Why shouldn't the United States have dropped the atomic bomb on Japan? Please answer with three criteria.

There were reasons for and reasons against the United States dropping the atomic bombs on Japan. I will focus on why we shouldn’t have dropped the atomic bombs on Japan.

One reason why we shouldn’t have dropped the two atomic bombs on Japan was that it would kill many innocent civilians. Many Japanese people would die from the radiation and/or would suffer long-term consequences. This weapon wouldn’t just affect the Japanese soldiers. It would affect many Japanese people for generations to come.

Another reason for not dropping the atomic bombs was that it would usher in the atomic age. There would be other countries that would try to get the atomic bomb. If one of these countries got the atomic bomb and believed in different ideologies and philosophies than we believed, it could cause serious worldwide problems. Back in the 1940s as well as today, we worry about the “wrong” countries getting atomic or nuclear weapons.

A third reason for not using the atomic bomb is that we didn’t give Japan enough time to respond to the Potsdam Ultimatum. It was only one week after we issued the warning that the first atomic bomb was dropped. Then we dropped the second bomb just three days after the first atomic bomb was dropped. Many people believe we should have waited longer before dropping the first atomic bomb and then dropping the second atomic bomb.

Finally, some people believe Japan was near defeat in 1945. If we used conventional warfare involving the air force, the army, and the navy, Japan may have surrendered without using these devastating bombs.

There were several reasons why the atomic bombs should not have been dropped on Japan.