Manhattan Project Ethical Issues

During its years of activity, the Manhattan Project helped to launch the world into a bold, new era of nuclear, ethical, and political development. After the creation of the first atomic bomb, the United States and other leading countries in the world began to make leaps and bounds with the development of bigger, better nuclear weapons. The first atomic bombs were built with the purpose of ending the war against Germany in Europe, but in the end they were just used to end the war against the Japanese in the Pacific (Gordon and Johnson 3). However, the first atomic bombs acted as a monumental stepping stone that allowed technology to advance far into the future as the nuclear development that started in the Manhattan Project continues throughout

Before President Truman decided to drop the nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki he weighed the projected American casualties that would result from an invasion of Japan, which was over one million men, against the consequences of dropping the bombs (Gordon and Johnson 4). Truman’s decision to drop the bombs is still debated over today on if it was ethically correct or not and, despite the only two examples being the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear bombs now have a complex ethical policy around them that is extremely complex and near impossible to understand. After using it to finally put an end to the second World War there was no clear use for atomic bombs anymore. and many people urged against making more because of the potential dangers they could cause the human race (Cochran and Norris 17). The thought was that the production of even more dangerous types of nuclear bombs would eventually lead to the unjustified deaths of thousands of more innocent people. The Manhattan Project altered many aspects of life including politics, ethics, and the use and development of nuclear technology in our modern world. It also hugely affected the lives of the leaders and scientists within the Project

Roosevelt. Roosevelt was the one who gave the initial thumbs up to get the Manhattan Project up and running (Cochran and Norris 11). Before Roosevelt initiated what would eventually morph into the Manhattan Project, there was next to no concern in the government about the possibilities of nuclear weapons development for the United States to use in the war. Even in 1944 when the United States came to the conclusion that Germany did not have the ability to develop an atomic bomb for use in the war, Roosevelt continued to put emphasis on the fact that the believed the research and construction of an atomic weapon should not cease (Gordon and Johnson 2). Without Roosevelt’s backing of the continuation of the atomic bomb program, the research might have had some severe budget cuts and slowed dramatically down or even been forced to stop all together. His support allowed the atomic bomb development to continue and eventually be completed for use in the battle against Japanese forces. Without the drive and determination of the leaders and enthusiasts of the Manhattan Project, the atomic bomb may never have become a