Should the United States Have Dropped the Atomic Bomb?.
On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The bomb killed "some 80,000 people in a flash and left about 120,000 more to die an agonizing death from burns and radiation- (Bulliet, pg. 797). The city was utterly destroyed. All that was seen standing were the skeletons of a few concrete buildings. On August 9th another atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. The same type of destruction was seen afterwards in this city. The Japanese then surrendered on August 14, 1945. Should the United Stated have dropped the atomic bombs? Many people had different views about the necessity of this bombing. Two opposing opinions about this topic are shown within The Human Record. The Committee on the Social and Political Implications of Atomic Energy, chaired by James Franck, wrote the first insert entitled "Scientists' Warnings on Atomic Warfare: The Franck Report."" The Franck Report was the committee's recommendations crystallizing the group's fear about atomic warfare. The report was sent to Washington, and it was urging President Roosevelt, and then later his successor President Truman, to refrain from using the atomic bomb militarily. The second insert is called "The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb."" This article was originally published in Harper's Magazine and was written by Henry L. Stimson, the chair of the Interim Committee. "It focused on the work of the Interim Committee and the reasons why Stimson advised President Truman to drop the bombs on Japan without warning- (Andrea/Overfield, pg. 418). .
In "The Frank Report- many points are argued as to why atomic warfare should not be used. The Committee on the Social and Political Implications of Atomic Energy claimed that they needed to take a more active stand against the use of the atomic bomb because this weapon is more dangerous and destructive then any weapon yet produced.
