HISTORY ARGUMENTATIVE PAPER

You will be writing a paper this semester that will develop your ability to read historical sources and write about those sources in order to make a historical argument. I have assigned a number of historical documents from various periods of the country’s history. Each of these documents is an example of a historical figure talking/writing about an important event or issue facing the country and how they interpret what it means, or should mean, to be an American. You will read these documents and choose at least two of them to analyze for the paper. The primary questions you will need to answer are the following:

1. Who was the person who created this document and why did they create it?

2. What events, issues, or themes do they talk about in this document?

3. What is the main theme that connects these documents, such as freedom, equality, or democracy?

4. How would the historical authors of your documents answer the question underlined above in connection to these events, issues, and/or themes?

5. What do these documents teach us about the history of America?

The final draft of your paper should be 3-4 pages, 12-point Times New Roman font, with 1-inch margins, double-spaced. You should only use the documents on the list below and your textbook. You should cite evidence using Chicago-style footnotes. Every word processing program will have an option to insert footnotes (in Word it is under References). We will talk about citations in detail in class.