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.
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| 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.
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| Little Boy, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima |
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| Fat Man, the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki |
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| "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:
http://writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/atomic-anxieties.html
http://atomicbombmuseum.org/2_firstbombs.shtml
http://atomicbombmuseum.org/2_firstbombs.shtml
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.
Videos taken from youtube.com, images taken from websites listed above and images.google.com
Videos taken from youtube.com, images taken from websites listed above and images.google.com
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