The Three Websites That I Used For My Research Are:
CSIS
This website is credible because it ends in ".org". Also, located on the bottom of the page is all the contact information that you need to contact the CSIS, which is the owner of the website. They have the phone number, fax number, and address. The copyright at the bottom was also copyrighted in 2014, showing that the information was posted fairly recently.
US History.org
To begin with, this website has the ".org" extension. At the bottom of the page, it also has the copyright date which is 2008-2014. All of the links on the website also work.
History.co.uk
This website has a ".uk" domain suffix. So initially the website isn't completely credible. However, I looked into it further, and the website is considered credible. At the bottom of the page, there is contact information for the website, they have a terms and conditions page, a privacy, and an "About Us" page. Also, all of the links work and it is the official website for the History Channel in the UK.
What I Learned!
On August 6, 1945, President Harry Truman told the world that an atomic bomb had been dropped in the Japanese city of Hiroshima(Website #1). The bomb had a power of over 20,000 tons of TNT and destroyed most of Hiroshima. It killed an estimated 130,000 people(Website #1). The level of destruction that this bomb was capable of, and the amount of casualties it caused still raises questions today over whether the US should have dropped it or not. Truman did not take the decision lightly because he was aware of how lethal the bomb was. Truman wanted to end the war as soon as possible with a small amount of US casualties(Website #1). Truman also believed that the bomb would be good payback for what the Japanese did at Pearl Harbor(Website #1).
The US wanted the Japanese to unconditionally surrender, or they would face the consequences. Those consequences were the atomic bombs. The US dropped 2 atomic bombs-- one on the Japanese city of Hiroshima and one on the city of Nagasaki. Critics today still debate over whether the dropping of the bomb was a barbaric act, or whether it was necessary(Website #2). Truman said that his decision was "strictly military" and he merely wanted to end the war quickly(Website #2). Other methods besides the atomic bombs were discussed, but they were deemed too dangerous to American lives. Truman stated that the bombings saved Japanese lives as well, and prolonging the war was not something the president wanted to do(Website #2). Even though the bombs were devastating, they did end the most destructive war in history.
The US wanted the Japanese to unconditionally surrender, or they would face the consequences. Those consequences were the atomic bombs. The US dropped 2 atomic bombs-- one on the Japanese city of Hiroshima and one on the city of Nagasaki. Critics today still debate over whether the dropping of the bomb was a barbaric act, or whether it was necessary(Website #2). Truman said that his decision was "strictly military" and he merely wanted to end the war quickly(Website #2). Other methods besides the atomic bombs were discussed, but they were deemed too dangerous to American lives. Truman stated that the bombings saved Japanese lives as well, and prolonging the war was not something the president wanted to do(Website #2). Even though the bombs were devastating, they did end the most destructive war in history.
Voices within the US Military expressed much concern regarding the use of the atomic bomb against Japan, but Truman knew it was the right option, and the only one(Website #3). Six months of fire-bombing Japanese cities didn't shake the Japanese people enough to make them surrender. Japan continued to ignore the demand for unconditional surrender(Website #3) at Potsdam. Under these circumstances, Truman believed that the atom bombs would be the only effective thing to do to finally get the Japs to surrender(Website #3). Another theory emerged as to why the US dropped the atom bomb on Japan-- the US wanted to demonstrate their military power to the Soviets, who made them nervous(Website #3). Whether or not the atomic bomb was necessary still baffles historians today, and some saw it as a huge cost to the Japanese population. Others look at it in a "context of total war" and if the