Humanities Honors | August - December 2023
Historical Argument
Process
My historical question was "Was the invention of the atomic bomb a benefit to society?" When I first proposed my question it looked a little different, with the ending asking if it was a benefit to the human race. As I kept on doing research it was seen through my writing and findings that I was really just focusing on society and not the broader whole human race. Because of this highlight of focus I changed my question. I decided to research this question because I had recently had conversation with my family on the topic and I wanted to learn more. I never thought too much on how the atomic bomb effected society but as I thought of large impacts throughout history, the atomic bomb popped into my mind. When I began to research I needed to find both primary and secondary sources. Thankfully we have done a great job of keeping and digitalizing interview, speeches, and stories from back in 1945 and I was able to find both. I first focused on trying to find news articles and found some interviews with survivors that was done a few years after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For me it was hard to find sources not because of the shortage of information, but because I didn't have a concrete idea of what I wanted to find. after I kept reading of stories and getting background info I was able to narrow my search and focus on the lives impacted and who created the impact.
Primary Sources:
Truman | Announcing the bombing of Hiroshima
Hiroshima by John Hersey
After the Bomb: Survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Share Their Stories
Secondary Sources:
Time to confront the ethics of Hiroshima
WWII 75: Marching to victory by Lacey Helmig
North Korea's Kim Jung Un Threatens to Use Nuclear Weapons in Potential Conflicts with South Korea and United States
Maldvedev Says Russia Could Never Use Nuclear Weapons if Ukraine's Fightback Succeeds in Latest Threat
Kin Jung Un Says North Korea Aims to Have the World's Strongest Nuclear Force
The Atomic Bombings by Ian W. Troll: The National WWII Museum: New Orleans
Primary Sources:
Truman | Announcing the bombing of Hiroshima
Hiroshima by John Hersey
After the Bomb: Survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Share Their Stories
Secondary Sources:
Time to confront the ethics of Hiroshima
WWII 75: Marching to victory by Lacey Helmig
North Korea's Kim Jung Un Threatens to Use Nuclear Weapons in Potential Conflicts with South Korea and United States
Maldvedev Says Russia Could Never Use Nuclear Weapons if Ukraine's Fightback Succeeds in Latest Threat
Kin Jung Un Says North Korea Aims to Have the World's Strongest Nuclear Force
The Atomic Bombings by Ian W. Troll: The National WWII Museum: New Orleans
Context
You might not go about your day thinking about how the atomic bomb has effected the present, but from time to time we get reminded of this creation. In 1945 the U.S. had entered war with Japan because of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Truman made the ultimate decision to speed up the process of creating the bomb to return Japan's "favor" Before the actual call to use the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Truman and the leaders of Great Britain and China made the Potsdam Declaration. This outlines requirements for Japan to meet or else their fate was left in the U.S's hands. In my essay I go over the smaller detail and how the decision to drop atomic bombs on cities of innocent people was not the right decision. I also go over the impact we see today from other countries using the stock of nuclear weapons over other countries in war and how this shows the hostile environment the U.S. created. Not only is today's society impacted, but we cannot ever forget the lives that were lost and impacted back in 1945. The stories and testimonies of the survivors is enough to tell the whole world why the atomic bomb is the worst creation introduced to the world. These topics come from my thesis and workshopping it many many times to make sure research was reflected in my thesis. At the very end I was left with "The atomic bomb had, and has, a negative impact on our society because it left lifelong impacts on thousands of lives in Japan, was created and used on political grounds, and has created long-lasting consequences that society faces today. The lives on both U.S. and Japanese soil were largely affected and societies still live in fear in the current century because of this invention."
Final Essay
sadie_han_-_assignment_7__final_essay.pdf | |
File Size: | 131 kb |
File Type: |