Hiroshima & Nagasaki
MANHATTAN PROJECT |
The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States. There were 16 sites in the US and 2 in Canada, the main sites being in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Hanford, Washington, and Los Alamos, New Mexico. The goal of the entire Manhattan project was to build a working atomic bomb. The project worked, and the scientists working at the sites made the first atomic bomb: the Fat Boy. The Fat Boy was the first atomic bomb ever used and was successful in a test in the dessert of New Mexico.
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HIROSHIMA & NAGASAKI ATOMIC BOMBS |
The US dropped 2 atomic bombs on Japan to try to end WW2 in the Pacific. Truman made the decision to drop 2 bombs called Fat Man and Little Boy on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, respectively(Hall). The atomic bombings killed 90,000–146,000 people in Hiroshima and 39,000–80,000 in Nagasaki, around half of the deaths happened on the first day (Browne). The goal of the droppings was successful, making Japan surrender unconditionally after the second bomb. The reason Truman decided to drop the bomb is the Japanese mentality of war. The Japanese mentality is that it is better to die fighting than to surrender. Because they thought that, and the fact that the US didn't want to lose any more combatants in war, Truman thought the only way to make the Japanese surrender is to kill their citizens and destroy major cities. Truman later said, "It was a terrible decision. But I made it, and I made it to save 250,000 boys from the United States, and I'd make it again under similar circumstances.(Jackson)" what Truman never addresses is the possibly 226,000 deaths from Hiroshima and Nagasaki that did happen.
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HIROSHIMA & NAGASAKI BEFORE AND AFTER
Aftermath
After every nation saw the effects of the atomic bomb, every country except for India, Israel, Pakistan, and South Sudan signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, in order to make sure that no one uses nuclear weapons. This is mostly still together, but North Korea left the Treaty in 2002. The point of the treaty is to try to stop all nuclear weapons from ever being used or made. This goal failed after North Korea left. That only lead to more conflict and more needed to negotiations that still hasn't ended. These nuclear weapons are too dangerous to mankind, especially in the wrong hands. While nuclear weapons still exist, conflict will never end. The world would be a better place without nuclear weapons because there would be less conflict and less fear.