The Bomb That Shook The World: 11Th Grade U.S. History With Ms. Jones

THE BOMB THAT
SHOOK THE WORLD
11TH GRADE U.S. HISTORY WITH MS. JONES

ESSENTIAL
QUESTION
WAS THE U.S. JUSTIFIED IN
DROPPING THE ATOMIC BOMB
ON HIROSHIMA AND
NAGASAKI?
CA CONTENT STANDARDS AND OBJECTIVES
LEARNING GOALS SUCCESS CRITERIA

• Analyze America’s participation in World War II We Can...
• Answer essential question using evidence of text and other media formats • Discuss the decision to drop the atomic bombs and the consequences of
the decision (Hiroshima and Nagasaki)
• Compare causes of events to effects of today
• Participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with
• Evaluate motives of decision to drop atomic bombs and understand its diverse partners, building on one another’s ideas and express our own
major effects on wars and issues that follow clearly and persuasively
• Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which

explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the
text leaves matters uncertain.
• Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in

diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words)
in order to address a question or solve a problem.
ASSESSING OUR
BACKGROUND
KNOWLEDGE
What do we know about the atomic bomb
and its effects on the Japan?
Find out more about this strategy:
https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/teaching-
strategies/k-w-l-charts
OVERVIEW
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ATOMIC BOMB
OVERVIEW QUESTIONS
What was the Manhattan Project? What was its goal?
Ultimately, did the decision to use the atomic bomb make the world safer
or more dangerous?
What two places were majorly affected by this bomb?
How might an event like this change your country?

DISCOVERY OF NUCLEAR FISSION
• Fission, the basis of the atomic bomb, was discovered in

Nazi Germany before the beginning of World War II.
• Radiochemists Otto Han and Fritz Strassmann discovered
this cell division with the help of Einstein’s equation and
calculations by Hahn’s former colleague, Lise Meitner.
• Nuclear fission releases a massive amount of energy for
heat and power, while such a chain reaction unchecked
could create an explosions of huge force.
Image from https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/

EINSTEIN’S
LETTER TO
ROOSEVELT • E=mc2
• Einstein’s values: For or against the use of the atomic
bomb?
GERMAN NUCLEAR PROGRAM
• Uranverein April 1939. “Uranium Club” • By 1944, still no bomb

• No chain reaction • No chain reaction
• Hadn’t enriched uranium • Hadn’t enriched uranium
• Plutonium never considered • Plutonium never considered.
• Werner Heisenberg
• Disadvantages:
1. Scientists leaving Germany
2. Protest
3. Help in the U.S.
4. Lack of support and coordination.
JAPANESE BOMB
EFFORT
• RIKEN led by Japanese physicist Yoshino Nishini,
where he built the first cyclotron outside of the United
States.
• RIKEN bombed by Allied forces in 1945.
• Japan never enriched enough uranium to make a
weapon or developed the denotation technology that
went in to the American atomic bombs.
• After Japanese surrendered, they were ordered to
destroy every Japanese cyclotron and the ones from
RIKEN were disassembled and thrown into the Gulf
of Tokyo.
THE MANHATTAN PROJECT
• On December 28, 1942, after the threat of German nuclear

technology, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the
research on the atom bomb called the Manhattan Project.
• Characterized by incredible coordination between science,
government, and industry.
• The “Trinity” test was detonated on July 16, 1945 in Los
Alamos, New Mexico.
• The “Gadget” plutonium bomb exploded with approx. 20
kilotons of force, that produced a mushroom could that rose
eight miles high!
• The Legacy
POTSDAM Key Points:
DECLARATION 1.We-the President of the United States, the President of
the National Government of the Republic of China, and
the Prime Minister of Great Britain, representing the
hundreds of millions of our countrymen, have conferred
and agree that Japan shall be given an opportunity to
end this war.
13.We call upon the government of Japan to proclaim now
the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed
forces, and to provide proper and adequate assurances
of their good faith in such action.The alternative for
Japan is prompt and utter destruction.
POTSDAM DECLARATION
CONT…
o Truman’s first attempt at negotiation with Japan
o Called for Japan’s unconditional surrender and an end to
Militarism in Japan
o Issued on July 26
o Japan refused the Declaration
o The United States did not want to invade Japan, they reasoned
that using the atomic bomb would deliver a huge blow to
Japan
o This would save the lives of hundreds of thousands of
American troops.
AMERICA’S VIEW
• Americans feared no hope of

