Sofia Grabowski U.S. History 118
Summer 2013
S. Siegel

Final Exam Chapter 14-32 Essay from the Civil War-Present

The Manhattan Project: The Manhattan Project was the name for the top secret project of developing an atomic bomb. General Leslie Groves was appointed as the director of the project. Robert Oppenheimer was in charge of the research. In 1939 it was rumored that the Nazis were building an atomic bomb so that’s how the Manhattan Project was initiated; The United States did not want the Nazi Germany to have an atomic bomb first. They tested the bomb in New Mexico which was a success. So two bombs were dropped in Japan and that ended World War II.

Isolationism: Isolationism is a policy or doctrine of isolating one’s country from the affairs of other nations by declining to enter into alliances, foreign economic commitments, foreign trade, international agreements seeking to devote the entire efforts of one’s country to its own advancement and remain at peace by avoiding foreign entanglements and responsibilities.

Proposition 13: Proposition 13 was an amendment of the Constitution of California enacted during 1978, by means of the initiative process. The proposition decreased property taxes by assessing property values at their 1975 value and restricted annual increases of assessed value of real property to an inflation factor, not to exceed 2% per year. It also prohibited reassessment of a new base year value except for in cases of change in ownership, or completion of new construction.

Berlin Wall: The Berlin Wall was both the physical division between West Berlin and East Germany from 1961 to 1989 and the symbolic boundary between democracy and communism during the Cold War. It was built in the dead of the night and for 28 years kept East Germans from fleeing to the West. Its destruction which was nearly as instantaneous as its creation was celebrated all around the world. It consisted of concrete slabs reaching nearly 12 feet high and 4 feet wide. It