The Manhattan Project

Why did it happen: The Manhattan project started because of the telegram Albert Einstein sent to President Roosevelt explaining to Roosevelt that Nazi scientist were trying to make an atomic bomb that would create mass destruction. Due to this President Roosevelt started the Manhattan project. When:

● The Manhattan project started in 1941 and ended in 1946.

Where: --Los Alamos, New Mexico ● Research took place at the University of Chicago, the University of Berkeley in

California, and the Columbia college. ● The building and testing of the atomic bomb took place in Los Alamos, New

Mexico. ● The atomic bomb was set off in Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan. It caused a

horrible amount of damage to both cities

What: ● It was the project to make the first atomic bomb and was codenamed the

Manhattan project. ● The U.S. wanted to make a bomb capable of unspeakable damage through the

use of Uranium

Who: -- Robert Oppenheimer ● 120,000 people worked on the project, although most of them had no idea what

they were working on. ➔ This was because President Roosevelt wanted to take the precaution of secrecy

so the axis powers wouldn’t find out about the project.● Robert Oppenheimer: He was a scientist who worked on the project who was

nicknamed father of the A-bomb. Oppenheimer was the person who had the task of finding the amount of Uranium needed to start a chain reaction and helping figure out the design of the bomb. He was later appointed the scientific director of the project. He was the person who succeeded in testing the atomic bomb to make sure it worked.

● Enrico Fermi: He was the first person to make a controlled nuclear reaction. His work on slow neutrons and invention of Cp-1, the world’s first nuclear reactor made the Manhattan project possible.

● President Truman: He was president during the middle of the Manhattan project. He was the person who decided to drop the bomb on Japan.

Effect:● The dropping of two atomic bombs ended the war in a swift manner➔ It caused a huge amount of damage to the locations in which it was dropped and

killed hundreds of thousands.● It is very controversial whether it was ethical to drop the bombs ● The Manhattan project changed the course of the war and shaped the future