The process of building the two atomic bombs was long and hard. The Manhattan project employed 120,000 people, and cost almost $2 billion. Although there were 120,000 Americans working on the project only a select group of scientist knew of the atomic bomb development. Vice president Truman never knew about the development of the bombs until he became president. The axis powers did not know what was going on with the development of the atomic bomb; there was a soviet spy in the project. The soviet spy was Klaus Fuchs, and he had become one of the few people who knew of the bombs. In the summer of 1945 Robert Oppenheimer was prepared to test the first atomic bomb. Which was July 16, 1945 the bomb was tested. The bomb was tested at the …show more content…
The bomb exploded with the power of 22,000 tons of TNT and 70,000 people died in 1945 from the bomb. The first bomb in Hiroshima killed 140,000 people by the end of 1945. The explosion its self killed 80,000 people instantly. The other major toll the bomb took on the city was the fact that it had killed 60,000 people in the next five years due to sickness from radiation from the bomb. The second bomb Fat Man killed 70,000 people by the end of 1945. Fat man killed 39,000 people instantly but left 25,000 people injured from the blast. If people who had cancer from the radiation that adds close to another 100,000 people who died from the second bombs. In the next five years 140,000 people died from sickness due to the bomb. In total in the five years after the bombs exploded 210,000 people died from effects from the bomb. Dropping the atomic bombs was not any easy choice. There were many people involved in the decision, however the president, Truman was completely responsible for the dropping of the bombs. Truman was the only person who could give the ‘ok’ for dropping the bombs. The president did have a council of war advisers who could help him look at the cost and benefits of the bomb, the cost, and time it would take to get ready for use. By the time Truman took over his presidency the bombs had been undergoing a lot of progress. Truman was never told about the bombs being built for use until he took over as president. The dropping of
There were serious issues of security of documents, due to failure to lock up (Wood 4). <br><br>The one serious incident was the hiring of Klaus Fuchs. He was later found, and convicted of obtaining secret documents and sending them to the Soviet Union. A competent and hardworking scientist himself, Fuchs enabled the Soviet Union to create their own atomic bomb (Beyer 45). <br><br>Names were not allowed to be mentioned outside of the laboratory. Everybody was a "sir" or "mister" instead of their own name (Wood 4). Unless they worked at the lab themselves, wives knew nothing of their husbands' research (Wood 4).<br><br>Decisions to drop the atomic bomb went through several personalities, yet ultimately rested upon president Truman. The man whose decisions created the Manhattan Project, never lived to see the results of his labor. FDR died on April 12, three months before the first successful Trinity test (Beyer 56). The responsibilities were soon placed upon Truman, the next president. Truman knew nothing about the bomb and its effects yet hastily decided that the bomb be used on Japan, considering Germany was no longer a target with the war in Europe over. Initiated by Szilard, a petition was made to offer the opinion that the bomb should be used only if Japan refused to surrender, even after being informed of the bomb's destructive capabilities
The Manhattan Project was the American program for researching and developing the first atomic bombs. The weapons produced were based solely upon the principles of nuclear fission of uranium 235 and plutonium 239, The project as a whole cost approximately 2 billion dollars of taxpayer’s money and employed over 120,000 people . It was a massive undertaking to say the least. A project of this size needed justification and it seemingly came in the form of attacking the Japanese . The President's chief of staff Admiral Leahy The democrats would have suffered a political death blow if they were not able to justify the investment.
The Manhattan Project was a secret problem barely anyone knew about.Many of the scientists that were involved with the Manhattan Project heard about the Axis powers gaining knowledge of how to make nuclear weapons that could destroy a whole nation.The Manhattan Project produced two atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan.The atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.Hiroshima was chosen as the target for the first atomic bomb because it was a large port city with an army base. The bomb dropped on Nagasaki missed its target by over a mile.
The politics and strategic side of this bombing story had just as much turmoil and drama as the actual bombing itself. When America was making its atomic bomb, other countries like Great Britain, Germany, and Russia also had the idea to create an atomic bomb. However, the U.S. was the only county to make them because they had the manpower and resources to make these bombs. Like mentioned before, some government officials, including President Truman, believed that dropping the bomb was not a bad idea. These people thought it was beneficial to drop the first bomb for both Japan and the U.S.. They believed this because the U.S. had planned an invasion of another Japanese island, and if the
It became known that the German knew how to create an atomic bomb and FDR created a committee to study and create atomic bombs, named the Manhattan Project.The Manhattan Project was significant to the war because it led to the end of World War II and caused the Japanese to surrender to the Americans. The amount of people working together along with the cost and time which led to advancements in technology that was far ahead of any enemy. The creation of the bombs delivered a push in the advancement of science, innovation, designing, military and the entire of society into another age. It drew out the powerhouse that we consider today to be the United States of
Even before the outbreak of War, the United States was concerned with a fascist regime in Europe researching in nuclear weapons. In retaliation, the United States began to fund an atomic weapon development program which became known as “The Manhattan Project” led by J. Robert Oppenheimer. Over the next several years, the Manhattan project started obtaining key materials such as Uranium-235 and Plutonium and testing prototypes until they reached a working model (Coroner).
