THEATOMICBOMB

TheAtomicBomb
SeanSchmidt
SaltLakeCommunityCollege
History1700,AmericanCivilization


THEATOMICBOMB

TheAtomicBomb
OnAugust6,1945aUSB29bomberflewoverHiroshimaJapandroppingthe
firstnuclearbombinhistory.Thiscatastrophicevent,whichcausedanenormous
changeinthehistoryofmankinddidnotjusthappenoutofsheerobscurity.No,this
eventhadanarrayofcauseandeffectswhichleadtotheUnitedStatestodropthefirst
nuclearbombeverinthecourseofhistory.Abombthatkillednearlyoveronehundred
andfiftythousandpeoplewithonlythefirstdrop.Thisessaywillconsistofthemany
reasonsonwhytheatomicbombwasdropped,whattheoutcomeofthedropbecame
of,andtheaftereffectsoftheatomicbomb.
InAugust2,1939,almostsixyearsbeforethedroppingoftheatomicbomb.
AlbertEinsteinwrotealettertoPresidentFranklinDelanoRooseveltabouthisnew
studieswithuranium.AlbertEinsteinexplains,
Inthecourseofthelastfourmonthsit
hasbeenmadeprobablethatitmaybecomepossibletosetupanuclearchainreaction
inalargemassofuraniumNowitappearsalmostcertainthatthiscouldbeachieved
intheimmediatefuture(Einstein,1939.Paragraph2.).Einsteinoriginallysentthisletter
forthepurposeofinformingthepresident,becausewhileworkingonthisexperiment,
Einsteinhadrealizedthatthisnewproductcouldbecomedangerousinasortof
weapon.Withintheletterhesaysthisbyspecificallysaying,Thisnewphenomenon
wouldalsoleadtotheconstructionofbombs,anditisconceivable,thatextremely
powerfulbombsofanewtypemaythusbeconstructed.Asinglebombofthistype,
carriedbyboatandexplodedinaport,mightverywelldestroythewholeporttogether


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withsomeofthesurroundingterritory.However,suchbombsmightverywellproveto
betooheavyfortransportationbyair.(Einstein,1939.Paragraph3.).Fromsayingthat,
itisunderstoodthatEinsteinhimselfdidnotunderstandthepowerthatthisnewweapon
hewascreatingwascapableof,thoughhedidunderstandthatitwouldbevery
destructive.
Aftertheseadvancementswiththestudiesonuranium,theUSstartedtoput
moreinterestintothesubject.Soonthisstudywasabletoallocatefundsatamore
willingrate,whichledittoadvanceinextreamingrates.Soontheprojectwasgivenits
codename,TheManhattanProject.TheManhattanProjectwastopsecret,Secrecy
wasparamount.NeithertheGermansnortheJapanesecouldlearnoftheproject.
RooseveltandChurchillalsoagreedthattheStalinwouldbekeptinthedark.
(Manhattan,ushistory.org,Paragraph7).Infact,theManhattanProjectwaskeptso
secretivelythatVicePresidentTrumandidnotknowabouttheprojectuntilhebecame
Presidenthimself(Manhattan,ushistory.org,Paragraph7).
InJuly16,1945,TheManhattanProjectdroppedtheirfirsttestbomb.Theresults
werefargreaterthanwhatanyonehadexpected.Theblastfromtheexplosionwasfelt
onehundredmilesawayfromthetestsite,andhadamushroomcloudofoverforty
thousandfeet.(Manhattan,ushistory.org,Paragraph9)Whilethiswashappening,the
waronJapanhadbeenbrutal,goingonforalmostfouryears.TheUShadaskedJapan
tounconditionallysurrender,whichtheJapanesewouldrefuserepeatedly.When
PresidentTrumanheardofTheManhattanProjectbeingasuccess,herealizedthatthe
atomicbombcouldbeawaytoendthewarbetweenJapan.ForTruman,thechoice


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whetherornottousetheatomicbombwasthemostdifficultdecisionofhislife.
(Decision,ushistory.org,Paragraph3)."IhavetodecideJapanesestrategyshallwe
invadeJapanproperorshallwebombandblockade?Thatismyhardestdecisionto
date.ButI'llmakeitwhenIhaveallthefacts."(Truman,Diaryentry6/17/45).Truman,
nowknowingofthenewweapon,sentoutanotherimmediateunconditionalsurrenderto
Japan,andthatrefusalwouldresultintotaldestruction,nomentionofanynew
weaponsofmassdestructionwasmade
.(Decision,ushistory.org,Paragraph4)Even
beforethenewPresidentHarryS.Trumanfinalizedhisdecisiontousethebombs,
membersofthePresidentsinnercirclegrappledwiththespecificsofthedecisionto
dropthenewweapon.
(teachinghistory.org,Paragraph2).Aftertheproposalwasmade,
Japanrefuseditagain.LeadingtheUSnootherchoicethantodropthefirstatomic
bomb.
Inoticedtheflashinglight.Itwasnotreallyabigflash.Butstillitdrewmy
attention.Inafewseconds,theheatwavearrived.AfterInoticedtheflash,whiteclouds
spreadovertheblueskyWhenIlookeddownonthetownfromthetopofthathill,I
couldseethatthecitywascompletelylost.Thecityturnedintoayellowsand.Itturned
yellow,thecoloroftheyellowdesert.(IsaoKita,Testimony)Around8:15August
6,1945,thefirstatomicbombwasdroppedonHiroshima,Japan.Thebombinstantly
vaporizedoverseventythousandJapanesecitizens.Andtheburnsandradiation
poisoningwhichoccurredafterthebombkillednearlyoveronehundredthousand
people."Isawtheatombomb.Iwasfourthen.Irememberthecicadaschirping.The
atombombwasthelastthingthathappenedinthewarandnomorebadthingshave


