The Atomic Bomb and the Manhattan Project
It was December 7, 1942 a beautiful mourning in Pearl Harbor. When out of the blue, hundreds of Japanese planes bomb and either sunk or severely damaged eight battle ships and at least thirteen other naval ships that were docked on the shore. This spark is what involved the United States the forest fire known as World War II. My paper is not on the war itself, but is on the atomic bomb, and what was known as the Manhattan project. In my report I will talk about the many reasons, the atomic bomb had to be created and used.
The atomic warfare capabilities of the United States were brought about in a letter from Mr. Albert Einstein to Franklin D. Roosevelt, our current president at the time. “It may be possible to set up a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium, by which vast amounts of power and large quantities of new radium-like elements would be generated…. It is conceivable, though much less certain, that extremely powerful bombs of a new type may thus be constructed.” His letter was the inspiration for the atomic bomb. Although it took a while for Roosevelt to realize what we had stumbled upon, his close friend Alexander Sachs helped him realize the possibilities. Two years later in November Roosevelt appointed a committee to advise him on nuclear fission and the capabilities of the concept in war. At the head of this committee was Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson. About a month later, an event happened that would change the history books forever. The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii at about 7:50 in the mourning. This brought America into the war and the Manhattan Project was on its way. The Manhattan Project included the designing and construction of the atomic bomb, and the execution of dropping the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There were three major research and production sites for the project. The first was Los Alamos, near Alamogordo, New Mexico. This is where the actual weapon would be designed. The head of this site was Julius Robert Oppenheimer; this caused a small uproar because of past involvement in pro communist’s activities. The second site for the Manhattan Project was in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. At this site, scientist and laborers were separating U-235 from U-238. Here the Hiroshima bomb was built in huge buildings and the locals could only imagine...
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...s. On April 6, 1945 at about 8:15 AM, before air raid alarms could go off, little boy exploded. The temperature was estimated to reach over 1,000,000 degrees Celsius. This bomb initially killed about a hundred thousand people, then injured about the same amount, and that does not include how many it killed after the blast from exposure to the radiation. Two days after the first bomb was dropped the U.S.S.R declared war on Japan. On August 9, we dropped the bomb on Nagasaki at about 10:58 AM. The results were slightly greater than the Hiroshima bomb. This bomb caused these cities to turn into complete rubble, there was nothing left standing with in a four square mile radius of where the bomb hit. So on September 2, 1945; General MacArthur accepts Japans formal surrender aboard battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Therefore, the tragic war ends quicker than anyone could have ever imagined. The US now has a new weapon to use in warfare and have set up bases in Japan. So I ask you was the atomic bomb a god thing or a bad thing for our society. It helped us win a world war and helped us become a super-power of the world but it also is now one of the great dangers of the world. You decide…
The Manhattan Project was one of the first outlets America used to show the era of scientific triumph. The directors of this project, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Albert Einstein, Leo Szilard and General Groves played a big contribution in the outcome of World War II. I have researched the argument of(that) the Manhattan Project being(was) vital for the legitimate ending to World War II. While other(s) some(take out some amd put could) say(that) they could have not dropped the second bomb, or(take out or) since Japanese Prime Minister Suzuki formed a new War cabinet to bring the war to end on its own. (Stoff, Michael B., Fanton, Jonathon, F., William, Hal, R., EDT. Al. 1991, p. 1991). This project had many different components for it to run successfully. Components such as theology and applied sciences were used. Oppenheimer was the main administrator credited to put the organization together. I will cover how(take out how) the time periods from 1938 (the discovery of Nuclear Fission) to 1945 (when the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan.) This major contribution is important today because the technology and the leap of science were emphasized greatly during the war. I will also be covering some results and life after the two bombs(were) set off. In the book “The Manhattan Project” by Jeff Hughes, during the 1930s, America was not the only country to research the secrets of nuclear transmutation. This justifies one of my points that the bombs were not a rational decision made by the Truman administration. The elements and materials needed to create the atomic bombs were not only the U.S’s call. Discoveries(that were) made in a short amount of time and having to put a team together to make the world’s first weapons of mass destruction is ...
