America's Entry Into Ww2 Analysis

America’s Entry into WWII
History 102 American History from 1877
Professor Michael Sullivan
December 2, 2012

America’s decision to join World War II was forced upon them December 7, 1941, by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. In the words of President Roosevelt in his speech to the U.S. Congress delivered December 8, 1941, “No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory”1 Congress concurred with President Roosevelt and declared war on Japan. Knowing that this war would be inevitable after the attack on Pearl Harbor, why would Japan choose to awaken this sleeping giant and just how far would America be willing to go to obtain
“Truman himself felt it was right to proceed with the plan to drop the bomb. He had three main reasons for this: first, the bomb would bring the war to an end; second, it would keep the U.S.S.R. out of Asia; and third, it would test America’s new technology”2. Truman was also warned by Henry L. Stimson the U.S. secretary of war that if President Truman chooses to invade Japan it could cost him the lives of an additional 500,000 American soldiers1. At the Potsdam Conference President Truman and the Allies “secured an agreement that the U.S.S.R. would not enter the conflict in the Pacific until after August 15”2. Although Truman wanted to end the war, he wanted to do so quickly and without the aid of the U.S.S.R; Truman feared the U.S.S.R. “would seek to gain control of the region once Japan had been defeated”2. President Truman believed that the atomic bomb, if used, could have the potential of solving two problems at once: first, it would finish the war with Japan; second, it would “deal with
Peace, however, would not be agreed upon. The Japanese rebuffed the Potsdam Declaration. “Japanese Prime Minister Suzuki rejected the Declaration at a press conference on July 28. He said the Japanese government ‘did not find any important value in it’”1. After this rebuff President Truman was certain “the bombing of Hiroshima was certain to go ahead”1. Hiroshima was chosen as the first city that the atomic bomb would be dropped on for several reasons. Hiroshima was home to over 43,000 Japanese soldiers and it was filled with factories producing military hardware2. The terrain of Hiroshima was also ideal, being relatively flat, for the site of the initial bomb. The first atomic bomb, the Little Boy, was loaded onto the Enola Gay August 6, 1945. “The bomb was dropped at exactly 8:15 a.m., Japanese time”3. The Little Boy instantly “killed about 70,000 people in a blinding flash of heat and radiation”. Many more would die from the effects of the bomb in the years to follow. As Enola Gay flew away from Hiroshima copilot Captain Robert Lewis wrote in his log, “My God, what have we done?” Even now, knowing why the decision was made to drop the atomic bomb, I’m not completely sure that any American can answer Captain Lewis’