PT: Atomic Bomb
Performance Task: Atomic Bomb (World War II)
Your Assignment:
You will read several primary source documents about President Truman’s decision to drop the atomic
bombs on Japan, construct a written response to a prompt.
Steps you will be following:
In order to create your written response you will do the following:
1. Re-Read primary sources.
2. Answer questions about the sources.
3. Plan and construct a written response.
Directions for beginning:
You will now read the primary sources. Take notes because you may want to refer back to your notes
while answering questions and writing your response. You can refer back to any of the sources as often
as you like.
Sources: Atomic Bomb Performance Task
1. Atomic Bomb. (2013). The New Book of Knowledge. Retrieved December 10, 2013, from
Grolier Online http://nbk.grolier.com/ncpage?tn=/encyc/article.html&id=10003059&type=0ta
The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb
Meanwhile, President Roosevelt had died on April 12, 1945. Vice President Harry S.
Truman took over the presidency. World War II in Europe ended about a month after
Roosevelt’s death. Now Truman had to end the war in Asia.
On July 26, Truman met with other Allied leaders. They demanded that Japan surrender
unconditionally. If it did not, they said, it would face "prompt and utter destruction." Japan
refused.
Truman then decided to use the atomic bombs. He believed that they would end the
war quickly and save lives. Without the use of the atomic bombs, Truman believed, the Allies
would have had to invade the Japanese home islands. This would have resulted in hundreds of
thousands of casualties.
On August 6, a B-29 bomber named Enola Gay dropped the untested U-235 bomb on
Hiroshima. The bomb was code-named Little Boy. Its blast killed more than 70,000 people. On
August 9 a plutonium bomb was dropped on Nagasaki by a B-29 bomber named Bockscar. This
bomb was code-named Fat Man. It killed about 40,000 people. In the years that followed, tens
of thousands more would die because of their exposure to radiation released by the two bombs.
The Japanese government soon surrendered.
The Bomb Controversy
This use of atomic bombs hastened the end of World War II. They are the only two
atomic bombs ever used in warfare. And their use is still controversial.
Some people say that Japan would have lost the war even if the bombs had not been
dropped. Even many scientists who helped develop the weapons opposed their use. But others
say that the use of the bombs actually saved lives. "I have no regrets," President Truman later
wrote, "and under the same circumstances, I would do it again."
PT: Atomic Bomb
2. Leaflets dropped on cities in Japan warning civilians about the atomic bomb, dropped c.
August 6, 1945
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/trumanleaflets/
Leaflets dropped on cities in Japan warning civilians about the atomic bomb, dropped c. August
6, 1945 TO THE JAPANESE PEOPLE:
America asks that you take immediate heed of what we say on this leaflet.
We are in possession of the most destructive explosive ever devised by man. A single one of our newly
developed atomic bombs is actually the equivalent in explosive power to what 2000 of our giant B-29s
can carry on a single mission. This awful fact is one for you to ponder and we solemnly assure you it is
grimly accurate.
We have just begun to use this weapon against your homeland. If you still have any doubt, make inquiry
as to what happened to Hiroshima when just one atomic bomb fell on that city.
Before using this bomb to destroy every resource of the military by which they are prolonging this
useless war, we ask that you now petition the Emperor to end the war. Our president has outlined for
you the thirteen consequences of an honorable surrender. We urge that you accept these consequences
and begin the work of building a new, better and peace-loving Japan.
You should take steps now to cease military resistance. Otherwise, we shall resolutely employ this bomb
and all our other superior weapons to promptly and forcefully end the war.
EVACUATE YOUR CITIES.
ATTENTION JAPANESE PEOPLE. EVACUATE YOUR CITIES.
Because your military leaders have rejected the thirteen part surrender declaration, two momentous
events have occurred in the last few days.
The Soviet Union, because of this rejection on the part of the military has notified your Ambassador Sato
that it has declared war on your nation. Thus, all powerful countries of the world are now at war with
you.
Also, because of your leaders' refusal to accept the surrender declaration that would enable Japan to
honorably end this useless war, we have employed our atomic bomb.
A single one of our newly developed atomic bombs is actually the equivalent in explosive power to what
2000 of our giant B-29s could have carried on a single mission. Radio Tokyo has told you that with the
first use of this weapon of total destruction, Hiroshima was virtually destroyed.
Before we use this bomb again and again to destroy every resource of the military by which they are
prolonging this useless war, petition the emperor now to end the war. Our president has outlined for
you the thirteen consequences of an honorable surrender. We urge that you accept these consequences
and begin the work of building a new, better, and peace-loving Japan.
