The Manhattan Project: The Rise Of The Atomic Bomb

Near the end of World War II, President Harry S. Truman was faced with a difficult decision. He had to make a choice about what to do with Japan. Germany had surrendered to the Allies, but Japan kept fighting. Truman had to choose whether or not to invade Japan and drag the war on or use America’s new weapon, the atomic bomb, to end the war quickly.

The Manhattan Project started in 1942 was a secret government program used to make atomic bombs (“Manhattan Project”). Leading physicists, including Enrico Fermi, Albert Einstein, and Leó Szilárd thought that it would be in the U.S.’s best interest to work on this technology (Manhattan Project). Because intelligence led to the conclusion that Germany had begun making their own atomic weapons (“Nagasaki and Hiroshima”). Roosevelt took their advice, and the exploratory committee developed into the Manhattan Project, a top-secret government effort that funneled $2 billion into building an atomic weapon (“Nagasaki and Hiroshima”). The project was managed by Brigadier General Leslie Richard Groves (Manhattan Project).

Daisaku Ikeda said “Japan learned from the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that the tragedy wrought by nuclear weapons must never be repeated and that humanity and nuclear weapons cannot exist.” The United States ended World War II by bombing Japan which caused radiation damage and devastation to all of Japan. The United States had three main reasons why they dropped the atomic bomb in such a rush. They wanted to limit American casualties from fighting future battles. The United States wanted to establish dominance over the war before Russia could join in.

(Positive and Negative effects) The Manhattan Project is known to have had several positive effects. One of which came after the end of World War II when the AEC (Atomic Energy Commission) was created by congress to control Atomic energy development for peaceful reasons. They declared that Atomic energy should not only be used for security reasons, but for promotion of world peace and improving public welfare. Both of these foundations were urged to be formed after the world saw the devastation caused by the Atom Bomb.

Denise Kiernan’s book, “The Girls of Atomic City”, a New York Times best seller in its first week of publication, tells the story of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. A created in 1942 and one of the Manhattan Project’s secret cities that didn’t appear on maps until 1949. The town consumed more electricity than New York City and homed over 75,000 people. Many of those people were young women that were recruited from small towns in the South with promises of good pay and war-ending work. Their work was covered in mystery and workers faced job loss and eviction if they talked about work.

A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion (thermonuclear weapon). Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission ("atomic") bomb test released the same amount of energy as approximately 20,000 tons of TNT (see Trinity (nuclear test)). The first thermonuclear ("hydrogen") bomb test released the same amount of energy as approximately 10,000,000 tons of TNT.

The Atomic Bomb in WWII Unethical Dilemma Leonardo McCormick Adventist University of Health Sciences   The Atomic Bomb In WWII Unethical Dilemma As all aspects of life-threatening situations can become an unethical dilemma which are then discussed. In order to make a statement we must always be mindful to set aside our personal bias when presenting such materials.

As Marcus Aurelius once said, “Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away”. Time passes by swiftly and soon events, names, and struggles get lost in the depths of history. History becomes a vast pit of several conglomerated dates that soon lack importance or gain importance depending on the present time period. The history of the United States started roughly around 1607 when several pilgrims came to the New World for better opportunities. Now zoom 410 years to present day where our world consists of massive industrialization, expansion of technology, and intricate international affairs.

Try putting yourself in president Truman’s place how would you have dealt with Japan? Make a treaty or just try and completely destroy them? The U.S. and president Truman had a very hard decision to make dealing with Japan. Although there was several reasons to not drop the atomic bomb, the U.S. had good reason for the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki which were justified due to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, to keep the nation safe, and to stop the Japanese empire from becoming any stronger.

Beginning from 1942 to 1992 the United States has done almost 1032 nuclear bomb testing around the equator. Even though it was a big step forward for the United States when it comes to developing nuclear bomb. However, the bomb testing resulted civilians to move from their hometown, and also left them exposed to radiation causing them several unwanted diseases and genetic mutations. However most of the time the voice/request of the natives left unheard or ignored or oppressed. That’s when Jane Dibblin a British journalist steps up.

World War II began on September 1 of 1939 when Germany assaulted Poland. By 1941, the Germans were ahead in the race for the nuclear bomb. They had a substantial water plant, high- uranium mixes, skilled researchers and engineers, and the best concoction building industry on the planet. Indeed, even before its entrance into the war, the United States had turned out to be exceptionally worried with the atomic danger of the Axis powers.

World War II was one of the biggest conflicts in the history of the world. It was a conflict between the Allies — Britain, American, and France — and the Axis Powers — Germany, Italy, and Japan. America entered the war in 1941 when the Japanese surprise attack our naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. At the start of the conflict, the 32nd President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was our Chief in Command that had just let the nation through one of its most trying times, the Great Depression. In 1942, Roosevelt began a top secret project led by Robert J. Oppenheimer.