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The Manhattan Project and the Atomic Bomb (redirected from The Manhatten Project)

Page history last edited by Robert W. Maloy 1 year, 11 months ago

Picture shows the First nuclear test explosion, July 16, 1945

 

Unofficial emblem of the Manhattan project, 1946

First nuclear test explosion, July 16, 1945

Unofficial emblem of the Manhattan project, 1946

 

Topics on the Page

 

Event Summary

 

Health Effects of the Bomb

 

Women of the Manhattan Project

 

Primary Sources on the Manhattan Project

 

Operation Paperclip and German Rocket Scientists

 

The Origins of the National Security State

 

Espionage and the Manhattan Project

 

CROSS-LINKS

 

Atomic Bombs in World War II

 

The Debate Over the Atomic Bomb

 

The Cuban Missile Crisis

 

 

Event Summary

 

The Manhattan Project was the effort by American scientists and military personnel to develop the atomic bomb.

 

This page describes the top secret project by the US government during WWII regarding the construction of the Atomic bombs used agains Japan to end the Pacific theater during the most recent World War. The page goes into depth about the women who were influential to the project, as well as the covert operations that surrounded the project, such as the efforts to recruit former Nazi scientists to the Manhattan effort. This page can give students an inside look at covert projects from the United States, which I think is incredibly engaging. From this engagement, teachers can really draw the students into the conversation about WWII and the use atomic bombs in war. (Harry Blackman, April 2022)

 

 

Here is the full episode of the show "Lost Worlds" by the History Channel that focuses on the creation of the A-bomb and FDR's role in it. 

See short descriptions of the Manhattan Project from the following sites offering different perspectives

 

Atomic Timeline 

     Use this source to give students a quick lesson in what lead to the Manhattan Project

American Museum of Natural History


Nuclear Files.org

 


Los Alamos History



The Manhattan Project (and Before) from NuclearWeaponsArchive,org

 

 

Health Effects of the Bomb

 

Long Term Health Effects

 

  Women of the Manhattan Project

 

  • 8 women who share their experience working for the Manhattan Project via Atomic Heritage 

 

Interactive timeline of Women in science and the Manhattan Project 

Trinity Site Historical Marker along US 380, New Mexico

 

Primary Sources

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Lilli Hornig, Dies, A-Bomb Researcher Lobbied for Women in Science, New York Times (November 21, 2017)

 

  • Manhattan Project Voices, A compilation of oral histories (history told by those who experiences it through spoken word)

 

  • Listen to the people behind the Manhattan Project tell their side of the story 
      • Stories from women
      • Stories from the major players  
      • Stories from BIPOC and the racism they faced

 

 Videos on the Manhattan Project 

 

  • Watch Modern Marvels (S9, E21) presented by the History Channel 
    • Offers insight into the people who created the atomic bomb and worked on the Manhattan Project
    • Shows the science that goes in to creating an atomic weapon  

 

Operation Paperclip and German Rocket Scientists

 

104 German rocket scientists in 1946, including Wernher von Braun
104 German rocket scientists in 1946, including Wernher von Braun

 


The Secret Intelligence Program to Bring Nazi Scientists to America

  • Project Paperclip brought hundreds of German scientists and engineers, including Wernher von Braun, to the US in the first decade after World War II. 

 

  • The Germans who designed and built the V-2 rocket and other “wonder weapons” for the Third Reich proved invaluable to America’s emerging military-industrial complex. 

 

  • Many prominent scientists were enthusiastic supporters of the Nazi regime or even participants in war crimes, but US national security advocates rationalized their inclusion in the Paperclip program despite internal opposition and public condemnation. 


Project Paperclip: The Dark Side of the Moon, BBC News

 

Why the US Government Brought Nazi Scientists to America After World War II

 

 

 

Billboard encouraging secrecy amongst Oak Ridge nuclear workers, 1940s
Billboard encouraging secrecy among Oak Ridge nuclear workers, 1940s

 

The Origins of the National Security State


Lecture by Professor Christian Appy, University of Massachusetts Amherst Department of History, "The Atomic Origins of America's National Security State: How Nuclear Weapons Produced an Imperial Presidency and Degraded Democracy," April 4, 2017

  • The secrecy and concentrated power under which the first atomic weapons were created provided a model for the post-World War II permanent national security state, presided over by presidents invested with unprecedented power.
    • Their exclusive authority to produce and use atomic weapons-codified by the Atomic Energy Act of 1946-led to further expansions of presidential powers not conferred by the constitution.
      • The authority to launch globe-threatening weapons has led to a wide range of additional assertions of power unaccountable to the public or its elected representatives, including covert overthrows of foreign governments, secret bombings of foreign nations, unilateral abdication of treaties, warrantless surveillance of American citizens, and routine circumvention of Congress's constitutional power to declare war.

 

Espionage and the Manhattan Project

 

  • Not everyone who worked on the Manhattan Project was concerned with keeping the research being done a secret.

 

  • Many individuals who were sympathetic to other causes, either racist or communist, attempted to steal information from the Manhattan Project.

 

 

 

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