Act at once or we shall resolutely employ this bomb and all our other superior weapons to promptly and
forcefully end the war. EVACUATE YOUR CITIES.
3.
PT: Atomic Bomb
“The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki” (Jack Daw Portfolio: Michael O’Niel)
a. As the Enola Gay approached its target-Hiroshima- air raid sirens went off throughout
the city. The sirens had sounded earlier that morning, but nothing happened, so most
of the city’s residents ignored this new warning. Minutes later, however, those who
were out of doors saw a parachute quietly drifting toward the earth; this was cause for
a moment of satisfaction, for parachutes were usually a sign that an American plane
had been hit by antiaircraft fire and that the pilot was parachuting to safety.
-Most of these people never had a chance to learn that dangling from the end of
the parachute was an atomic bomb.
-At 8:16, at an altitude of just under two thousand feet, the bomb detonated.
With an explosive force of over 25 million pounds of dynamite, the blast
reduced the city to a pile of burning rubble in moments. A four-square-mile area
around “ground zero,” the center of the explosion, was utterly destroyed. The
heat from the bomb’s blast was so intense—as high as 7,200 degrees at ground
zero—that fires sprang up as far as two miles away. This heat carried ash and
soot miles into the sky, creating the mushroom cloud characteristic of atomic
explosions. By nightfall, much of the ash and debris was falling back on the city
in the form of “black rain.”
-The initial blast killed about 80,000 people; another 100,000 were seriously
injured, most of those badly burned. Thousands of dazed survivors wandered
about the city, looking for loved ones and seeking nonexistent medical help for
their injuries. In the days, months, and even years that followed, thousands
more died from the effects of the bomb’s radioactivity. The overwhelming
sense of loss and despair among the survivors led many to conclude that the
lucky ones were those who were killed instantly by the blast.
4. A Petition to the President of the United States (Paragraph 8) July 17, 1945 Atomic Scientists
In view of the foregoing, we, the undersigned, respectfully petition: first, that you
exercise your power as commander-in-Chief, to rule that the United States shall not
resort to the use of atomic bombs in this war unless the terms which will be imposed
upon Japan have been made public in detail and Japan knowing these terms has
refused to surrender; second, that in such an event the question whether or not to use
atomic bombs be decided by you in the light of the considerations presented in this
petition as well as all the other moral responsibilities which are involved.
PT: Atomic Bomb
5. “Letter to the President, Harry S. Truman” August 9, 1945 Samuel McCrea Cavert General
Secretary( Federal council of the churches of Christ in America)
NEWYORK NY AUG 9 1945 1046A
HONORABLE HARRY S TRUMAN
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES THE WHITE HOUSE
MANY CHRISTIANS DEEPLY DISTURBED OVER THE USE OF ATOMIC BOMBS AGAINST JAPANESE
CITIES BECAUSE OF THEIR NECESSARILY INDISCRIMINATE DESTRUCTIVE EFFORTS AND BECAUSE
THEIR USE SETS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS PRECEDENT FOR FUTURE OF MANKIND. BISHOP OXNAM
PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL AND JOHN FOSTER DULES [sic; "Dulles"] SHAIRMAN [sic;
"Chairman"] OF ITS COMMISSION ON A JUST AND DURABLE PEACE ARE PREPARING STATEMENT
FOR PROBABLE RELEASE TOMORROW URGING THAT ATOMIC BOMBS BE REGARDED AS TRUST FOR
HUMANITY AND THAT JAPANESE NATION BE GIVEN GENUINE OPPORTUNITY AND TIME TO VERIFY
FACTS ABOUT NEW BOMB AND TO ACCEPT SURRENDER TERMS. RESPECTIFULLY URGE THAT AMPLE
OPPORTUNITY BE GIVEN JAPAN TO RECONSIDER ULTIMATUM BEFORE ANY FURTHER DEVASTATION BY
ATOMIC BOMB IS VISITED UPON HER PEOPLE
FEDERAL COUNCIL OF THE CHURCHES OF CHRIST IN AMERICAN
SAMUEL MCCREA CAVERT GENERAL SECRETAR
6. “Letter to Mr. Samuel McCrea Cavert” August 11, 1945 Harry S. Truman (President of the
United States)
August 11, 1945
My dear Mr. Cavert:
I appreciated very much your telegram of August ninth.
Nobody is more disturbed over the use of Atomic bombs than I am but I was greatly
disturbed over the unwarranted attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor and their
murder of our prisoners of war. The only language they seem to understand is the one
we have been using to bombard them.
When you have to deal with a beast you have to treat him as a beast. It is most
regrettable but nevertheless true.
