Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Cause and Effect - James Caudle

       After the devastating bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, shock, anger, and hunger for payback spread throughout America like a plague. Roosevelt, quick to respond, declared war on Japan with the approval of congress only a day later, and after two years of conflict the US had finally entered WWII ready to show who was boss. Fighting went on between countries for years and when Japanese had lost all control of any place besides their homeland, president Truman offered the country an ultimatum called the Potsdam Declaration that offered US terms of peace and Japan's unconditional surrender. Japan understood the US threat of using nuclear weapons, however declined the proposal still.  

     Cautious thinking was used in debate whether to use the bomb or not, because as many as 500,000 American soldiers lives were at stake according to Truman's military advisors. However it was decided that the atomic bombs would be most effective in quickening the end to the war and so the plan was made. The Japanese cities called Hiroshima, and Nagasaki were chosen as the bomb targets by strategic military experts. The first bomb, dropped August 6, 1945 at 9:15 AM from a B-29 plane named the "Enola Gay" after the pilot's mother, was colossally devastating for Japan. 

Nagasaki after bomb

      Completely flattening the city of Hiroshima, the world's first deployed atomic bomb nick named "Little Boy" threw as much power as 15 kilotons of TNT. 80,000 to 140,000 people were killed or missing, and 100,000 or more were seriously injured. "The blast wave shattered windows for a distance of ten miles and was felt as far away as 37 miles. " 

FAT MAN

     The second bomb, nicknamed "Fat Man" was dropped over Nagasaki and caused even more damage delivering the equivalent of 20 kilatons of TNT. This bomb killed an estimated 40,000 people. Extremely harmful radiation that resonated for years even after the bombing caused a lot of sickness and many deaths throughout Japan.

Hiroshima "Little Boy"

       The impact of the two bombs, allthough devastating, was successful. Japan surrendered unconditionally, and Winston Churchill estimated that" the lives of a million Americans and two hundred and fifty thousand British soldiers and sailors had been saved by this sudden shortening of the war." 

   This site was useful, because it provided details on the causes of the US entry to war and resorting to atomic bombs as well as providing information about radiation poisoning. 
This site was useful, because it gave me information about Roosevelt's proposal f a peace treaty as well as war casualty statistics. This site was useful, because of the information it provided about the physical impact of the bomb itself on the people and what they could feel, and also details about the damage caused by the bombs. This site helped me understand the impact of the bombs by providing equivolency statistics on the explosions, and the numbers of deaths.

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-          Dorothy Lange- Migratory workers from Oklahoma washing in hot spring in the desert. Imperial Valley, California- 1937 Mar

This picture, taken by Dorothy Lange in an Oklahoma desert, shows the kind of challenges that people suffering from the “Dust Bowl” had to face. After the severe drought, over farming, and dust storms, people like this had to move away sometimes to deserts. Lange successfully capturing the harsh conditions like having to bathe in a muddy ponds and live in homemade, crude tents shows the widespread effect that not only the government and economic failures had on the country, but also more natural disasters in the Great Depression such as the dust bowl. Many people were forced to be basically homeless.

      Being born into this present society of mixed races and acceptance of Black people, I have always been used to the modern day sense of equality in America. This is why, before recently, I have neglected to understand the density and seriousness of the efforts Black people had to give to become the recognized citizens they are today, and the crimes of white people resisting so harshly in many states to accept them as equals. Although there were countless numbers of misleading headlines, and extreme exaggerations in media, the American impression of the level of cruelty that the blacks had to face in the early nineteen hundreds was not far from the truth. The Chicago race riots of 1919 had notorious examples of the peak of racial tensions in American history.

http://www.tahg.org/module_display.php?mod_id=113&review=yes This picture shows the amount of force that was needed to break up these mobs and control the crowds.

