The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, on August 6, 1945.
The world would never be the same. This paper will discuss the significance of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and how they led to the success of the Allied forces. It will also discuss how the
United States developed the atomic bomb, the decision to drop the bomb, the weakening of Japan, the actual bombing an destruction of both cities, the surrender of Japan and the impact the atomic bomb would have in the future. During World War II, the United States was afraid that Germany would develop the atomic bomb first. Germany had taken over Norway, which was a heavy water supply and Czechoslovakia, …show more content…
Yet, Congress never voted to fund this program (Hoare, 1987, 10-14). Roosevelt authorized scientists to find out if an atomic bomb could be built. On December 2,
1942, scientists working in a secret laboratory under the bleachers of a football field in Chicago achieved the first man-made nuclear reaction. An atomic bomb could now be developed. Many scientists and other skilled workers participated in the making of the first atomic bomb. However, only few knew what they were making. In 1944, after D-Day, the Alsos (a troop sent to find how far the Germans had come in the building of the atomic bomb) radioed back that they had given up in their attempt to make it.
Still, despite scientists' pleas with the President to discontinue it, the
U.S. maintained the work on their atomic bomb (Conrad, 1982, 12-16). In
Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb was detonated in the desert. The bomb was much more explosive than scientists thought it would be. The 100 foot tower which housed the bomb was totally destroyed by the blast. ("World War II", 1997, 1-2). After the bomb exploded, Robert Oppenheimer, the head of the Manhattan Project, …show more content…
More died in the following days from wounds and burns. Yet, there are still more deaths now because of radiation sickness. Scientists never knew it would cause this much damage or kill as many people. Most of
Hiroshima was reduced to ashes after the bomb ripped through it. No buildings stood except for those made to withstand earthquakes. The bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki was not a uranium bomb (like that of
Hiroshima) but a plutonium bomb. It killed at least forty thousand people on the first day. However, just like in Hiroshima, many more people died after the initial day (Hoare, 1987, 32-33). Through the years, the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki faced even more problems because of the atomic bombs. Up to the present time, they have been discriminated against because they are believed by other
Japanese people to be sick. People fear that if they get married to a citizen of one of these cities, their children will develop birth defects.
Even though this is not a direct cause of the atomic bombs, it is still related. These people have survived the effects of the bombs and the