The Manhattan Project was a secret mission in New York City created to end World War II with the use of atomic weapons. It was a race to beat Nazi Germany to build a nuclear weapon. President Roosevelt received a letter from Albert Einstein on October 11, 1939, confirming, “that it may become 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.” states the Department of Energy Part 1. So, Roosevelt had a committee formed to study uranium, which eventually became the U.S. Department of Energy. These decisions and the ones that followed eventually created the top-secret organization that employed over 100,000 people – The Manhattan …show more content…
The Manhattan Project, although a top-secret plan to end the Cold War, has both positive and negative effects on many factors. The workers who were hired into their positions had to join before knowing any information. If they had known what they were getting into before joining, their reputations would’ve been ruined and they would have to carry the burden of killing innocent lives. This project caused mass destruction, loss of innocent lives, and was morally wrong. The results of the Manhattan Project raised awareness about the responsibility of future scientific developments and the consequences of their results. This idea is controversial because many doubted the use of the atomic bomb and were worried about how it would be used in the future. The project is highly secretive and requires private identity, which prevents the freedom of the worker’s rights. According to Peterson on the website Energy.Gov states, “I mean, once you got offsite, your badge was tucked away somewhere. It was a secret.” You weren’t allowed to disclose any information, even to family
As long as there is love, there will be hatred; as long as there is peace, there will be war, and as long as there is a positive side, there is a negative side. During the Second World War, the Nazis were very powerful. Due to the fear of the Nazis, Americans started a project called “The Manhattan Project" in order to build a very deadly weapon that could even blow cities apart. The allied powers were so concerned with Nazi domination, that they never considered the outcomes of creating an atomic bomb which are also positive and negative.
The atomic bomb created under the Manhattan Project set a new level of psychological panic. It influence media, government, and daily lives of those all around the world. The media was covering stories about protection from a nuclear attack and the government was right next to the reporters helping to further the creation of fear with their messages about preparation.
Decisions are the hardest thing to do, especially considering how Harry Truman decided to drop the US Atomic bombs onto Okinawa and Iwo Jima. The role to end the war with Japan was in his hands, but it would require releasing the most horrendous weapon ever known. Although, there was some controversy over Truman’s decision. Some people say that it was unnecessary to use the Atomic bombs, such as the Federal Council of Churches and the Christian Faith. They stated that: “As American Christians, we are deeply penitent for the irresponsible use already made of the atomic bomb. We are agreed that, whatever be one’s judgment of the war in principle, the surprise bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are morally indefensible. ("8 Primary Pros and Cons of Dropping the Atomic Bomb")” People also
The Manhattan Project had various short and long term affects around the world. Primarily, the research done to create an atomic bomb led to the discovery of how to harness nuclear power which affects our lives to this day. However, the Manhattan Project also led to the creation of two more atomic bombs which would be used in WWII, radiation poisoning resulting in the death of many , fear of nuclear weapons during the Cold War, the end of the Second World War which was still taking place in Japan, and the threat of nuclear weapons around the world that still exists.
The Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research project, that created the United States first nuclear weapon, and led to its creation of the nuclear department during World War II. M.A.U.D. / M.A.U.D. group was created in 1940. Also, M.A.U.D was the secret name given to the group and it came from a phrase in a message from Niel Bohr (Cohen). This group produced a report that said that producing a fission bomb was possible. James Chadwick, a new member of the British M.A.U.D group, later wrote that at that time he realized that a nuclear bomb was able to be built in his lifetime.
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 launch of the two atomic bombs on Japan in August 1945 will lead to a long
The development of the atomic bomb and chemical warfare forever changed the way people saw the world. It was a landmark in time for which there was no turning back. The constant balancing of the nuclear super powers kept the whole of humankind on the brink of atomic Armageddon. Fear of nuclear winter and the uncertainty of radiation created its own form of a cultural epidemic in the United States. During these tense times in human history officials made controversial decisions such as the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Dangerous biological experiments and bombs tests were carried out in the name of the greater good and national defense. Some historians and scientists argue that the decisions and acts carried out by the U.S. during World War II and the Cold War were unethical because of the direct damage they did. The United States' decisions were moral because it can be proven their actions were aimed at achieving a greater good and those that were put in potential danger volunteered and were informed of the risk.
The biggest debate of World War II was whether the Atomic bombs were the right choice. Truthfully, they were. The Atomic bombs were necessary to end the war and get the Japanese to surrender. “In the Japanese culture, it was prominently represented in the samurai way of the warrior -Bushido- and was a key aspect of the Japanese desire to fight to the death. ” (Cote, 2023).
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
August 6, 1945 was the bombing of Hiroshima, and Nagasaki was bombed a few days later on August 9, 1945 these bombings resulted in the unconditional surrender of Japan. The choice was made by President Truman as an alternative to the land based invasion of Japan. The bombings of the two cities killed 90,000 to about 146,000 people in Hiroshima and in Nagasaki 39,000 to about 80,000 people. WWII was a war that needed to be fought. The United States entered WWII due to the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941.
While the dropping of atomic bomb is significant, many historians neglected to study political debates within the Japanese government and whether if the A-bomb was really necessary with alternative methods available. However, the gap between likely of ending the war with non-nuclear option and definite, was wide enough to suggest an alternative history- more deaths, destructions and longer war before Japan surrendered. But no one suggested that the reason of ending the war quicker constituted the ethical use of the A-bomb on Japan. The orthodox school historians suggested that the Atomic Bomb saved quarter of million American lives, while the revisionists argued that the Atomic Bomb was used to deter the USSR from spreading its influence. A third school synthesized the other two schools’ analysis and concluded that the bomb was conceived as a legitimate weapon to avoid the dread land invasion, punish Japan for Pearl Harbor, their treatment of POWS and intimidate USSR to
The ethical debate over if the decision to drop the atomic bomb was necessary will most likely never be resolved. As of today the United States becomes the first and only nation to use an atomic weaponry during war time. The first atomic bomb was dropped on Japanese territory, first an American bomber Enola Gay dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 following the atomic bomb on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Through the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki in Japan, it marked the end of World War II killing thousands of innocent people. Many historians now believe that the cause of this also ignited the Cold War.
In a similar manner, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are highly controversial, due to the fact that two extremely different viewpoints arose as the result of the nuclear bombings. For example, Hiroshima survivor Kurihara Sadako, in response to her personal experience and reactions to the bombing, created the poem “Let Us Be Midwives!” This untold story of the atomic bombings addresses the question what price did Japanese citizens have to pay for America’s demonstration of power and ability through American exceptionalism? Sadako finds herself locked in the basement of a building with a group of people, attempting to survive the nuclear blast. The line “And so new life was born in the dark of that pit of hell.”
It was 8:14 am. Suddenly, with a swift whoosh and a thundering boom, a large, gray cloud filled the air. Buildings crumpled down, the ground shivered, and people screamed, others wounded or dying. An atomic bomb had just dropped on Hiroshima. In 1945, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan were bombed by the United States, with two atomic bombs named “Little Boy” and “Fat Man”, believing it would quicken the Japanese surrender.