Historical Context
"A selection of U.S. sites important to the Manhattan Project." (www.enotes.com)
World War II was in full force as the German war machine dominated Europe. Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, which left the U.S. no choice but to join the war on the side of the Allies. After consulting with scientists, President Roosevelt ordered the atomic bombs built. J. Robert Oppenheimer selected the remote location of Los Alamos, New Mexico for the site. General Leslie Groves purchased land in Oak Ridge, Tennessee to produce uranium-235. Another site in Hanford, Washington produced plutonium. Under the command of Groves and Oppenheimer, scientists worked from January 1943 until July 16, 1945, to produce the world’s first atomic weapon. In April of 1945, Roosevelt died making Harry Truman the next president. After learning of the Manhattan Project and a successful test of one of the bombs, Truman issued a warning for Japan to surrender in the Potsdam Declaration. Japan refused, and Truman ordered the bombing of Hiroshima with the weapon known as “Little Boy.” Three days later on August 9, 1945 “Fat Man” was dropped on Nagasaki, leading to Japan’s surrender and a swift end to World War II.
Robert Carter, a 92 year old nuclear physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project, had remarkable insight in this interview.
Robert Carter, a 92 year old nuclear physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project, had remarkable insight in this interview.
"To avert a vast, indefinite butchery, by a few explosions seemed, after all our perils and toils, a miracle of deliverance." -Winston Churchill