There are three questions in total, please write 600-700 words for each question.

Please read the required text before start writing!

1.        Using the background readings and the Franck Report address these questions:

1)      What is the background of the atomic bomb–why was the Manhattan Project created?  How was the Manhattan Project structured and who were the key players?  What was learned at the Trinity Test?

2)      Looking closely at the Franck Report, what are the key arguments of the document?  What options were presented on the issue of whether or not to drop the atomic bomb?

+ Read this information, including the linked documents:

http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/nuclear-weapons/history/pre-cold-war/manhattan-project/index.htm

+and this about the decision to use the bomb on Japan:

http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/educators/study-guides/history_decision-to-drop-bomb.htm

+and this primary document, the Franck Report–showing the discussion on alternatives to using the bomb:

http://www.dannen.com/decision/franck.html

2.        Part 1: Brown v. Board of Education

+What were the key issues of the case?  What was the court’s decision, and what was its reasoning?

Part 2: The Civil Rights Movement Begins

What were the injustices faced by African-Americans after WWII?  How did these injustices begin to lead to a unified movement?  Who were the leaders of the movement, and what tactics/strategies did they use?  What were their successes, and what were the setbacks up to 1963?

Part 3: I Have a Dream

What is the context of the speech–when was it made and why?  Why was King the leader chosen to make this speech?  What are the key arguments of the speech?  Why do we refer to the speech today as a landmark in American history?

•  
• Part 3.1: Brown v. Board of Education

Please read the following:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/347/483

+Please read the decision of the Supreme Court in the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case

+What were the key issues of the case?  What was the court’s decision, and what was its reasoning?

Part 2: The Civil Rights Movement Begins

Please watch and read about the following using the “Eyes on the Prize” website:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/resources/res_video.html

+Emmett Till’s Murder

+The Montgomery Bus Boycott

+Southern School Desegregation

+Non-Violent Protests

+The Freedom Rides

+The Limits of Non-Violence

+Based on these materials, answer the following: what were the injustices faced by African-Americans after WWII?  How did these injustices begin to lead to a unified movement?  Who were the leaders of the movement, and what tactics/strategies did they use?  What were their successes, and what were the setbacks up to 1963?

Part 3: I Have a Dream

+For this part, watch Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech in its entirety:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/story/08_washington.html#video

+What is the context of the speech–when was it made and why?  Why was King the leader chosen to make this speech?  What are the key arguments of the speech?  Why do we refer to the speech today as a landmark in American history?

3.        Please read the material on the Vietnam War in the digital history text.

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/era.cfm?eraID=18&smtID=2

When you have finished the reading, please answer these questions:

+Why did the US become involved in conflict in Vietnam?  How did the Vietnam conflict fit into the larger US foreign policy of the time?  Who were the key players, what were the key challenges?  How did the war shape American life and politics at home?