Question

Should the atomic bomb have been used on Japan? Why or why not? Support your claim with evidence from the lesson.

Answer 1

This is mostly a question that can only be answered by how you feel about the decision.

If you think we should have used the bomb, a few reasons include the same ones that Truman went through to justify it -- that it saved American lives and ended the war faster.

If you don't think it was justified, you can probably say that it was because of the terrible side effects -- the fallout from the radiation, the burn victims, the horror of the survivors maimed by the explosion, the vast number of civilian dead.

Either way, it really depends on how you personally feel about which was the best reason. It's not asking for a "right or wrong" answer -- scholars, teachers, etc.. have been debating the decision to drop the bomb for years. It's just asking what you think personally and to lay down the reasons why. Only YOUR answer is the right answer.