Choi 1

Justin Choi
Mr. Pate
AP U.S History
25 Feb 2015
Thesis
The first atomic bomb was borne out of a secret U.S. research
and development endeavor called the Manhattan Project, which
undoubtedly helped bring an end to the second World War; however,
peace would not last for long as the unforeseen consequences of
opening Pandora's Box would soon grip the nation in the form of a Cold
War, overshadowing the promise of a safer world under one nuclear
power.
Outline
1. Background
a. Research and development project for World War II
i. Led by U.S in order to defeat Germany and Japan
ii. Led by J. Robert Oppenheimer and Major General
Leslie Groves
iii. Two types of atomic bomb were developed
2. The Creation of the Atomic Bomb
a. Albert Einstein writes a letter to President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt
i. Informed the president that recent research on
uranium made it possible for a larger power to be
produced
1. Thus, an extremely powerful bomb was
possible to create
ii. President Roosevelt approved for the creation of an
atomic bomb
b. Physics behind the creation of the atomic bomb
i. Ernest Rutherford achieved the first artificial
transmutation of an element
1. Detected a high-energy particle with positive
charge
ii. Chadwick discovered neutrons which aided in the
understanding various weight between atoms
iii. Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann discovered fission
1. Fission can produce substantial amounts of
energy and also increasing amounts of energy
iv. American scientists found out about Hahn and
Strassmanns discovery of fission

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1. Became active participants in attempts to
confirm and advance Hahn and Strassmanns
results
c. Early Government Support
i. President Roosevelt gave government support to
uranium research
1. Design of an atomic pile that could exhibit
potential of atomic energy and provide a
second path besides uranium
2. Scientists felt that reorganization and
acceleration of atomic research was vital if the
bomb was to be produced in time to affect the
war
a. Strengthened by MAUD report
i. Latest and most influential series of
studies that stated that an atomic
bomb was possible
ii. Roosevelt secretly gave approval to advance with the
construction of an atomic bomb.
1. Approved Army involvement with the making
of the atomic bomb
d. Atomic Bomb
i. President Roosevelt died
1. Vice President Harry S. Truman took the office
a. Japan was at near defeat when Truman
took office
ii. Trinity Test
1. Test of plutonium weapon called Trinity
a. Concern was the radioactivity the test
would release
b. July 16, 1945 is when the device
exploded over the New Mexico Desert
atomic age began.
iii. Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
1. Japan surrenders
iv. Bomb goes public
1. Pres. Truman announced the Hiroshima raid to
the American people
3. Organization of the Manhattan Project
i. British and American exchanged nuclear information
1. Did not initially work together
2. Opportunity for equal partnership did not exist
anymore
a. Britain fell behind America

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3. Quebec agreement allowed cooperation to
resume
ii. Project Sites
1. Oak Ridge
2. Los Alamos
3. Argonne
4. Hanford
4. Secrecy
a. Goal was to keep the entire atomic bomb program a secret
from Germany and Japan
i. Germany attempted to build large spy network within
US
1. Most caught quickly
ii. Japan had a meek atomic research program
1. Like Germany, Japanese spies could not
penetrate the Manhattan Project
iii. Soviet Spies penetrated the Manhattan Project at Los
Alamos and several other locations
1. Sent critical information back to Russia for the
development of the future Soviet bomb
b. Building an atomic bomb was not a secret
i. Fission had been discovered in Berlin
ii. Chain reaction was now clear to any intelligent
research physicist
c. Soviet Spies
i. First learned atomic bomb program a year before
Manhattan Engineer District was created
ii. Soon recognized the importance of an atomic bomb
1. Special codename: ENORMOZ
5. Bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima (During WWII)
a. Interim Committee was created to advise on wartime and
postwar use of nuclear energy
i. Offered its opinion on physical effects of bomb and
also the military/political effects
b. Truman was informed that Trinity test had been successful
c. After Japanese rejection of the Potsdam Declaration, there
was authorization to use the bomb
d. Bombardment Squadron
i. Enola Gay had Little Boy in its bomb bay
1. Hiroshima was the primary target of the
mission
2. Detonated in Hiroshima

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a. 70,000 to 80,000 people were killed/
70,000 were injured
ii. B-29 Bockscar
1. Had Fat Man
a. Kokura was the primary target
i. When they reached Kokura, they
found cloud covering the city,
which prohibited visual attack
1. Headed for Nagasaki
b. Dropped Fat Man over citys industrial
valley
i. 35,000 - 40,000 people were killed/
60,000 were injured
e. Controversy
i. Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
1. Historians debated on ethicality
6. Effects of the creating the atomic bomb (post-WWII)
a. Soviet spies steals information from the Manhattan Project
i. Soviets successful detonated a prototype bomb
1. Soviet scientists had been helped in their
pursuit for a bomb
a. America in return made hydrogen bomb
b. Soviet and American arsenal rose greatly
i. Eventually America threatened to
use atomic bomb in order to deter
other countries to stop making
attacks against American interest
b. Negative effects
i. More of a threat
1. Countries have power to destroy the world
a. More countries have atomic bomb