"The Most Terrible Weapon": The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb
- Rosie Jayde Uyola
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Target: I can evaluate President Harry Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb by comparing his military justification to the devastating aftermath of the weapon.
Key Vocabulary
The Manhattan Project: The top-secret U.S. government scientific program that developed the first atomic bombs during WWII.
President Harry S. Truman: The President who took over after FDR died. He made the final decision to use the atomic bombs against Japan.
Hiroshima & Nagasaki: The two Japanese cities completely destroyed by the atomic bombs in August 1945, which directly led to Japan's surrender.
Unconditional Surrender: Giving up completely without making any demands or requests. Japan refused to do this, leading Truman to authorize the bombings.
Casualties: People killed or injured in a war. Truman feared that invading Japan on foot would result in over a million American casualties.
Part 1: Do Now (5 minutes)
Directions: Read the prompt below and write a 5-8 sentence response.
Prompt: Imagine your school district is facing a massive budget crisis that will force hundreds of your favorite teachers to be fired, sports programs to be cut, and class sizes to double. This will cause years of misery for your community. You discover a legal but highly controversial accounting trick that will instantly solve the crisis and save your school. However, using this trick will completely bankrupt a neighboring, rival district, causing all their teachers to lose their jobs and their school to close down instead. Do you use the trick to save your own people, knowing it will cause complete devastation to others? Explain the heavy moral burden of having to choose who suffers. |
Sentence Starter: If I had to make this choice, I would (use/not use) the trick because... The moral burden of this choice is heavy because no matter what I do...
Part 2: Analyzing the Sources
Directions: Analyze the two documents below and then answer the questions that follow.
Source 1: President Harry S. Truman, Radio Address to the Nation (August 9, 1945)
Context: After dropping the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, President Truman spoke to the American public to explain why he authorized the use of such a terrifying new weapon.
Original Text | Simplified Text |
"The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because we wished in this first attack to avoid, insofar as possible, the killing of civilians. But that attack is only a warning of things to come... We have used it in order to shorten the agony of war, in order to save the lives of thousands and thousands of young Americans. We shall continue to use it until we completely destroy Japan's power to make war." | "The world should notice that we dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, which is a military base. We did this because we wanted to avoid killing civilians (regular citizens) as much as possible. But this first bomb is just a warning... We used this weapon to quickly end the pain of the war, and to save the lives of thousands and thousands of young American soldiers. We will keep using it until Japan's ability to fight is completely destroyed." |
Source 2: Photograph - The Aftermath of Hiroshima (1945)
Context: Despite Truman's claim that Hiroshima was a "military base," it was a major city. The bomb instantly killed an estimated 70,000-80,000 people, the vast majority of whom were civilians.
Description: The photograph shows the absolute leveling of the city of Hiroshima. What was once a busy, densely populated city is now miles of flat, scorched earth, ash, and rubble.
Only a few concrete building frames remain standing in the distance. The image illustrates the unprecedented, apocalyptic power of the new weapon to erase an entire city in a single second.
Analysis Questions
Directions: Answer the writing questions and the two Multiple Choice questions.
1. According to Source 1, what are President Truman's two main justifications (reasons) for dropping the atomic bomb?
Sentence Starter: According to the speech, Truman justifies dropping the bomb to quickly end... and to save the lives of...
2. Look at Source 2. How does the photograph of the destroyed city complicate Truman’s claim in Source 1 that the U.S. "wished to avoid the killing of civilians"?
Sentence Starter: The photograph complicates Truman's claim because it shows that the bomb destroyed... This makes it clear that avoiding civilian deaths was impossible because...
Regents-Style Multiple Choice
3. President Harry Truman’s decision to use atomic bombs against Japan was primarily based on his belief that:
(1) An invasion of Japan would result in massive American casualties
(2) Germany would refuse to surrender until Japan was defeated
(3) An alliance was forming between Japan and the Soviet Union
(4) Japan was developing its own nuclear weapons
4. The development of the atomic bomb during the Manhattan Project had which major post-WWII effect?
(1) It led to the immediate dismantling of the U.S. military.
(2) It started a dangerous nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union.
(3) It caused the United States to return to a policy of strict isolationism.
(4) It led to the creation of the League of Nations.
Part 3: Exit Ticket (5 minutes)
Directions: Answer the following prompt in a complete paragraph (5-8 sentences).
Prompt: Using evidence from both sources, evaluate President Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb. Why did he believe it was necessary (Source 1), and what was the horrifying reality of that decision (Source 2)? |
Sentence Starter: President Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb remains one of the most debated choices in history. He believed it was necessary because, as he stated in Source 1, it would save... and quickly force Japan to... However, Source 2 reveals the horrifying reality of this choice. The photograph shows that the weapon did not just hit a military base; it completely... This leaves us to question whether saving American soldiers justified the total destruction of...