Jack KiernanMr. CookHistory 9 April 29, 2014Atomic bombWorld War II, also known as the most destructive undertaking in human history. The beginning of this bloody bloodshed took place on September 1, 1939, and the end of this war took place in 1945. America's participation in World War II lasted four bloody years and the losses were piling up and saw no end. The estimated number of deaths during the war was 40 to 50 million, making it not only the bloodiest war in history, but also the largest war in history. Dropping the atomic bomb was necessary for the United States because it saved thousands of American lives, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and killed thousands of Americans, and it was the only way to end the war. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor occurred. The attack was a surprise military strike carried out by the Imperial Japanese Navy and resulted in the deaths of more than 2,300 Americans. The attack on Pearl Harbor then led the United States into the largest war in history. The United States began looking into atomic weapons because it knew it needed a quick and effective way to get Japan to surrender and end the war. The atomic bomb was a $2 billion project approved by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942. Work on the atomic bomb began at Los Alamos, New Mexico. The race for atomic weapons began in Germany in 1938, which gave the United States the idea and motivation to build it before Germany. The United States decided to drop bombs on two cities in Japan, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Many people think that dropping the atomic bomb was unnecessary. When the United States was debating whether or not to use the atomic bomb, they had... middle of paper... contact with them, while this was happening the Japanese were more worried about what had just happened in Hiroshima. This did not stop the Japanese from winning the war, it caused the United States to drop the bomb on Nagasaki, after which they surrendered. One atomic bomb was not enough, this shows that the Japanese risked anyone's life to achieve victory. This is why it was so crucial for the United States to drop the bombs when it did so. If they had not done so, the war would have continued for many more years. The United States was never supposed to contribute to the losses of World War II, since the Japanese attacked the United States, they became part of this bloody war. When the United States was in the process of making a decision, President Franklin D. Roosevelt died and then Harry Truman took office, this slowed down the process slightly..