Manhattan Project Impact

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August 6th 1945, World War 2 is coming to an end, but the Japanese are still fighting the war in the pacific. The US decides that the best way to end this war is for "the Enola Gay B-29 bomber to take flight."(Hawthorne 1). Aboard this flight is what is going to be known as the world’s first ever atomic bomb used in war, the bomb's "code name was 'little boy'" and was targeting the city of Hiroshima, Japan (Hawthorne 1). This bomb is going to cause unprecedented destruction designed to break the will of the Japanese. The bomb was dropped, and all of the hard work of the scientists behind The Manhattan Project finally was seen. It wouldn't be until years later that the US government declassified The Manhattan Project in "The Smyth report" which…show more content…
The Manhattan Project was the world’s first creation of an atomic bomb, and now many countries have many different kinds of nuclear bombs such as hydrogen bombs, and varying types of fission bombs. It has left a legacy of new and more powerful bombs that can be used during wartime that would ironically save lives. Before the nuclear bomb was successfully created, the US military had planned an invasion of the island of Japan. When this was planned the US started producing Purple Hearts at a tremendous rate, this way there would be enough to give to the families of those who had died during the raid. The US still had "Despite wastage, pilfering and items that were simply lost, approximately 495,000" Purple Hearts after WWII ended (Giangreco). The bombs dropped "estimate [a total] of killed and wounded in Hiroshima 150,000 and Nagasaki 75,000" these numbers may seem extraordinarily high, but with the prediction of around 495,000 killed or wounded during a planned invasion of Japan(Hiroshima and Nagasaki Death Toll). The impact of this type of bombs on the world is a legacy of destruction, but also in the long run would save lives. The Manhattan Project led to the discovery of other possible bombs that could be created using elements. The work on new hydrogen bombs was astounding, leading to the hydrogen bomb being the most powerful bomb in the world. This style bomb could be used…show more content…
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