Transcript Chapter 25, Section 2

Journal
March 25, 2015
Why did the US decide to drop atomic bombs on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Do you think the US justified in its decision?
Why/why not?
What other alternatives did the US have?
Manhattan Project
 Secret committee that developed the atomic bomb in
hopes that Germany wouldn’t do so first
 J. Robert Oppenheimer was the scientist that
developed the atomic bomb
Interim Committee
 An advisory group of scientists, military leaders, and
government officials that debated whether or not to
drop the atomic bomb
 Decision to drop the bomb ultimately rested
with President Truman
 “You should do your weeping at Pearl Harbor”
Hiroshima
 First atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima –
the site of a large army base
 100,000 people living there were civilians
 140,000 people died in the explosion or within a few
months from burns or radiation poisoning
 90% of the city’s buildings were damaged or
destroyed
Nagasaki
 3 days after Hiroshima, US drops another bomb
on Nagasaki
 After this destruction, the government of
Japan accepted the American terms of
surrender
"Little Boy"
Type
Nuclear
Weapon
Weight
9,700 pounds
Length
120 inches
Diameter
28 inches
Filling
Uranium
Filling weight
64 kg (140 lb)
Blast yield
16 kt (67 TJ)[2]
Weight
10,213
pounds
Length
10.7 feet
Diameter
5 feet
Filling
plutonium
Blast yield
75 Million
sticks of
dynamite.
“Fat
Man”
The Atomic Bomb
Ground temperatures: 7,000°F
Hurricane force winds: 980 miles per hour
Energy released: 20,000 tons of TNT
Buildings destroyed: 62,000 buildings
Killed immediately: 70,000 people
Dead by the end of 1945: 140,000 people
Total deaths related to A-bomb: 200,000 people
The overwhelming destructive power of the Hiroshima bomb, and of
the bomb dropped on Nagasaki three days later, changed the nature of
war forever.
Nuclear destruction also led to questions about the ethics of scientists
and politicians who chose to develop and use the bomb.
The Home Front
Learning About the War
• The federal government tried to keep civilians of
all ages committed towards the war
• Victory gardens, liberty bonds, rationing were all
ways to get people involved in the war effort
• The government controlled all war news –
censors screened soldier’s letters, blocked
publication of war casualties, and produced war
films that showed the heroics and valor of war
Population Shifts
• The war triggered one of the greatest mass
migrations in American history
• More than a million newcomers poured into
California during the war
• African Americans left the south for northern
cities in record numbers
Families in War Time
• Many young men and women rushed into
marriage
• War heightened the appeal of marriage as an
anchor in troubled times
• The draft started with just single men, then
married men without children, and finally
fathers were drafted by 1943
• Left behind were “service wives” who were
given $50 a month by the government
Social Adjustments
• Mothers struggled to care for children alone
• Kids were taken care of by neighbors or
friends as more moms were working
• An increase in juvenile delinquency as more
teenagers left at home alone
• When fathers did come home there was a
painful readjustment period
Economic Gains
•
•
•
•
Unemployment fell to a low 1.2 %
Average weekly pay rose 10% during the war
Farmers also prospered during the war
Crop production increased by 50% and farm
income tripled
• Over 6 million women had entered the work
force - boosting the % of women in total
workforce to 35%
Popular Culture
• With so many goods unavailable, Americans
looked for other ways to spend their money
– Read more books and magazines
– Bought more records (“White Christmas” was
popular at home and with the troops)
– Went to baseball games – although most of their
favorite players had been drafted to war
– About 60% of the population went to the movies
each week
GI Bill of Rights
• Helped ease the transition of returning
servicemen to civilian life
• Provided education and training for veterans,
paid for by the federal government
• About 7.8 million veterans attended colleges
and technical schools
• Also helped provide home loans so veterans
could buy a home