The U.S. decided to develop the atomic bomb based on the fear they had for the safety of the nation. In August 1939 nuclear physicists sent manuscripts to Albert Einstein in fear the Germany might use the new knowledge of fission on the uranium nucleus as way to construct weapons. In response, on August 2, 1939, Einstein sent a letter to President Roosevelt concerning the pressing matter to use uranium to create such weapons before Germany (Doc A-1). To support the development of the atomic bomb, President Roosevelt approved the production of the bomb following the receipt that the bomb is feasible on January 19, 1942. From this day to December of 1942, many laboratories and ...
The purpose of developing this weapon was first and foremost winning the war as quickly as possible. In addition to securing world peace, the United States’ future as a world leader was also at stake. In 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt appointed a committee to research the possibility of using atomic energy military purposes. By the time the United States entered the war in December 1941, this research was given priority and the project was extended throughout the course of the war. Due to the extremely sensitive nature of the Manhattan Project, only a select few knew of the plan to develop the atomic bomb.
America’s development of this secret atomic bomb began back in 1939 when President Roosevelt was still alive. This project was so secretive that Roosevelt did not even want his Vice President Harry S. Truman to know a thing about it. Truman could not believe it, until he read the note from Secretary Stimson. That night he wrote a letter in his diary about the U.S. perfecting an explosive great enough to destroy the world. Tr...
With America and Britain’s supplies and money quickly becoming exhausted towards the end of World War II, the war with Japan had to cease. Even though the US had significantly weakened their numbers, the US needed a strong military win to get Japan to surrender. Without the use of the atomic bomb the war between Japan and America could’ve persisted for a few more years, but with the bombing or Hiroshima and Nagasaki the war was ended swiftly and with fewer casualties than if the war had continued. For these reasons, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a military necessity and a scientific experiment.
On August 6th, 1945, the United States of America dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima in Japan. Two days later, a second bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. These two bombs were the most devastating weapons ever seen, and their effects on human beings and property were plainly horrifying. Approximately 110,000 people were killed; most of them were innocent civilians who just happened to have lived in the wrong place at the wrong time. Although using this weapon was an atrocity to both the Japanese, and humanity in general, the world was at war. No matter what ulterior motives may have existed, the fact remains that the bomb was a justifiably necessary measure to bring an early end to aggressive war that was instigated by Japan. Japan would never have surrendered unconditionally, as decreed in the Potsdam Ultimatum. Invasion of the Japanese home islands were out of the question because of the ferocious defense that would have been staged, and the huge number of casualties that it would entail. The bomb shocked the Japanese militarists into surrender and gave the “peace-party” the added credibility they required to bring about a quick end to the war. The use of the bomb also kept Russia out of the war, preventing problems that had occurred in post-war Germany, and later on in Korea. When all factors are taken into consideration, the use of the atomic bomb actually saved more lives, both Japanese and American than it took.
The road that led to the bombing of Hiroshima was a long and covert one. In fact, the research and development of the atomic bomb was so secretive that when Vice President Harry S. Truman entered the Presidency following the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, he had no knowledge of it. Yet he would be the central figure in making the decision to use the bomb. In April 1945, Secretary of War Henry Stimson(pictured - left) and General Groves briefed Truman(pictured - right) about the "Manhattan Project", the top-secret program that researched and developed the atomic bomb.2
The strongest among the Allies, the United States was the initiator of the plan of the atomic bomb. During World War II, Japan bombed the navy base of the United States known as Pearl Harbor(Depression & WWII). Fueled by the motivation to take revenge on Japan after the Pearl Harbor Incident, the United States decided to enter World War II. In order to defeat Japan as rapidly as possible, the United States initiated the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb (Chen). The two atomic bombs that were dropped on the two major cities of Japan led to the unconditional surrender of Japan. According to President, Truman the dropping of the “atomic bomb was the greatest thing in history.”(Wright) Therefore, even after seeing the devastating effects of the atomic bomb the United States showed no regrets of the plan of the atomic bomb. The United States government believed that it was a necessary act to drop the atomic bomb for the sake of ending the war as soon as possible.
