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History 007A – Spring 2022

U.S. History to 1877

Student Research Project

Purpose:

You are going to write essentially a short to medium length essay designed to improve your analytical and critical thinking skills while learning more about a historical topic that you have an interest in. The paper should: (1) begin by outlining why the topic is significant to you in an effort to help me understand why you have chosen to study it in more detail. Then: (2) you need to address the topic appropriately from the list provided below. As you will see, some of your options are questions in need of a well- thought-out answer while others are more or less statements requiring a summary of major points and a detailed explanation of why they are important to American history.

The final products should include at least two pieces of primary research material and be between 1500 and 2000 words. They should also be proofread and avoid any spelling, grammatical, and capitalization errors. The paper should be in MLA format, doubled-spaced, in New Times Roman 12 font, and conclude with a separate ‘Works Cited” citation page.

NOTE: Please understand that any Research Paper submitted to me without the use of at least two primary research sources will receive an “F” on this assignment, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. The main purpose of this assignment beyond improving your analytical and critical thinking skills is to expose you to the professional historian’s craft by using primary documents involved with or surrounding a topic you are interested in! I am available to explain the difference between primary and secondary sources or help you locate primary sources in relation to your chosen topic. Please contact me so that I can provide you with some insight on the differences between the two and where to get started with your research. Finally, if there is a topic you would like to study that is not on this list, I will consider an alternative topic if you can convince me of its scholarly worth and explain to me why you want to do so.

Assignment: Choose one (1) of the following prompts and compose a 1500 to 2000 word essay, due Friday, May 6, 2022 11PM via CANVAS submission electronically. Please submit as either a MSWORD or .pdf document.

• Native American religion. What was its relationship to the environment? • Native Americans: What was the impact of European colonization on Native Americans? • The Effects of the Spanish Rule and The Conquistadors in the Americas. How did the Spanish

Colonization of the Americas laid foundations for the Latin American identity? • The Puritan Ethic in the United States. Who the Puritans were? Why were they sent to the New

World? What were their religious beliefs? • The Protestant Reformation and its influence on the US History. Religion was one of the main

reasons why the first settlers decided to travel to the New World. Explain the connection between the freedom of religion in the US.

• The lost colony of Roanoke: What are the theories to explain its disappearance?

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• Women in Colonial America: What was the role of women? Address the concept of the “republican mother” and its impact on the movement toward revolution.

• The beginning of slavery in British America and the Middle Passage. Consider using the Slave Narrative, for instance, Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa.

• Christianity, slavery, and colonialism in the US. • The witchcraft trials. Elaborate on religious views of the New England public. Discuss the Puritan

code, the structure of the society, and what type of women were prosecuted. • The Boston Tea Party as the key event of the American Revolution. Review the birth of patriotism,

resistance and the revolt against colonialism. What did the rebels mean by “taxation without representation?”.

• Was the American Revolution really revolutionary? • American Revolution: What was the role of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense in promoting the

movement for independence? • The Constitution: Did the framers really represent the American people? (Aristocracy or

Democracy?) • The meaning of the Constitution. Is the Constitution a liberal, radical, or a conservative document. • Federalists vs. Anti-federalists: What were the main arguments prior to ratification of the

Constitution? What was the outcome of the debate? • Why the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution? What are the first 10 amendments to the

Constitution and explore why these amendments are so important. • The Whiskey Rebellion of 1794: What were the causes and effects? • Marbury v. Madison: What was the impact of this case on the American judicial system? • Utopian colonies: What were their goals and methods? Why did they fail? Examine the Amana

colony, Brook Farm, Oneida colony, Bishop Hill) • Mexican-American War: What were the causes and/or effects? Did the U.S. provoke the war? • Oregon Trail: Why was the motivation to move to the West so strong that people were willing to

take enormous risks? • Removal of Indian tribes. Examining the Indian Removal Act of 1830 will allow you to fully develop

this topic. Analyze why the policy was accepted in the first place. • The impact of railroads in America. The railroads triggered the development of the Midwest and the

West. Despite that, the construction of the railroads was highly monopolistic and undemocratic. Why?

• The role of cotton in the American economy. This period in American History is called the Antebellum Era. Look at the role of cotton from several perspectives. How profitable was it? How did slaves contribute to the American economy? How financially unviable was the abolition of slavery?

• Why was Transcendentalism important for American Culture? Explore what views the group had on women’s rights, slavery, education, government, and religion. Include an explanation about the most prominent transcendentalists – Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry Thoreau.

• Mormons: Why did they encounter opposition in Illinois? What motivated their migration to Utah? What has been their impact on western development and American society?

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• Religion in the 19th century America, known as the Second Great Awakening or Christian Revivalism: Anglicans, Methodists, and Quackers were the fastest-growing religious groups then. Discuss all of them.

• The Gold Rush: What was its impact on the development of California? • The Abolitionist movement in the United States: Who were the key leaders, and what were their

contributions? What was the impact on the tensions leading to the Civil War? • The Compromise of 1850: Explain the Compromise and what results were achieved: political,

economic, and cultural. • Dred Scott decision: What was its impact on the slavery issue? • Pre-Civil War: What were the causes and effects of John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry? • Pre-Civil War: What were the causes and effects of the Nat Turner Rebellion? • New York draft riots during the Civil War: What were the causes? What were the effects? • Lincoln: Slavery and the Civil War. Explain Abraham Lincoln’s thoughts on slavery. His ideas about

slavery and racial inequality were one of the most discussed aspects of his entire life. Look at his letters and write about the complexity of his views.

• Lincoln’s assassination: What did Booth and his co-conspirators hope to achieve? How did Lincoln’s assassination impact the reconstruction of the nation after the Civil War?

• What was the struggle over the goal and the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. • The Reconstruction governments: Analyze radical reconstruction and white supremacy that

spawned during the Reconstruction period. Elaborate on the idea of manifest destiny. Why was it so popular in the 19th century in the US?

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