CEP813 Game-based Assessment

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You are a historian Your mission: To use primary source documents to determine whether or not the United States should or should not have dropped the atomic bombs on Japan at the end of WWII. For each primary source document you read you will identify whether the document is evidence that supports the dropping of the use of atomic bombs against Japan or evidence against the use of atamic bombs against Japan [[Primary Source 1]]

Consider the following primary Source: //"The use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender… In being the first to use it, we . . . adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not taught to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children." Admiral William E. Leahy, President Truman's Chief of Staff, in his memoir, I Was There// Does this primary source argue for or against the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan? [[FOR]] [[AGAINST ]]

Okay, read this source more carefully. What, specifically, leads you to believe this source could be used to argue that dropping the atomic bomb was the right decision? As you read, what words or statements stand out to you the most in how Leahy characterizes the decision to drop the bomb? //"The use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender… In being the first to use it, we . . . adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not taught to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children."// //Admiral William E. Leahy, President Truman's Chief of Staff, in his memoir, I Was There// Now that you have read this source again more carefully, which statement do you believe best captures the main idea that Leahy is trying to make? [[The atomic bomb is a barbarous weapon.]] [[The Japanese were already defeated.]] [[We should not make war on women and children]] [[For many reasons, the dropping of the atomic bomb was immoral]]

Double-click this passage to edit it.

Okay, read this source more carefully. What, specifically, leads you to believe this source could be used to argue that dropping the atomic bomb was the right decision? As you read, what words or statements stand out to you the most in how Stimson rationalizes the decision to drop the bomb? //"The face of war is the face of death; death is an inevitable part of every order that a wartime leader gives. The decision to use the atomic bomb was a decision that brought death to over a hundred thousand Japanese… But this deliberate, premeditated destruction was our least abhorrent alternative. The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki put an end to the Japanese war. It stopped the fire raids, and the strangling blockade; it ended the ghastly specter of a clash of great land armies. In this last great action of the Second World War we were given final proof that war is death." —Secretary of War Henry Stimson// Now that you have read this source again more carefully, which statement do you believe best captures the main idea that Stimson is trying to make? [[The decision to drop the atomic bomb is not different than any other wartime decision a leader ust make]] [[The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki put an end to the Japanese war]] [[Killing women and children is morally okay if it is for war]] [[War is death and the atomic bomb was the least least abhorrent alternative]]

This statement is one of several in which Leahy characterizes the use of the atomic bomb in negative terms. For example, Leahy also states that in dropping dropping of the atomic bomb, the U.S. adopted an "ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages." While this is also a strong statement by Leahy, it is not the main point either. Go back to the previous step and consider your choices again. Which statement best represents the entire reading?

Excellent work! This statement best captures Leahy's main point because in every statement in this passage, Leahy is clearly taking a moral position. Now click on [[Primary Source 2]]

Consider the following primary Source: //"The face of war is the face of death; death is an inevitable part of every order that a wartime leader gives. The decision to use the atomic bomb was a decision that brought death to over a hundred thousand Japanese… But this deliberate, premeditated destruction was our least abhorrent alternative. The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki put an end to the Japanese war. It stopped the fire raids, and the strangling blockade; it ended the ghastly specter of a clash of great land armies. In this last great action of the Second World War we were given final proof that war is death." —Secretary of War Henry Stimson// Does this primary source argue for or against the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan? [[FOR ]] [[AGAINST ]]

Okay, so think about the entirety of what Stimson said about the decision. What else must you consider from Stimsons words that is essential to his main argument? Think about this question and return to the last window

Hmmm, what reason do you have for selecting this option? Go back and read Stimson's statement agin more carefully and try again.

Great work! Now it's time for you to formulate your final argument! Now it is time to formulate your own position based on the resources you have considered. Click on [[What do you think?]]

Excellent work! Leahy was very clear on how he viewed the decion to drop the atomic bomb on Japan. Now consider another perspective on this decision. Consider what Secretary of War, Henry Stimpson, had to say in regard to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japn. Please go to [[Primary Source 2]]

For this final portion of this assignment you must do the following: 1. Create a Google Doc in your Google Drive 2. name the document as follows; Last name_The Atomic Bomb & Japn Write at least a one paragraph response to the following question; Should the United States have dropped the atomic bombs on Japan toward the end of WWII? Explin why or why not.