The Bomb that Shook The World

ESSENTIAL
QUESTION

THE BOMB THAT WAS THE U.S. JUSTIFIED IN

DROPPING THE ATOMIC BOMB
SHOOK THE WORLD ON HIROSHIMA AND
NAGASAKI?

11TH GRADE U.S. HISTORY WITH MS. JONES

ASSESSING OUR
CA CONTENT STANDARDS AND OBJECTIVES BACKGROUND
KNOWLEDGE
What do we know about the atomic bomb
and its effects on the Japan?
LEARNING GOALS SUCCESS CRITERIA
• Analyze America’s participation in World War II We Can...

• Answer essential question using evidence of text and other media formats
• Compare causes of events to effects of today
• Evaluate motives of decision to drop atomic bombs and understand its
major effects on wars and issues that follow
• Discuss the decision to drop the atomic bombs and the consequences of
the decision (Hiroshima and Nagasaki)
• Participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with
diverse partners, building on one another’s ideas and express our own
clearly and persuasively

• Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which

explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the
text leaves matters uncertain. Find out more about this strategy:
• Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/teaching-
diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words)
in order to address a question or solve a problem. strategies/k-w-l-charts

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The Bomb that Shook The World
OVERVIEW QUESTIONS
What was the Manhattan Project? What was its goal?
OVERVIEW Ultimately, did the decision to use the atomic bomb make the world safer
or more dangerous?
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ATOMIC BOMB
What two places were majorly affected by this bomb?
How might an event like this change your country?
DISCOVERY OF NUCLEAR FISSION
• Fission, the basis of the atomic bomb, was discovered in
Nazi Germany before the beginning of World War II.
• Radiochemists Otto Han and Fritz Strassmann discovered EINSTEIN’S
this cell division with the help of Einstein’s equation and
calculations by Hahn’s former colleague, Lise Meitner. LETTER TO
• Nuclear fission releases a massive amount of energy for ROOSEVELT • E=mc2
heat and power, while such a chain reaction unchecked • Einstein’s values: For or against the use of the atomic
could create an explosions of huge force. bomb?
Image from https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/
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The Bomb that Shook The World
GERMAN NUCLEAR PROGRAM
JAPANESE BOMB
• Uranverein April 1939. “Uranium Club”
• No chain reaction
• By 1944, still no bomb
• No chain reaction
EFFORT
• Hadn’t enriched uranium • Hadn’t enriched uranium • RIKEN led by Japanese physicist Yoshino Nishini,
where he built the first cyclotron outside of the United
• Plutonium never considered • Plutonium never considered. States.
• Werner Heisenberg • RIKEN bombed by Allied forces in 1945.
• Disadvantages: • Japan never enriched enough uranium to make a
weapon or developed the denotation technology that
1. Scientists leaving Germany went in to the American atomic bombs.
2. Protest • After Japanese surrendered, they were ordered to
destroy every Japanese cyclotron and the ones from
3. Help in the U.S. RIKEN were disassembled and thrown into the Gulf
of Tokyo.
4. Lack of support and coordination.
THE MANHATTAN PROJECT
POTSDAM Key Points:
DECLARATION 1.We-the President of the United States, the President of
• On December 28, 1942, after the threat of German nuclear
technology, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the the National Government of the Republic of China, and
research on the atom bomb called the Manhattan Project. the Prime Minister of Great Britain, representing the
• Characterized by incredible coordination between science, hundreds of millions of our countrymen, have conferred
government, and industry.
and agree that Japan shall be given an opportunity to
• The “Trinity” test was detonated on July 16, 1945 in Los
Alamos, New Mexico. end this war.
• The “Gadget” plutonium bomb exploded with approx. 20 13.We call upon the government of Japan to proclaim now
kilotons of force, that produced a mushroom could that rose
eight miles high! the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed
