Manhattan Project Effects

The Manhattan Project and the atomic bomb that it produced helped bring an end to World War II. The Manhattan Project was the code name for the effort to develop atomic weapons for the United States during World War II. Not only did it push other countries to develop nuclear weapons, with the potential of annihilating millions of lives, but it also caused much civil unrest as many Americans feared another war, only with the outcome being much more devastating. At this time in history, 1941 to 1945, a catastrophe of this magnitude was unprecedented and contributed to the feelings of social anxiety and unrest. The Manhattan Project, and the atomic bomb, had many, both positive and negative, effects on American society.
World War II had already
The results of the explosion lit up the desert sky and shook the Earth with the power that would have been over twenty thousand tons of dynamite. This action ignited the atomic age (The Trinity Test). On August 6, 1945, the United States successfully dropped the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, Japan, and from that point on, the United States entered a new state of uncertainty. The dropping of the atomic bomb sprung the nuclear era upon America which resulted in rapid changes in society's way of thinking. News outlets expressed the shock and regret that American society felt during this time and informed Americans sense of security was long lost. The dropping of the atomic bomb took the world by storm and even many of the Manhattan Project personnel were taken by surprise. Then, three days later, another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and the hearts of many Americans sunk in their chests. Americans fear of a nuclear holocaust were significantly increased and manipulated by political activists in an effort to pressure society into a change in public policy and implement fear tactics. Atomic scientists and
Not everyone was in favor of the method of installing fear in society, which no doubt had it reasons (Borremans). Those against it argued that too much fear in society would cause a stagnant effect. Susan Sontag commented on this idea in her book, Regarding the Pain of Others, where she stated that modern life consists of a diet of horrors to which we are corrupted and to which we gradually become habituated, however the idea not being anything new (Sontag 106). Cynicism was also another negative reaction to the scare tactic. The threat of mass destruction