Fear Of The Atomic Bomb In The 1950's

556 Words2 Pages

In the 1950’s, the American citizens were afraid of a plethora of things as illustrated in the film. First and foremost, they were totally terrified of an atomic bomb and its effects. They were afraid that the Communists were going to bomb the US because of their own knowledge and possession of an atomic bomb. The blast, heat & radiation along with the biomedical affects following were the scariest ideas to the people. You can’t see the radiation and gamma radiation kills fast, which made it really hard to stay clear of. They were curious to how far to do you have to be from it to survive and what type of deformities is a result of it. Many were blinded from the fear of it. Secondly, they were afraid of spies. After the execution of the Rosenburgs, they believed that communists in America were Moscow's Spies. Paranoia was at an all-time high at this point in history. …show more content…

They tried to make things better by reminding that they are Americans, people who are inferior to others & portrayed the strength & riches that we possess. Later efforts included educating them on how to handle the obstacle when it comes. They explained how radiation comes through breaks in skin, nose or mouth and can't go through skin. Protective clothing, such as white clothes was encouraged to help assume less radiation. Food preparations and shelters were then introduced and steps to take after you have made contact with the rays of radiation. Foods placed in cans were supposedly safe to consume and worrying was 85% of the process meanwhile 15% of people actually died from the

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