Sincerely yours,
HARRY S. TRUMAN
PT: Atomic Bomb
7.
“Immediate Release” Harry S. Truman. 1958
http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/library/correspondence/trumanharry/corr_truman_1958-03-12.htm
Dear Mr. Chairman:
...After a long conference with the Cabinet, the military commanders and Prime
Minister Churchill, it was decided to drop the atomic bomb on two Japanese
cities devoted to war and work for Japan. The two cities selected were
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
When Japan surrendered a few days after the bomb was ordered dropped, on August
6, 1945, the military estimated that at least a quarter of a million of the
invasion forces against Japan and a quarter of a million Japanese had been
spared complete destruction and that twice that many on each side would,
otherwise, have been maimed for life.
As the executive who ordered the dropping of the bomb, I think the sacrifice of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki was urgent and necessary for the prospective welfare of
both Japan and the Allies.
The need for such a fateful decision, of course, never would have arisen, had
we not been shot in the back by Japan at Pearl Harbor in December, 1941.
And in spite of that shot in the back, this country of ours, the United States
of America, has been willing to help in every way the restoration of Japan as a
great and prosperous nation.
Sincerely yours,
Harry S. Truman
PT: Atomic Bomb
In favor of dropping
the bomb
Or
Against dropping the
bomb
Reasons for
Or
Reasons against
Moral issues of right
and wrong, fairness,
etc.
Pro
Con
Quote or paraphrase from text
(cite paragraph #). Then explain
what the quote says is important
Quote or paraphrase from text (cite
paragraph #). Then explain what the
quote says is important
PT: Atomic Bomb
PROMPT:
Using the documents students must answer the following question. Your answer will be scored. Please
reference the documents and annotations as you answer the questions.
Discuss the issues Harry Truman considered in deciding
to drop the Atomic Bombs, evaluate whether he was
right or wrong?
PT: Atomic Bomb
4
Statement of
Purpose/Focus
-Claim is clearly
stated, focused
and strongly
maintained
-Alternate or
opposing claims
are clearly
addressed
-Claim is
introduced and
communicated
clearly within the
context
3
-Claim is clear
and for the most
part maintained,
though some
loosely related
material may be
present
-Context provided
for the claim is
adequate
2
-May be clearly
focused on the
claim but is
insufficiently
sustained
-Claim on the
issue may be
somewhat
unclear and
unfocused
1
-may be very
brief
-may have a
major drift
-claim may be
confusing or
ambiguous
Organization
-Effective, consistent
use of a variety of
transitional
strategies.
-Logical progression
of ideas from
beginning to end.
-Effective
introduction and
conclusion for
audience and
purpose
-Strong connections
among ideas, with
some syntactic
variety
-Some evidence
from sources is
integrated, though
citations may be
general or imprecise
-Inconsistent use of
basic transitional
strategies with little
variety
-Uneven progression
of ideas from
beginning to end
-Conclusion and
introduction, if
present, are weak
-Weak connection
among ideas
-Few or no
transitional
strategies are
evident
-Frequent
extraneous ideas
Elaboration of
Evidence
-Use of evidence
from sources is
smoothly integrated,
comprehensive,
relevant, and
concrete
-Effective use of a
variety of elaborative
techniques
Language and
Vocabulary
-Use of evidence
from sources is
smoothly
integrated,
comprehensive,
relevant, and
concrete
-Effective use of
a variety of
elaborative
techniques
-Some evidence from
sources is integrated,
though citations may
be general or
imprecise
-Adequate use of
some elaborative
techniques
-Use of domainspecific
vocabulary is
generally
appropriate for
the audience and
purpose
-Evidence from
sources is weakly
integrated, and
-citations, if present
are uneven
-weak or uneven use
of elaborative
techniques
-Use of evidence
from sources is
minimal, absent, in
error, or irrelevant
Conventions
-Few, if any,
errors are
present in
usage and
sentence
formation;
-Effective and
consistent
use of
punctuation,
capitalization,
and spelling
-Some errors
in usage and
sentence
formation
may be
present, but
no systematic
pattern of
errors is
displayed;
-Adequate
use of
punctuation,
capitalization,
and spelling
-Use of domain
-Frequent
specific
errors in
vocabulary may
usage may
at times be
obscure
inappropriate for meaning
the audience and -Inconsistent
purpose
use of
punctuation,
capitalization,
and spelling
-Uses limited
language or
domain-specific
vocabulary
-May have little
sense of
audiencepurpose
-Errors are
frequent and
severe and
-Meaning is
often obscure
Content
PT: Atomic Bomb