Mr. Insert Name
History
Date
Research Paper Outline: The Atomic Bombing of Japan
I. Introduction
A. Background Information
1. Atomic bombing of Hiroshima occurred on August 6, 1945.
a) Estimated 140,000 casualties in the attack and aftermath
b) Nuclear weapon named “Little Boy”
2. Atomic bombing of Nagasaki occurred on August 9, 1945.
a) Estimated 74,00 casualties in the attack and aftermath
b) Nuclear weapon named “Fat Man”
3. August 15, 1945 – Japan announced its surrender (Beck 512-513)
4. There is a great controversy over whether the United States was justified in dropping the atomic bombs on Japan.
B. Thesis: The United States was justified in dropping the atomic bombs on the Japanese mainland.
II. The atomic bombing saved the lives of many people who would have been killed in an invasion of the Japanese mainland.
A. The U.S. expected high casualties
1. Up to 20,000 dead
2. Up to 75,000 wounded (Thomas and Osborn)
3. “1 million men were mustered for the assault on the Japanese homeland” (Thomas and Osborn).
B. The U.S. assault would have cost just as many Japanese lives, if not more, than those cost by the atomic bombs.
1. Japanese fight by the code of bushido, which means they would not surrender (Beck 498).
2. The United States was prepared to use poisoned gas and other deadly weapons in an assault on Japan (Thomas and Osborn).
III. The American firebombing had taken a drastic toll on Japanese civilians and they had not surrendered.
IV. The power of the atomic bomb had to be demonstrated to the major powers of the world.
V. The vast majority of Americans at the time supported the atomic bombing of Japan.
VI. Conclusion
A. Restate Thesis: Clearly the atomic bombing of Japan was justified because of the tremendous amount of lives, both Japanese and American, which would have been lost in a conventional invasion. The Japanese fighting style also precipitated the need for drastic measures to be taken to bring
Cited: PIECES OF INFORMATION AND THERE SHOULD BE FOUR DIFFERENT SOURCES SHOWN IN THE WHOLE OUTLINE.