that they would lose the war. People against the atomic bomb say that the act of international bombing that the U.S. did was illegal. This is untrue because it was outlawed by the League of Nations, a group that the U.S. was not in. The League of Nations was disbanded in 1941, so this argument is entirely flawed. The reason for the immediate surrender of Japan was the atomic bomb. It put an early end to World War 2. To conclude, it is obvious that the decision to drop the bomb was