Description
Paper 2
Length: 1,500-1,650 words (approximately 5-6 pages)
Font: Times New Roman; Arial
Font Size: 12-Point
Line Spacing: Double Spaced
Citation Style: MLA Parenthetical Citations
Instructions: The purpose of Paper 2 is to build on your previous work on Paper 1 by asking you to craft a historical argument that analyzes multiple primary sources. You will do this by writing a formal, organized, and fully developed argumentative essay that responds to one of the prompts below. This means you will need to craft a strong, clear argumentative thesis; organize your paper into various “sub-arguments” that support your thesis; and present evidence that support those sub-arguments in the form of direct quotes from the assigned primary sources.
***NOTE: YOU MUST USE ONLY THE ASSIGNED PRIMARY SOURCES THAT YOU HAVE ALREADY READ THIS SEMESTER. YOU SHOULD NOT DO ANY OUTSIDE RESEARCH OR USE ANY SOURCES THAT WERE NOT ASSIGNED.***
Objectives:
Craft a nuanced and sophisticated argument using a variety of primary sources as
support
Evaluate primary sources based on a variety of factors including historical
context and author’s personal history
Identify and analyze biases and oversights in primary sources
Compare, contrast, and critique different primary sources that deal with similar
subject matter
Use specific evidence in the form of direct quotes from primary sources to
support your argument
Requirements: Your paper must contain the following:
Thesis: A strong and clear thesis statement stating what you will be arguing in
the paper
Introduction: An introductory paragraph that introduces your thesis statement
and places it in a broader historical context
Quotes: Direct quotations from the assigned primary sources that support your thesis
Historical Context: The sources and your analysis of them should be put into their proper historical context. This means that, when you introduce your source, you should provide details on when the sources were produced, who produced them, and why they were produced (i.e. what did the author want to accomplish).
Conclusion: A brief conclusion that restates your thesis and sums up your
analysis
Topics: Choose one of the following topics.
TOPIC 1: Racial Ideology and Racial Slavery
As we have seen, the development of the social construct of “race” was both a response to, and a driver of, the development and expansion of African slavery in colonial British America and the United States. Write a paper that traces the genesis and evolution of these interrelated phenomena from the 17th century through the 19th century. What was “race,” and why was the construct useful to people in positions of authority? How did economic motives related to slavery play into the construction of racial ideology? Do you think race creates slavery, or did slavery create race? That is, did a pre-existing racial ideology lead to the development of racial slavery, or did the development of African slavery lead to the construction of racial ideology? You must use at least three (3) sources from the Document Reader to support your argument.
TOPIC 2: The State and the Economy
One of the themes we’ve followed throughout the semester is the development of various different economic ideologies. One of the central questions that consistently arises in debates over these ideologies is how much the government (aka “the state”) should intervene in economic affairs. Write a paper that examines how different authors answered this question at various different times. Which authors argued for strong aggressive state intervention, and which ones argued the state should stay out of economic matters? What reasons did these different authors give for why the state should intervene or not? Which ideology became dominant in the United States and why? You must use at least three (3) sources from the Document Reader to support your argument.
TOPIC 3: Religion and Empire
The religious motivations of early modern European empires have long been obvious to historians. The desire to convert non-Christian peoples in both America and Africa underlay the earliest imperial efforts of Europeans in Africa and the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries to Western expansion of the United States in the 19th century. Write a paper that traces how these religious motivations shaped the thinking and actions of European and American imperialists over this long span of time. Was religion the primary motivation, or were there others? What was the relationship between religious motives and economic motives? Were the religious motivations of imperialists sincere, or were they just used as a justification for imperial expansion? What continuities, if any, do you see that run from the early period of European imperial expansion in the 15th and 16th centuries to the period of American empire in the 19th? You must use at least three (3) sources from the Document Reader to support your argument.
SOURCES + Example Paper : https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10Uek71v6Ji9XKahXxvL8PizEO52u-McS