     Before the early nineteen hundreds, Chicago had strangely always been known for their fair racial attitudes. However, tension grew after more and more black people began to migrate to the North after World War One. As black people moved to Chicago, in spite of segregation laws, white people refused to conform to black acceptance. Anger and tension in the city grew as whites continued to deny blacks equal rights in employment, housing, and any sort of political representation. I have begun to understand that white people in this time period were raised as superiors to blacks. My grandfather, Jim Caudle Sr. tells me stories of when he used to work in the family meat market at the early age of 7 years old, until halfway through high school. When he stood behind the counter and took orders in from costumers, he says that fully adult grown black men had to call him sir. It's hard for me to imagine life that way, but my grandad says that it was regular old common courtesy that was accepted and expected, and that's just the way it was.

     After living in this way that white people were taught to for so long, they became angry when they were suddenly told that they had to change their traditions, and welcome black people as equals. And they did not accept these new ways without quarrel. As tensions were reaching boiling point in Chicago in 1919, it was the tragic event of the drowning of a little black boy that started the outbreaks of the Chicago race riots. Many versions of this story are told, but the most common tells that a black child was swimming in an area that whites established as off limits to black people. People threw rocks at the child, and caused him to drown. When on looking policeman refused to arrest the white man who was the instigator, chaos broke loose on the beach. 



  Madness soon spread throughout Chicago mainly on the south side of town. For seven days the city was streaming with shooting and beating between white and blacks. "Many African Americans became victims of white mobs when they had to pass through white neighborhoods in order to reach their workplaces.  Others were attacked on streetcars or in city parks and other public venues."  Militia were sent in, but only interfered slowly. They were understaffed, and had sympathy for the whites. 

 1 http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/chicago-race-riot-1919- This picture shows the reality of the cruelty and unreasonable punishment on the blacks.



Eventually, the militia gained control and stopped the violence. 15 whites and 23 blacks were killed in the riots. 537 were injured badly. (342 black, 195 white).

      The shock of the riot in Chicago helped shake the nation and understand that segregation was wrong, and that Black people were only trying to make a living. President Wilson took action and declared whites as the instigators in the riots. Laws were passed to help harmonize the races, and bring peace to the city and the country. This period was also marked in history as one of the first times for black men to stand up and fight for their rights.

      Although the level of cruelty and the crimes that were committed are somewhat unspeakable, the riots did give the country a sense of realization. It made many whites stop and think about their rights and wrongs, and eventually to accept black people into the communities. Although it took way longer than it should have, all the fighting and protests eventually paid off for the blacks, in that they are equally accepted today. In my research, I have gained immense respect for black people that stood up for their rights in Chicago, and the rest of the country. Even though Blacks did many things they shouldn't have in these riots, it takes extreme bravery to fight against the system and society. 

http://www.semp.us/_images/biots/Biot521PhotoE.jpg This picture from a newspaper shows the rare occurrence of the militia stepping in to help this black person, escorting him away from a mob. 

After researching and looking through some of the diaries letters and other memorobilia, I have engaged interest in WW1. I've never given much thought as I do now to the Great war, but instead considered it an unconcerning event that was so long ago that it has nothing to do with me, and not realizing its vast importance. I am slowly understanding that this war was not so long ago and the men fighting in it were people like me. Other than the clothes and some of the new crazy languages we teenagers speak now, these men were more or less just like me. These thoughts along with the various memorobilia I looked at are showing me the true realism of this war.

 http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/gwa/document/9257/5964
http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/db/document.php?CISOROOT=/gwa&CISOPTR=8951&CISOSHOW=3638&DMSCALE=75&DMWIDTH=600&DMHEIGHT=600&DMX=0&DMY=0&DMMODE=viewer&DMTEXT=&REC=1&DMTHUMB=1&DMROTATE=0

http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/gwa/document/9315/5500
http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/gwa/item/2784?CISOBOX=1&REC=1
http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/gwa/item/3469?CISOBOX=1&REC=10

Sources

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq42-1.htm
http://www.greatwhitefleet.info/
http://www.loc.gov/rr/news/topics/greatfleet.html

GWF Research

I learned from the online articles the history of the 16 ships. I learned where they stopped and the different problems they had such as coal shortage.