Manhattan Project Research Paper

“If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the mighty one.” – Robert Oppenheimer. The Manhattan Project was the research and making of the world’s first atomic weapons. This was a major asset that led the U.S into beating Japan and caused the war to cumulate. The Manhattan Project brought nations together, took the necessary measure to end World War II, and gave America multiple industrial advancements used in modern day warfare. The Atomic Bomb wasn’t only made by the U.S, it was an effort made by multiple countries. German scientist figured how to split a uranium atom that was a necessity to create the atomic bomb. These scientists were Jews, and during the Holocaust, they

The bombing of Pearl Harbor convinced Roosevelt that more had to be done on the atomic research. By the end of 1942, bomb research had become bomb production, Manhattan Project was ran by the military with Major Leslie Groves as officer in charge. Bomb production was carried out in three locations, Oak Ridge Tennessee handled production of the bomb fuel U-235, Hanford Washington handled production of plutonium fuel, and Los Alamos New Mexico handled bomb production and assembly. These three locations became huge cities due to size of and manpower required for this project. Once the project was at a larger scale the work in factories and producing the atomic weapons employed over 130,000 people. The total cost of the project came to a total of two billion

On individual level, the lives of people involved in the Manhattan Project were forever changed. Robert Oppenheimer, the director of the Manhattan Project, was stripped of his security clearance during the McCarthy Era because of suspected communist ties. Albert Einstein was regretful of the letter he signed to President Roosevelt, that eventually became the Manhattan Project. President Roosevelt was later criticized for not making sure the Vice President was informed about the war and the Manhattan Project. Many feel Truman is personally responsible for thousands of unnecessary Japanese civilian deaths. All of the others who was involved, the Manhattan Project would forever be imbedded in their memories, a point well demonstrated by an eye witness testimony of Trinity test which stated that of the people present, “Some cried. A few laughed. Most were shocked.” Domestically, the Manhattan Project was significant in many ways. The money spent would play a large role in dictating the extent of defense spending, in the budget for the next several decades. The results made the United States the world’s strongest military power. The new nuclear technology created dear in the people of communist infiltration, fear that Senator Joseph McCarthy turned into a nationwide “witch hunt” and destroyed the lives of countless people who were accused of having communism sympathies.