Evaluate the reasons for US use of atomic weapons against Japan.

Candidates will make an appraisal of the reasons for the decision of the US to deploy atomic weaponry against Japan. The reasons may cover a range of issues, be they political, military, strategic, emotional or scientific. Candidates might include the Japanese refusal to surrender and the American fear that an invasion of Japan would be very costly (financially and in the number of lives lost). They may also refer to the cost of building the bomb, the desire for revenge for Pearl Harbor, and the desire to show American power to the Soviets. The response should not discuss the results of the bombing on the war or subsequent events, nor should it describe the immediate effects of the bomb.