President Roosevelt knew that America was making these highly deadly bombs, but they were top secret, no one knew, so he made the choice to keep from telling anyone, including his Vice President Truman. When President Roosevelt died Truman was swore in right away and was immediately told about the atomic bombs. After the atomic bombs were finished, successful and ready, the United States Generals started saying that we needed to use them on Japan because they felt that was the plan whole time. They voiced their opinion but left the decision to President Truman. Truman had to decide if he was, or was not making a good decision before he made it. Therefore, he made a committee to help him decide, so the decision was not all on him. The committee came up with four different options for Truman to choose from. Option one was that they just “conventional Bomb the
The research for the first Atomic bomb took place in the United States, by a group of nuclear engineers; the name of this research was called, “The Manhattan Project”. On July 16, 1945, the detonation of the first atomic bomb was tested near Los Alamos, New Mexico. As the atomic bomb was detonated, it sent shock-waves across the globe, which demonstrated that nuclear power would forever change the meaning of war.
The Bombs were not as bad as people think it was. President Harry S. Truman had already warned that any attempt to invade japan would cause unusual acts that would bring the war to a brief end. Roughly about 90,000-146,000 people were killed in Hiroshima & 39,000-80,000 in Nagasaki,which most of the death occurred on the very first day of the bombings. The Army Officer made it seem like that was the only choice was the bomb but it really wasn’t.
During the early morning of August 6, 1945, after numerous years of conflict between the US and Japan in the Pacific, the Enola Gay, an American B-29 bomber, loaded with a new and destructive weapon, soared across the sky over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Seconds later, that new weapon- an atomic bomb that released its destructive energy by the splitting of uranium atoms- lit up the sky, killing nearly 80,000 Japanese civilians instantly. Three days later, the United States dropped a second bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki, which resulted in about 40,000 more instant deaths. Thousands of more Japanese civilians died over time due to radiation sickness, leukemia, and other types of cancer. After losing thousands of people,
The total amount of people that died from the dropping of the atomic bomb was immense. Here are the statistics. Within the first two to four months of the bombings, the acute effects of the atomic bombings killed 90,000–146,000 people in Hiroshima and 39,000–80,000 in Nagasaki; roughly half of the deaths in each city occurred on the first day.
The Manhattan Project was assembled when “in 1939 the world’s scientific community discovered that German physicists had learned the secrets of splitting a uranium atom.” (US History 1) This caused many people to panic and it was later agreed that this issue of the Axis powers developing nuclear weaponry should be brought up to the United States, which could perhaps stop the Germans from causing unspeakable destruction to much of the world. Scientists Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi, who both were living in the United States after leaving their previous countries to escape from either persecution or just leave the fascist state that Italy was currently in. Fermi was the scientist that went to Washington in order to express his concerns about this development of the splitting of the uranium atoms but not many others shared his concerns. Once Fermi
I could not open my eyes enough because of the smoke, which was everywhere. Not only me but everyone felt the same. And my parts were covered with holes.“ This is a primary account of Ms.Akiko Takakura who was 20 years old at the time of the bombing. She was a survivor of the atomic bomb that left her with 100 lacerated wounds on her back. Unfortunately that was not the fate of many who died. On August 6, 1945, during the World War II, the United States army dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days after the bombing of Hiroshima the United States bombed Nagasaki. In total, it is estimated, that 200,000 people lost their lives as the result of the atomic bombings. These bombings were done in order to have the Japanese forces surrender, with the least possible casualties on both sides. The atomic bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not the correct way of ending the war in United States because it caused detrimental health effects, crippled the economy of Japan and created social
At about eight A.M on August sixth, 1945 the Japanese city Hiroshima was destroyed by the deployment of the first nuclear weapon, nicknamed “Little Boy.” Soon after, at about eleven A.M the following day, a second bomb was dropped, called “Fat Man” on Nagasaki. Together, these bombings caused massive destruction. The death total was well near 220, 000. Only portions of these deaths were from the days of the bombings, with an equal number occurring later in the year from exposure to radiation. More have died since from leukemia.
On the 6th November 1945, a United States bomber flies over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The only cargo aboard that B-29 bomber was an atomic bomb waiting on its target. At 8.15am the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, taking 140,000 lives with it. Most of the 140,000 died instantly, horrifyingly the rest of the innocent civilians that were not in direct contact with the bomb died painful deaths in the four months following. They died from radiation sickness and different types of cancers.