Was America right to drop the atomic bombs on Japan 
Was America right to drop the atomic bombs on Japan? Having explored the evidence I believe that America was justified in dropping the first atomic bomb but not the second. The reasons as to why I believe this will be explored in this essay. Near the end of WW2, two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. The first on the 6th of August 1945 on Hiroshima and the second on the 9th August on Nagasaki. This was carried out under the order of Harry S. Truman, the American president at the time. In Europe the war was mainly over, but in Asia Japan still prevailed. America was contemplating a full scale invasion of Japan following the attack on Pearl Harbour however this was not executed as the atomic bombs were dropped instead. The main reason as to why the first bomb can be justified but not the second is that although Japan was seeking a negotiated peace, they were not prepared to agree to the Potsdam Declaration as they were against the terms provided. This suggests that something had to be done otherwise Japan was not going to surrender and the terms were not going to be changed, therefore in order to achieve peace and to prevent the continuance of the war, the bomb on Hiroshima was necessary and can be justified.
Furthermore, the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima which was the location of a Japanese army base and was not specifically aimed to kill civilians as it was only meant as a warning. Although Hiroshima did kill approximately 66,000 people, as it was the first testing of an atomic bomb in history, the Americans did not understand the full impact that this bomb would have and did not expect it to harm as many civilians as it did. It can be argued that if America did not understand the implications that the bomb would have, they shouldn’t have dropped it. However, I believe that as Japan was not prepared to surrender and as the war was dragging on, the bomb on Hiroshima was the right course of action to undertake as ultimately it killed less people than it
Furthermore, the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima which was the location of a Japanese army base and was not specifically aimed to kill civilians as it was only meant as a warning. Although Hiroshima did kill approximately 66,000 people, as it was the first testing of an atomic bomb in history, the Americans did not understand the full impact that this bomb would have and did not expect it to harm as many civilians as it did. It can be argued that if America did not understand the implications that the bomb would have, they shouldn’t have dropped it. However, I believe that as Japan was not prepared to surrender and as the war was dragging on, the bomb on Hiroshima was the right course of action to undertake as ultimately it killed less people than it