History Since 1865

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had officially passed, and Truman ordered the air force to use the new atomic forces against Japan. With one single bomb, the U.S. had “completely incinerated a four-square mile area at the center of the previously undamaged city. More than 80,000 civilians died… Many more survived to suffer the crippling effects of radioactive fallout or to pass those effects on to their children in the form of birth defects” (Brinkley). Two days later, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and the following day, the U.S. dropped another atomic bomb on Nagasaki, causing more than 100,000 deaths. On September 2, 1945, the Japanese officials signed the articles of surrender.

At the time, few westerners questioned the morality of dropping the atomic bomb on Japan. We had been at ends with Japan for quite some time and they also participated in sneaky war practices such as Pearl Harbor that caused thousands of American deaths. Japan was also duly warned to surrender or face “prompt” and “utter” destruction. It also seemed as if the Japanese were willing to sacrifice every man, woman, and child to further the bent of their nefarious, demigod-like emperor. It can also be said that the choice of accomplishing the same ends with a ground invasion would have only resulted in a long-drawn-out, blood conflict with possibly more deaths on both sides. I recall one of my history teachers in high school claiming that the wartime atrocities the Japanese imperialists committed, especially against the Chinese and P.O.W.s is arguably graver than what the Nazis inflicted on their targets. Civilian loss is always a tragedy, however, dropping these bombs effectively ended the bloodiest, most violent, and most widespread war in history.

There are some people, however, that do not think the dropping of these nuclear weapons was justified. A valid point that I agree with is that we should have waited until the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, which they did very soon after the bombing. This may have been enough to get the Japanese to surrender. If the Americans were scared of losing more men (a justification for dropping the bombs), then why not let the Soviets conquer the Japanese considering they destroyed over 80% of the Nazi war machines? Some argue that the only thing the atomic bombs accomplished was murdering hundreds of thousands of women, children, and defenseless and innocent people in general. It can also be argued that this started the era of the nuclear age, leading more and more nations to build more destructive and sophisticated weapons for the future. I believe that the bombs successfully ended the war quickly, which can be argued for or against, however, I believe it was beneficial as all fighting stopped promptly. Yes, it killed a mass amount of people, but the whole war succeeded in doing that as well. It was effective and possibly the only solution the U.S. had, short of losing the war. I also think the bomb was discreetly used to show the Soviets just how powerful we were, and to frighten them into avoiding conflict with us at all costs in the future.

What caused the Great Depression, how did policies enacted by Hoover & FDR either hasten the end of the economic crisis or perpetuate it, what roles did Hollywood play either in critiquing government responses to the crisis or in seeking to divert Americans from their woes during the Depression & how did the US Supreme Court react to the New Deal?

Many people consider the stock market crash as the main cause of the Great Depression. And, while it definitely was one of the causes of the Depression, it was aided by other factors as well. The Great Depression was an immense tragedy that placed millions of Americans out of work and was the beginning of government involvement in the economy and society as a whole. The Depression lasted from 1929 until the early 1940s and was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world.

While the stock market crash of 1929 wasn’t the sole cause of the Great Depression, it definitely aided in the economic downturn and placing people out of jobs. Two months after the stock market crash on Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929, stockholders had lost more than 40 billion dollars. Even though the stock market began to regain some of its losses, by the end of 1930, it just was not enough and America truly entered what is now known as the Great Depression.

Bank failures were another cause of the Depression. Throughout the 1930s, over 9,000 banks failed. Bank deposits were uninsured and, thus, as banks failed, people simply lost their savings. Surviving banks, unsure of the economic situation and concerned for their own survival, stopped being as willing to create new loans. This intensified the situation leading to less and less expenditures. Another cause of the Depression was a reduction in purchasing in general. With the stock market crash and the fears of further economic woes, individuals from all classes stopped purchasing items. This then led to a reduction in the number of items produced and thus a reduction in the workforce. As people lost their jobs, they were unable to keep up with paying for items they had bought through installment plans and their items were repossessed. More and more inventory began to accumulate. The unemployment rate rose above 25%, which meant that even less spending was occurring to help alleviate the economic situation.

Our economic policies within Europe were also factors that led to the economic downturn. As businesses began to fail, the government created the Smoot-Hawley Tariff in 1930 to help protect American companies. This charged a high tax for imports ultimately leading to less trade between America and foreign countries along with some economic retaliation. The Dust Bowl, while not a direct cause of the Depression, definitely did not help economic conditions. The drought (in the Mississippi Valley) in 1930 was of such proportions that many could not even pay their taxes or other debts and had to sell their farms for no profit (Brinkley).

In Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s (FDR) view, his predecessor, Herbert Hoover, had proven unwilling to take any steps to deal with the crisis of the Great Depression, and unable to even offer up any solutions. Hoover appeared weak and indecisive because of his conservative, hands-off approach to the economic crisis. He, at first, failed to grasp the enormity of the Depression. He declared in March of 1930, “all the evidences indicate that the worst effects of the crash upon unemployment will have passed during the next 60 days” (Analyzing the Causes of the Great Depression). Two months later, he expressed confidence that the worst was over and he limited