• The Legacy
forces, and to provide proper and adequate assurances
of their good faith in such action.The alternative for
Japan is prompt and utter destruction.
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The Bomb that Shook The World
POTSDAM DECLARATION AMERICA’S VIEW
CONT…
o Truman’s first attempt at negotiation with Japan • Americans feared no hope of
o Called for Japan’s unconditional surrender and an end to negotiation
Militarism in Japan
o Issued on July 26
• A cease fire was non-
negotiable
o Japan refused the Declaration
o The United States did not want to invade Japan, they reasoned • They thought that if the
that using the atomic bomb would deliver a huge blow to United States dropped the
Japan
atomic bomb, surrender and
o This would save the lives of hundreds of thousands of
peace would probably occur.
American troops.
“LITTLE BOY” AND
“FAT MAN”
Surrender was not an option for Japan
JAPAN’S VIEW OF • August 6, the united States
UNCONDITIONAL Emperor Hirohito dropped the first atomic
SURRENDER bomb known as ”Little
Potsdam Reaction Boy” on Hiroshima.
• August 8, a second bomb,
Blame on military
“Fat Man”, was then
dropped on Nagasaki.
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The Bomb that Shook The World
FISSION BOMB
HIROSHIMA
Before and after bombing
TRUMAN’S SPEECH
NAGASAKI
“The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a
military base.We run the race of discovery against the Germans.We have used
it in order to sharpen the agony of war in order to save the lives of thousands
and thousands of young Americans.We shall continue to use it until we
• The death toll (of all related deaths)
completely destroy Japan’s power to make war.”
was about 135,000.
• More than 40% of the city was
destroyed. “El mundo notará que la primera bomba atómica fue lanzada en Hiroshima, una
• 75,000 instantaneous deaths, 50,000 base militar. Corremos la carrera del descubrimiento contra los alemanes. Lo
hemos utilizado para agudizar la agonía de la guerra para salvar las vidas de
explosion injured. miles y miles de jóvenes estadounidenses. Seguiremos usándolo hasta que
destruyamos completamente el poder de Japón para hacer la guerra ”
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The Bomb that Shook The World
IMMEDIATE
The Japanese surrendered on
AFTERMATH September 2, 1945.
• Most deaths and injuries
occurred when people
were trapped in their
JAPAN’S
The ceremony took place on
burning homes or struck SURRENDER the USS Missouri accompanied
by debris. by British ships in Tokyo Bay.
• Of the city's 90,000
buildings, 60,000 were
destroyed
• This left many survivors
Japan agree to ceasefire and
homeless
release of Prisoners of War.
THE END REFERENCES
Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. (2009, November 13). Retrieved April 1, 2019, from https://www.history.com/this-day-
in-history/atomic-bomb-dropped-on-hiroshima#&gid=ci023ad3afe00024ab&pid=atomic-bomb-detonates-in-
Based off the information about the discovery and creation of the atomic bomb and the deciding
nagasaki
factors to use it, do you think the United States was justified in taking these measures and dropping
Bix, H. P. (n.d.). Why Did the Japanese Delay Surrendering? Retrieved from https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/12947
the atomic bomb, killing hundreds of thousands of Japanese? Answer this essential question as well
Dannen, G. (2017, July 31). Einstein to Roosevelt, August 2, 1939. Retrieved April 11, 2019, from http://www.dannen.com/ae-
as reflect on all the ways things could have been different and lives could have been saved.
fdr.html
Japanese Atomic Bomb Project. (2016, May 25). Retrieved April 11, 2019, from
https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/japanese-atomic-bomb-project
Stokes, B., & Stokes, B. (2015, August 04). 70 years after Hiroshima, opinions have shifted on use of atomic bomb. Retrieved
April 3, 2019, fromhttps://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/08/04/70-years-after-Hiroshima-opinions-have-
shifted-on-use-of-atomic-bomb/
The Manhattan Project. (2017, May 12). Retrieved April 10, 2019, from https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/manhattan-
project
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