“Early in 1939, The worlds scientific community discovered that German physicists had learned the secrets of splitting the uranium atom and word spread quickly and several countries began to duplicate the experiment.” Albert Einstein warned President Roosevelt that Germany may have already built an atomic bomb. Roosevelt did not see an urgency for such a project, but agreed to proceed slowly. In 1941, British scientists pushed America to develop an atomic weapon. America’s effort was slow until 1942 when Colonel Leslie Groves took over. He quickly chose personnel, production sites and set schedules to invent the atomic
When looking at the aftermath of the atomic bomb in both Nagasaki and Hiroshima the devastation it caused is evident. The majority of the population in Japan could have never imagined such a catastrophic event. On August 6, 1945 and August 9, 1945 massive amounts of lives were changed forever when an atomic bomb fell from the sky and created an explosion as bright as the sun. These two bombs were the first and only accounts of nuclear warfare. (“Atomic Bomb is…”) The impact that the two bombs left on the cities of Japan was tremendous. The bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima devastated the country through structural damage, long term medical effects, expenses, and the massive loss of life.
In 1941, The United States began an atomic bomb program called the “Manhattan Project.” The main objective of the “Manhattan Project” was to research and build an atomic bomb before Germany could create and use one against the allied forces during World War II. German scientists had started a similar research program four years before the United States began so the scientists of the “Manhattan Project” felt a sense of urgency throughout their work (Wood “Men … Project”).
In conclusion, ever since the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it has been a major controversial argument amongst many people throughout the world. The United States was the first and only country in the world to use this type of weapon during a war Using the bomb was a major turning point in the war and it changed the world forever. Many Japanese were killed and the two cities were greatly destroyed. Besides the negative effects, the positive effects were that American and Japanese lost less people than they would have with a land invasion and the war ended quickly with Japan’s surrender as planned. The United States was justified in taking this action because the goals of the bomb were accomplished although the aftermath was dreadful.
At 5:30 AM July 16th 1945, the nuclear age had started. The world’s first atomic bomb was detonated. On August 6th 1942 at 8:15 AM, an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, dropped a perfected atomic bomb created by the Americans, over the city of Hiroshima hoping to end the war. Thousands of people died in the two cities in Japan. They were Hiroshima and Nagasaki “the Manhattan Project”. The research and development project that produced these atomic bombs during this time was known as “the Manhattan Project”.
The United States’ decision to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima required extensive research leading to its production. The main goal of the American side was to damage the enemy’s confidence, while choosing a target with the highest military output in order to conclude the war (Robinson).The group in charge of developing the technology was known as the Manhattan Project, and was kept top-secret. Selection began in the spring of 1945, with assistance from the Commanding General, Army Air Forces, his Headquarters (Robinson).There was a variety of experts working on the project, including mathematicians, theoretical physicists, and specialists trained in weather and blast effects Headquarters (Robinson). In order to monitor all of the results, the city had to be untouched, meaning the target had to have no signs of previous bombings. Based on these requirements, the designation of Hiroshima for the bombing was not a simple determination. After a target was selected and the weapon was developed, testing was set to begin. On July 16, 1945, the first test in Alamogordo, New Mexico, proved that the bomb was prepared for release onto...
In 1939 rumor came to the U.S. that Germans had split the atom. The threat of the Nazis developing a nuclear weapon prompted President Roosevelt to establish The Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer set up a research lab in Los Alamos, New Mexico and brought the best minds in physics to work on the problem of creating a nuclear weapon. Although most the research and development was done in Los Alamos, there were over 30 other research locations throughout the project. After watching the first nuclear bomb test Oppenheimer was quoted as saying simply “It works.”.