If you are not pleased with your test score, you can earn up to five (5) extra credit points if you answer the following essay question in at least 350 words. Your paper must have a thesis; something you want a reader to accept based on evidence. Develop sub-points in paragraphs that support the thesis statement. Information obtained from outside sources must be re-written into your own words (NOT COPIED AND PASTED), and the source should be cited (MLA or APA format).
Quality of argument: 2 points
Mastery of historical material: 2 points
Grammar, spelling, punctuation: 1 point
Imagine you are a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1966, representing citizens in the Dallas area. At this time, Dallas is a growing city with fast-growing suburbs like Garland and Mesquite. This part of Texas, like the rest of the country, is in the middle of huge wave of change. You have been in Congress since 1955, and have a long record of votes on some historically significant pieces of legislation. You would like to run for the U.S. Senate from Texas in the 1966 election. (You may choose to be a Democrat or a Republican.) During the last decade, you voted on a number of significant issues in Congress, such as the Federal-Aid Highway Act (1956), the National Defense Education Act (1958), the National Aeronautics and Space Act (1958), the Civil Rights Act (1964), the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964), the Voting Rights Act (1965), and the Social Security Act Amendments (1965) that created Medicare and Medicaid. Write a letter to the editor of The Dallas Morning News, of at least 500 words, in which you explain what these various acts of Congress were, why they were important to Texans, and why you voted the way you did on them during the last decade. Next, tell the readers, who you hope will vote for you, why they should vote for you based on your votes on these issues. Finally, explain what issues you think will be important between 1967 and 1973 (the period covered by the six-year Senate term you seek), your various positions on these issues, and why you think Texans should support your positions on these upcoming issues. Please use specific historical examples from the 1950s, 60s and 70s (found in the textbook, videos and class discussions) to support your arguments to the voters.