The Atomic Age


The United States did not enter the war until 1941, but as early as 1939 the research on what would become the atomic bomb began. It had been reported by nuclear physicist Niels Bojr that German scientists had achieved atomic fission and the United States was not about to fall behind (Goldstein 5).  Scientists were making great strides, splitting uranium atoms for the first time in America shortly after research began. But this was not enough. The US government had to be behind research efforts.

Hitler and his scientists may have achieved atomic fission first, but this did them little good when he started persecuting Jewish scientists. Many of these scientists fled to the United States, the most noteworthy being Albert Einstein. Usually a pacifist, he worked with fellow scientist Leo Szilard to write a letter to President Roosevelt, urging him to push for the US development of the atomic bomb. Research continued, and eventually Roosevelt agreed to support it. In August of 1942, it was officially named the Manhattan Project (Goldstein 7). The name of this project comes not only from its birth place, but also from the need to keep its purpose a secret. Over time, many other facilities of the project were established across the country in places such as Tennessee and Washington State. By 1945, the project employed about 200,000 people in almost 40 different facilities.

The first atomic bomb, “the Gadget,” was created in 1945, and its first testing took place on July 16, 1946. This was the first atomic explosion in history. Ironically, the testing took place in New Mexico on the Jornada del Muerto desert – the Journey of Death desert.  Not only did this testing, codenamed Trinity, lead to the building of the two bombs that would later be dropped on Japan, but it officially ushered in the Atomic Age.

The Gadget
In the immediate time leading up to the bombings of Japan, there was much debate over what course of action to take. Many of the scientists who had worked on the development of the atomic bomb were wary of using it in attack because they knew the destruction it would bring and what that could lead to later on. However, the Japanese refused to surrender even after the fire bombings and the battle at Okinawa, and President Truman wanted to avoid an invasion that would undoubtedly result in many, many casualties for both sides. The Potsdam Declaration was issued to the Japanese on July 26, 1945, calling for complete surrender. After ten days of no response, on August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Three days later, on August 9, 1945, the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. In the aftermath of this destruction, the Japanese agreed to the Allies’ terms, and they officially surrendered on September 2, 1945 aboard the USS Missouri.


Little Boy, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima

Fat Man, the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki

"Foreign Minister Shigemitsu signs Japanese surrender instrument"

The war may have ended shortly after the first offensive uses of the atomic bomb, but these attacks were just the beginning of the Atomic Age. Now that nuclear weapons had been used, it became a reality that if another world war were to begin there was the capability for unbelievable destruction.  Because of this realization, testing continued well after the war. From July 16, 1945 until the last test on September 23, 1992, the US conducted a total of 1,054 nuclear tests. Also because of this realization, measures were taken to prepare Americans for an atomic attack. These preparations were extensive, but just how effective they would have been had an attack actually come is highly debatable.

There were all sorts of things put out to prepare the American public for atomic attack, but perhaps the most well known was a movie called Duck and Cover. Along with its accompanying pamphlet, this movie was produced in 1951 for the US government, by the Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA) (Jacobs 101). Targeted at children, it tells the story of Bert the Turtle and the little monkey who pesters him with a stick of dynamite. Bert sees the danger but he knows what to do to stay safe, and he pulls back into his protective shell. The film goes on to tell kids that an atomic attack can come at any time when they are anywhere, so they should know what to do if an adult is not around. What they should do usually consisted of dropping to the ground and covering their heads. This “duck and cover” procedure was practiced in schools across America (Jacobs 104). Obviously, ducking under a table would do very little to protect someone from an atomic explosion, and the government had to have known that after seeing the devastation the bombs caused in Japan. But the country was in such a state of paranoia that perhaps they just wanted to do something to make them feel like they were prepared.


Pamphlet distributed on atomic safety

The effects of the Atomic Age stretched into all realms of American life.  Since that August of 1945, many books have been written about the bombings, but the first was written by a man named John Hersey. Titled Hiroshima, it was first published in whole in the August 31, 1946 issue of the New Yorker. It told the story of the bombing of Hiroshima from the perspective of multiple survivors of the attack. The horrific picture Hersey paints of the aftermath was one of the first exposures the American public had to the devastation the bombing had caused (Jacobs 78). The Atomic Age also led to a surge in apocalyptic literature. Once aware of the gravity of damage humans were now capable of incurring, many people were left with a bleak picture of the future. Kurt Vonnegut’s book, Cat’s Cradle, is one example of the literary effects of the atomic age. The book tells the story of the narrator John, a man who wants to write a book about the bombing of Hiroshima, and the family of the “father of the atomic bomb” himself, Felix Hoenikker. A satire in nature, Vonnegut is really commenting on the irresponsibility of nuclear scientists and the way they played with the fate of the world.

This era of uncertainty that the atomic bomb created brought humanity to a sort of crossroads. As Robert A. Jacobs writes in his book The Dragon’s Tail: Americans Face the Atomic Age, “Human society was at a fork in the road: one path lead to atomic holocaust, the other to a future of peace and plenty” (Jacobs 5). The world, now equipped with an unprecedented weapon, had to make a choice – to destroy itself, or to seek peace. That uncertainty, though, also brought about a disillusion with the government (Jacobs 114). Many Americans did not feel safe and even came to resent authority. The government could not protect them from an atomic explosion and they knew it.

The Atomic Age brought about many uncertainties. It brought about a fear of destruction and a distrust of the government. It split apart everything the American people had known and forced them to face the increasingly present time of modernity. It was a time of a lack of control, but it was also a brought America to a very important choice. The end of the world may have been upon them, but this new generation had a world of new knowledge. Only time would tell what they would do with it.

Sources:
Goldstein, Richard. Helluva Town: The Story of New York City During World War II. New York: Free, 2010. Print.
Jacobs, Robert A. The Dragon's Tail: Americans Face the Atomic Age. Amherst: University of Massachusetts, 2010. Print.
Vonnegut, Kurt. Cat's Cradle. New York: Delacorte, 1963. Print.

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