AP ECE United States History: The Pacific War

Effects of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

HIROSHIMA: little boy, 140k deaths, Aug. 6, 1945, uranium

NAGASAKI: fat man, 70k, Aug. 9, 1945, plutonium

Potsdam Conference and Declaration

final warning to Japan by the Big 3

Fission vs. Fusion Bombs

FISSION: division of atom into 2 light atoms, discovered by the Nazis

FUSION: 2 light atoms merge, more powerful

The Manhattan Project

research and development of nuclear bombs,

Nazis vs. America.

Began in 1942

Oppie

credited with bringing quantum physics to America

‘american prometheus’

“and now I have become death”

Leslie Groves

director of the Manhattan project

selected oppie

Los Alamos NM, the Trinity Test, and its relationship to the Manhattan Project

primary research and assembly

'“the Gadget” tested on July 16, 1945

Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Hanford, Washington and their relationships to the Manhattan Project

refinement of uranium and plutonium

the Einstein Letter

Einstein writes letter, warning FDR saying the Nazis are making the bomb

impact of the Pacific War on the soldier

race war

many American soldiers killed Japanese civilians for fun

Japanese soldiers fought to the death, extremely violent

Island hopping

to travel island from island, in hopes of getting close enough to Japan to bomb it

Saipan

June 15th, 1944

first official Japanese territory

20k civilians

many civilians killed themselves in fear of the Americans

Iwo Jima

Feb 19, 1945

216 out of 18,000 Japanese soldiers were captured, 99% died

Okinawa

April-June 1945

largest Pacific battle

Japanese lured them in

150k civilians dead

close enough to bomb Japan

Propaganda and the War in the Pacific

war of racial and geographical differences

Japanese portrayed as rats, lice, aliens, etc., easier to see Japanese as not human

Xenophobia following Pearl Harbor

post pearl-harbor: mass fear of Japanese

justified removal

Fifth Column

a group of people invited to a country

fear that Japanese-Americans were spies for the Japanese gov.

Executive Order 9066

removal of 120,000 Japanese-Americans from West Coast

Issie

Japan-born Japanese, immigrants (1/3 of camps)

Niesi

American-born Japanese-Americans (2/3 of camps)

Internment

first sent to assembly centers bc camps not ready

could only take what they could carry

Location of Internment Camps

Korematsu vs. U.S.

said Exec. Order 9066 violated the 5th amendment

ACLU represented Korematsu

Redress Movement

younger generation wanted reparations, older generations refused to talk about it

20,000 dollars granted to individuals of Japanese ancestry in 1988