US History CBA
Imagine you are going on with your daily life as you would on a normal day and then all of a sudden
out of nowhere a bomb gets dropped on your city. It is unfair to all the innocent lives that were taken away all
because of a childish war. Dropping the Bomb on Hiroshima was pointless because It killed many people, It
was a message to scare the Soviet Union rather than Japan, and the Japanese were going to surrender anyways.
Dropping the bomb was useless and harmful because, it killed about 70,000-80,000 people (20,000
were soldiers). Yes Japan dropped the bomb on Pearl Harbor first, but that didn’t kill nearly as many people as
the “fat man” bomb did. Those who were only injured from the Bomb, later on died because of radiation and
also cancer from the toxic fumes (BBC). The use of the Bomb was “to target military objectives, soldiers, and
sailors, not women and children” (Truman, pg. 21), but it still did target a lot of innocent women and children
(BBC).
The United States were pretty much fighting fire with fire with Japan. Dropping the Bomb only made
things worse and it was pointless, the Japanese were going to surrender anyways (pg. 14) “. “Gen. Curtis
LeMay, the tough cigar-smoking air force “hawk” was also dismayed. Shortly after the bombings he stated:
“The war would have been over in two weeks…. The atomic bomb had nothing to do with the end of the war
at all.” (Gen, Curtis LeMay, pg. 28).
The reason why the United States got revenge the way they did, wasn’t to get revenge on Japan, it was
only to send a message to the Soviet Union. “Instead, the United States rushed to use two bombs on August 6
and August 9, at almost exactly the same time the Soviet attack was scheduled. Numerous studies suggest this
was done in part because they were “preferred,” as Pulitzer-prize-winning historian Martin Sherwin has put it,
to end the war this way. Although the available evidence is not as yet absolutely conclusive, impressing the
Soviets also appears to have been a factor”.
Bombing Hiroshima was also unjustified because they knew how destructive the Bomb would be, they
did a test bomb in New Mexico, “Thirteen pounds of the explosive caused the complete disintegration of a
steel tower 60 feet high, created a crater 6 feet deep and 1200 feet diameter, knocked over a steel tower ½ mile
away and knocked men down 10,000 yards away. The explosion was visible for more than 200 miles and
audible for 40 miles and more.” (Truman, pg.21). It is very cruel that they knew how much damage the bomb
could cause and they still dropped it anyways. It was also unjustified because over 60 cities were destroyed
from the Bomb.
Many say that dropping the bomb on Japan saved many American lives and that it ended the war but
that is not true. Dropping the bomb had nothing to do with ending the war, so America just looks silly, the
Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, commander in chief of the pacific fleet, went public with this statement: “The
Japanese had, in fact, already sued for peace…. The atomic bomb played no decisive part, from a purely
military standpoint, in the defeat of Japan”. So dropping the bomb may of made the Americans look scary, but
it also resulted in many lost lives in Japan.
The bomb dropping was unjustified, it could have been resolved in a different way, it was pointless that
we dropped the bomb because the bomb dropping had nothing to do with the Japanese surrendering, and many
lives wouldn’t have been lost. It was unfair that the Japanese had no clue this was going to happen to them,
especially since America knew how destructive it would be.
Comment [A1]: Solid thesis sentence. Nice!
Comment [A2]: Where did this information come
from?
Comment [A3]: I would probably find one more
quote or something else to reinforce your main point
in the paragraph that killing that many people was
not needed. Maybe an expert quote?
Comment [A4]: Try another word, it seems you
have used this a couple times already.
Comment [A5]: Good quote, but you could add
even more detail to really drive your point home.
Comment [A6]: This is a long quote, and I
believe should be set aside because it is so long.
You should also include either another source or
more evidence that it was more about the USSR than
Japan.
Comment [A7]:
Good paragraph, thanks for adding it.
Works Cited
Dietrich, Bill. "Pro and Con on Dropping the Bomb." The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times, n.d. Web. 07 Feb.
2013.
Truman, Harry S. "Harry S. Truman, Diary, July 25, 1945." N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2013
Wilmshurst, Paul. "Hiroshima." Hiroshima. BBC. BBC, 2005. Television
 MEETING STANDARD 
 NOT MEETING STANDARD 
A- Position
5.4.1:
Evaluates and
interprets other
points of view on
an issue within a
paper or
presentation.
B- Causes
1.31 Analyzes
and evaluates the
causes and
effects of US
foreign policy on
people in the
United States and
across the world
(1890-present)
4 - Excellent
3 - Proficient
 States a position on the
chosen foreign policy
that outlines reasons in
support of the position
 AND
 Draws a conclusion
about why studying
this foreign policy
helps us to understand
current issues and
events.
Provides reason(s) for the
position supported by
evidence.
 States a position on the
effectiveness of the chosen foreign
policy that outlines reasons in
support of the position
 States a position on the
chosen foeign policy but
does not outline reasons in
support of the position.
 Addresses the foreign
policy without stating
a position.
Provides reason(s) for the position
supported by evidence.
Provides reason(s) for the
position supported by
evidence.
Provides evidence for
the position WITHOUT
using any specific social
science perspectives.
The evidence includes:
An analysis of why the
policy was implemented
for national and/or
international interests
from three or more of
the following social
science perspectives:






Geographic
cultural
political
economic
sociological
psychological
The evidence includes:
An analysis of why the policy was
implemented for national and/or
international interests from two or
more of the following social science
perspectives:






Geographic
cultural
political
economic
sociological
psychological
2 - Partial
1 - Minimal
The evidence includes:
An analysis of why the policy
was implemented for national
and/or international interests
from one of the following
social science perspectives:






Geographic
cultural
political
economic
sociological
psychological
C-EFFECTS
 Provides reason(s) for
the position supported
by evidence:
The evidence includes an
analysis of the effects of
the policy including a
discussion of:
How the policy affected
stakeholders in the United
States
AND
How the policy imposed
costs AND provided
benefits for other nations.
 Provides reason(s) for the position
supported by evidence:
The evidence includes an analysis of
the effects of the policy including a
discussion of:
How the policy affected stakeholders
in the United States
AND
How the policy imposed costs OR
provided benefits for other nations.
 Provides reason(s) for the
position supported by
evidence:
The evidence includes an
analysis of the effects of the
policy including a discussion
of:
How the policy affected
stakeholders in the United
States
OR
How the policy imposed costs
AND provided benefits for
other nations.
 States how the chosen
foreign policy affected
stakeholders in the
United States or
imposed costs on
AND/OR provided
benefits for other
nations without
explicit support from
relevant evidence.
D- Sources
5.4.2: Creates
strategies to avoid
plagiarism and
respects tintellectual
property when
developing a paper or
presentation.
5.2.2 Evaluates the
validity, reliability, and
credibilityof sources
while researching an
 Makes explicit
references within the
paper or presentation to
four or more credible
sources that provide
relevant information.
 The credibility of
sources should be
established within the
paper, presentation, or
bibliography.
 Makes explicit references within
the paper or presentation to three
credible sources that provide
relevant information.
 The credibility of sources should
be established within the paper,
presentation, or bibliography.
Makes explicit references
within the paper or
presentation to two sources
that provide relevant
information.
Makes explicit
references within the
paper or presentation to
one source that provides
relevant information.
issue or event.
 MEETING STANDARD 
 NOT MEETING STANDARD 
Thanks for making the changes. Everything is now in the passing side and you are done with the CBA!