negotiation
• A cease fire was non-
negotiable
• They thought that if the
United States dropped the
atomic bomb, surrender and
peace would probably occur.
Surrender was not an option for Japan
JAPAN’S VIEW OF
UNCONDITIONAL Emperor Hirohito
SURRENDER
Potsdam Reaction
Blame on military
“LITTLE BOY” AND
“FAT MAN”
• August 6, the united States

dropped the first atomic
bomb known as ”Little
Boy” on Hiroshima.
• August 8, a second bomb,
“Fat Man”, was then
dropped on Nagasaki.
FISSION BOMB
HIROSHIMA
Before and after bombing
NAGASAKI
• The death toll (of all related deaths)

was about 135,000.
• More than 40% of the city was
destroyed.
• 75,000 instantaneous deaths, 50,000
explosion injured.
TRUMAN’S SPEECH
“The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a
military base. We run the race of discovery against the Germans. We have used
it in order to sharpen the agony of war in order to save the lives of thousands
and thousands of young Americans. We shall continue to use it until we
completely destroy Japan’s power to make war.”
“El mundo notará que la primera bomba atómica fue lanzada en Hiroshima, una
base militar. Corremos la carrera del descubrimiento contra los alemanes. Lo
hemos utilizado para agudizar la agonía de la guerra para salvar las vidas de
miles y miles de jóvenes estadounidenses. Seguiremos usándolo hasta que
destruyamos completamente el poder de Japón para hacer la guerra ”
IMMEDIATE
AFTERMATH
• Most deaths and injuries
occurred when people
were trapped in their
burning homes or struck
by debris.
• Of the city's 90,000
buildings, 60,000 were
destroyed
• This left many survivors
homeless
The Japanese surrendered on
September 2, 1945.
JAPAN’S
The ceremony took place on
SURRENDER the USS Missouri accompanied
by British ships in Tokyo Bay.
Japan agree to ceasefire and

release of Prisoners of War.
THE END
Based off the information about the discovery and creation of the atomic bomb and the deciding
factors to use it, do you think the United States was justified in taking these measures and dropping
the atomic bomb, killing hundreds of thousands of Japanese? Answer this essential question as well
as reflect on all the ways things could have been different and lives could have been saved.
REFERENCES
Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. (2009, November 13). Retrieved April 1, 2019, from https://www.history.com/this-day-
in-history/atomic-bomb-dropped-on-hiroshima#&gid=ci023ad3afe00024ab&pid=atomic-bomb-detonates-in-
nagasaki
Bix, H. P. (n.d.). Why Did the Japanese Delay Surrendering? Retrieved from https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/12947
Dannen, G. (2017, July 31). Einstein to Roosevelt, August 2, 1939. Retrieved April 11, 2019, from http://www.dannen.com/ae-
fdr.html
Japanese Atomic Bomb Project. (2016, May 25). Retrieved April 11, 2019, from
https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/japanese-atomic-bomb-project
Stokes, B., & Stokes, B. (2015, August 04). 70 years after Hiroshima, opinions have shifted on use of atomic bomb. Retrieved
April 3, 2019, fromhttps://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/08/04/70-years-after-Hiroshima-opinions-have-
shifted-on-use-of-atomic-bomb/
The Manhattan Project. (2017, May 12). Retrieved April 10, 2019, from https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/manhattan-
project

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THE BOMB THAT

SHOOK THE WORLD

11TH GRADE U.S. HISTORY WITH MS. JONES

LEARNING GOALS SUCCESS CRITERIA

• Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which

• Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in

Find out more about this strategy:

What was the Manhattan Project? What was its goal?

What two places were majorly affected by this bomb?

How might an event like this change your country?

• Fission, the basis of the atomic bomb, was discovered in

Image from https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/

• Uranverein April 1939. “Uranium Club” • By 1944, still no bomb

• On December 28, 1942, after the threat of German nuclear

• Americans feared no hope of

• August 6, the united States

• The death toll (of all related deaths)

Japan agree to ceasefire and

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