Dawn MacDonald
HIS 200: Applied History
Southern New Hampshire University
May 5, 2018
Preliminary Writing Plan
For my historical event analysis, I chose to focus on the atomic bombing in 1945 on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which ended up affected history for many years to come.
The United
States changed history forever when they decided to take the WWII into their own hands by
using the first ever atomic bombs.
The first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on August
6
th
, 1845, and days later the second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.
These two bombs
killed over 80,000 people but as months and years passed hundreds if thousand died from the
deadly effects of the bombs.
One of the known controversy is whether the medical effects of the
bomb were known prior to the actual bombing.
Some say many scientists and researchers were
aware of the havoc the bombs would have for many years to come while other were accused of
turning a blind eye.
Not only did research prove the bombings had devastating immediate effects
on the civilians both physically and socially, but the bombings also had many long lasting effects
on and their lineages for years to come.
In examining the events that built up to the decision of releasing the atomic bombs, I will
try to prove how damaging this decision was to the areas of attack, their surrounding locations,
and the people of Japan.
Specifically, I will try to answer the following research question:
What
were the physical and social effects of the atomic bomb on Japanese civilians in Hiroshima and
Nagasaki in 1945?
The debate over whether the physical effects of the radiation from the bombs were known
prior to the decision of releasing the atomic bombs is one that is still discussed today.
With the
number of deaths that were initially calculated right after the bombings and other deaths that
occurred months and years after the bombing, it was clearly a steep price to pay for the end of a
war.
Japanese civilians suffered physical, medical and psychological effects for years to come.
Many linages were wiped right off existence.
