Download Should the United States have dropped the atomic bomb on Japan?

Should the United States have
dropped the atomic bomb on
Japan?
WWII
• 1941
– U.S. joins the war
• 1944
– most Axis Powers
surrender (gave up)
– Japanese continue to
fight
• April 12, 1945
– FDR dies
– Vice President, Harry
S. Truman becomes
President of U.S.
A
B
C/
Place/Event
Dates
C
People
Approximate # of
People Dead
D
Time
Approximate # of
Days
People Murdered
Per
Day
Trail of Tears
(US)
October 1838 March 1839
4,000
180
22
Chelmo
(Nazi Concentration
Camp)
Dec. 1941 – March
1943
June 1944 – July 1944
150,000
480
313
Belzec
(Nazi Concentration
Camp)
May 1942 - August
1943
600,000
480
1,250
1,250,000
1,350
926 (Low Estimate)
4,000,000
1,350
2,963 (High Estimate)
D
Auschwitz
(Nazi Concentration
Camp)
September 1941 –
May 1945
Hutus and Tutsis
(Rwanda)
April 1994 – July 1994
800,000
100
8,000
Nagasaki
August 9, 1945
40,000
1
40,000
Hiroshima
August 6, 1945
100,000
1
100,000
Atomic Bomb
• Manhattan Project
– top secret attempt of scientist
from the U.S. and Europe to
create a weapon to stop
Germany and Japan during
World War II.
• 1944
– U.S. creates a successful atomic
bomb
– Capable of destroying everything
in sight
• 1945
– Truman agrees to drop the
Atomic Bomb on Japan
August 1945
• August 6, 1945
– First Atomic Bomb dropped
on Hiroshima
• August 9, 1945
– Second Atomic Bomb
dropped on Nagasaki
– JAPANESE SURRENDER!
Should the U.S. drop the Atomic
Bomb?
• Read through the reasons for and against
the atomic bomb?
• What do you think?
• Why?
Immediate Effects of the Bomb
•
•
•
•
•
•
Ranging from purple spots on the skin
Hair loss
Nausea (vomiting)
Bleeding from the mouth, gums, and throat
Weakened immune systems
Massive internal hemorrhaging (internal
bleeding)
• Disfiguring (mutilate) radiation burns
• Killed or permanently damaged fetuses in the
womb.
Long Term Effects
Medical Findings




“An irreversible (permanent) injury”
remains in cells, tissues, and
organs, leading to such blood
disorders as leukemia, and other
cancers are “related to exposure to
the atomic bomb.”
Increased eye damage, called
“atomic bomb cataracts” due to long
exposure (contact) to radiation.
Children who were subjected to
radiation while still in womb are
shown to have small bodies and
heads were common…some
children were “emotionally and
intellectually retarded” into
adulthood.
Deaths from leukemia among
exposed survivors had been
increasing.
Social Effects


“A-bomb damage” includes…”social
disintegration” and “psychological
and spiritual shock.”
“Victims suffer constant anxiety,”
leading to loss of jobs, disintegration
(breakup) of families and personality
breakdowns.
“Answering the Aim”
• Based on the facts, do you think the
United States should have dropped the
bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?