Why the US was justified in dropping the atomic bomb

On August 6 and August 9, 1945 the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. After Japan refused to surrender when the US sent them a declaration asking them to or to face mass destruction, the President had to go to desperate measures to get Japan to finally surrender. There are many reasons why the United States felt it was necessary to do such a destructive thing as dropping an atomic bomb. The United States was justified in dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki because they bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States wanted to end the war.

            One reason why the United States felt it necessary to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki is because they bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. After establishing a truce with the United States Japan went ahead and surprise bombed Pearl Harbor. On December 7, 1941 2,335 service men and 68 civilians were killed in the bombing of Pearl Harbor. 1,178 people were wounded. The day after President Roosevelt asked congress to declare war on Japan. Being that Japan betrayed the United States, this is one of the reasons why President Truman decided to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

            Another reason why President Truman dropped atomic bombs on Japan is because he wanted to make the United States appear strong and powerful. By dropping atomic bombs it shows how advanced the United States’ weapons are and that we will not hesitate to use them when necessary. Other countries began to see the United States as a country to look out for and not to mess with. No one knows exactly how many atomic bombs the US has in their possession and other countries became scared to find out.

            President Truman believed that dropping atomic bombs on Japan would lead to Japan’s surrender, he was right. By dropping the atomic bombs, Japan was forced into surrendering. This put an easy end to the war for the US, but a devastating end to the war for Japan. If the United States had not bombed Japan the war would have gone on for several more years or until another country developed a weapon as powerful as the atomic bomb and used it. President Truman was justified in dropping the atomic bomb on Japan because of those reasons.