A Rock and a Hard Place

A webquest that explores Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb

Kelly Hajdasz

John F. Kennedy Middle School

Utica City School District

khajdasz@uticaschools.org

Introduction: In 1942, just months after WWII began, President Franklin Roosevelt sanctioned the Manhattan Project. The objective of the Manhattan Project was to create an atomic bomb before our enemies, Germany and Japan. They had already begun the process. In July of 1945 the goal of the Manhattan Project was realized when the U.S successfully detonated the first atomic bomb. Germany surrendered that May, but the war with Japan raged on. President Truman now had at his disposal a way to end the war with Japan quickly. Using the bomb would save American lives and money, but at the expense of the lives of Japanese men, women, and children.

Task: You are the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, meaning you are the top military advisor to the president. You must report to the President the pros and cons of using the a-bomb against Japan. Then as Chairman, you must take a position and make a recommendation to the President on which course of action to take.

· You will complete a graphic organizer included in a worksheet on the pros and cons of dropping the atomic bomb.

· You will write a position paper in which you will argue four reasons for using the a-bomb on Japan and four reasons against using the a-bomb on Japan. Based on the information you have presented, you will take a position. State your position and what led you to make that decision.

Process: Each student will complete the four steps of the AHPPA to gather information to write their position paper. Please use the attached worksheet. Steps 2 and 3 should be used by students to complete the graphic organizer. The handout must be filled in before the position paper is written. The position paper will require the use of all four steps.

Step 1 – Identify the problem – Explain in your own words the problem that President Truman faced.

Step 2 – Gather the evidence – Explain why the U.S believed the war with Japan would not come to a quick natural conclusion. Use the resource Total sacrifice from below.

Step 3 – What were the causes of the problem - Describe the pros and cons of using the atomic bomb (4 each).

Step 4 – Evaluate the policy – State and support your position on whether or not the United States should use the atomic bomb against Japan.

Resources

Total Sacrifice

Why Did President Truman drop the atomic bomb?

What are the arguments for and against the bombing of Japan?

Why the A bomb was dropped on Hiroshima

President Truman’s speech on the bombing of Hiroshima

Survivors of the Bataan Death March

Bataan Death March

WWII Casualties

The Bombing of Pearl Harbor

Evaluation- Your work will be assessed using the following rubric:

	5	4	3	2	1	0
Paper Analysis	Thoroughly explains the pros and cons evenly and in depth	Explains the pros and cons but may do so unevenly	Attempts to explain the pros and cons	Lists the pros and cons with little or no explanation	Attempts to list the pros and cons; may be vague or unclear	Fails to list or explain the pros and cons
Graphic organizer	Contains 4 pros and cons that are accurate	Contains 3-4 pros and cons that are accurate	Contains 3 pros and cons that are accurate	Contains 2-3 pros and cons that may contain inaccuracies	Contains 2 or less pros and cons that may contain inaccuracies	Fails to list the pros or cons
Position Statement	States position with strong reasoning	States position that is backed with sound reasoning	States position with little reasoning	States position with no reasoning	States position with faulty reasoning	Does not state position
Organization	Logical and clear plan of organization including transition sentences	Clear plan of organization	Satisfactory plan of organization	General plan of organization; may contain digressions	Weakness in organization; may lack focus	unorganized

Conclusion – This webquest was designed so that “you will remember that events in history didn’t have to happen that way. People made choices which led to events happening as they did.” – Professor Roger Sharp, Maxwell School of History

Standards - The following state standards were considered and covered in the creation of this web quest.

English Language Arts

Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.

Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation
Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation. As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to present, from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.

Social Studies

Standard 1: History of the United States and New York
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and New York.

Standard 2: World History
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate
their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in world history and examine the broad sweep of history from a variety of perspectives.