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happenedsincethen,butIdon'thavemyMummyanymore.Soevenifitisn'tbadany
more,I'mnothappy."(
Nagai,HiroshimaRemembered)Thedroppingofthenuclear
bombhadmanydeadlyaftereffectsuchasradiationpoisoning,andmanyreportsthat
thecropsthatgrewaftertheeventweregeneticallyaltered.Theradiationpoisoning
laststoeventhisday,transferringfromparenttochild,childrenarestilldyingfrom
radiationpoisoningduetotheatomicbombin1945.
Theatomicbombbecameaverycontroversialtopicafterthedropping.Eventill
thisdaypeopleareunsurewhetherthedroppingofthebombwasagoodthingornot.
In1945,Americansoverwhelminglysupportedtheuseofthebomb
seventyyears
later
,thatnumberisnowabaremajority(somepollssuggestless),withsupportfor
Trumansdecisionconcentratedamongolderpeople.(Nootherchoice,Paragraph2).
Peoplearealsosayingthatatthetimethatthiswashappening,Trumanhadcaughtina
corner,withnootherchoicethantodropthebomb.Buttherearethreeargumentsthat
leadafterthedroppingofthebomb,
First,thattousethebombonlyagainstJapanwas
racistsecond,thatitwaspointlessandthird,thatitwasdonepurelyforpoliticaleffect
thathadmoretodowiththeSovietUnionthanwiththewarinthePacific.(Noother
choice,Paragraph5)Toaddontothefirstreasonofargument,peoplesaythatifthe
countrywasawhitecountrythenTrumanwouldnothavedroppedthebomb.Others
saythatTrumanhadnootherchoicethantodropitbecausetheJapanesewere
showingnosignofgivingup.ApartoftheJapanesecultureissurrenderingisa
dishonor,meaning,thattherewouldhavebeennoendtothewar.Second,people
argueagainstitsayingthattheatomicbombhadamajorpointwhichbroughtusinto


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thenuclearage.(Manhattan,paragraph10)IfthebombwasnotdroppedbytheUS,
thenthebombwouldhavebeendroppedbyanothercountrywithinsometime.People
arguethatifthebombwasnotdroppedinduringworldwartwo,thenitcouldhavebeen
droppedontheUSinanotherwar.
Inconclusion,theatomicbombdroppedonaugust6,1945wasahistorically
changingevent.Aneventthathadmanycontroversialdecisionsleadinguptothe
makingofit,thedroppingofit,andeventheaftermathofit.FromthemomentofThe
ManhattanProjectandseeingtheamountofdisasteronebombcouldcarry.Tothe
hardestdecisionsomemightsaywasevermadetodropthebomb.Concludingwiththe
controversialmindsetsofthepeopleonwhetherthebombreallyshouldhavebeen
droppedonHiroshimaJapanornot.Theatomicbombopenedtheworldtoanewage.


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References

APETITIONTOTHEPRESIDENTOFTHEUNITEDSTATES.(n.d.).RetrievedMay
03,2016,fromhttp://www.dannen.com/decision/450717.html

AmericanExperience:TV'smostwatchedhistoryseries.(n.d.).RetrievedMay03,
2016,from
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primaryresources/trumanein39/

HIROSHIMA:.(n.d.).RetrievedMay03,2016,fromhttp://www.douglong.com/hst.htm

Hiroshima&NagasakiRemembered.(n.d.).RetrievedMay03,2016,from
http://www.hiroshimaremembered.com/history/nagasaki/page7.html

NoOtherChoice:WhyTrumanDroppedtheAtomicBombonJapan.(n.d.).RetrievedMay
03,2016,from
http://nationalinterest.org/feature/nootherchoicewhytrumandroppedtheatomicbombjap
an13504

RecommendationsontheImmediateUseofNuclearWeapons,June16,1945.(n.d.).
RetrievedMay03,2016,fromhttp://www.dannen.com/decision/scipanel.html

TeachingHistory.org,homeoftheNationalHistoryEducationClearinghouse.(n.d.).
RetrievedMay03,2016,from
http://teachinghistory.org/historycontent/beyondthetextbook/25484

TestimonyofIsaoKita.(n.d.).RetrievedMay03,2016,from
http://www.inicom.com/hibakusha/isao.html


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TheAtomicBombandtheEndofWorldWarII.(n.d.).RetrievedMay03,2016,from
http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nukevault/ebb525TheAtomicBombandtheEndofWorldWarII/

TheDecisiontoDroptheBomb.(n.d.).RetrievedMay03,2016,from
http://www.ushistory.org/us/51g.asp

TheManhattanProject.(n.d.).RetrievedMay03,2016,from
http://www.ushistory.org/us/51f.asp