History between 1750 and 1865

Overview of the Assignment: For your final exam, each student must engage on a discussion of TEN DISCRETE THINGS that altered, shaped, and formed early American history and society (Civil War or before). These things can come from any realm that seems pertinent: EVENTS, PEOPLE, ECONOMIC or LABOR SYSTEMS, POLITICS, or RELIGIOUS or PHILOSOPHICAL movements, to name a few. Whichever of these “top ten” lists that you chose, you will be expected to explain in detail the (person / event / idea), its causes and catalysts, its historical significance. You will examine how discrete events, people, or ideas alter and change each other even when spaced apart in time. For each item you choose, you will be expected to write a short one and a half to two page section. You will also be ultimately required to do an analysis for an introduction to your paper. Process: You will be required to follow a process in doing your paper. For each process or rule that you do not follow, expect to be docked at least one full letter grade. Thankfully, the rules are simple! BRAINSTORMING: Your first goal will be to create a brainstorm list of AT LEAST 40 things from which you will whittle down to your top ten. To begin your brainstorming list, create at least five (and preferably up to ten or more) categories of human endeavor to help broaden your ideas. Some suggested categories could be (but are not limited to): People, Politics, Events, Wars, Treaties, Natural Disasters, Arts and Music, Literature, Science and Technology, Philosophies, Economics, Religions, Laws, Institutions, Educations, Major Organizations, and / or Labor Systems. The brainstorming list will be posted on the Discussion Boards, and after you post yours you can look at other people’s submissions to get some ideas and then also talk about possible choices. Rules of Choice: The items you choose have some rules attached to them. At the most basic, any item you choose, whether to put on your brainstorming list or written about in your final, MUST be an item that could arguably have a significant impact on early American History AND be on or before the year 1865. In addition there are a small set of other requirements as “Do’s and Don’ts”: Requirement #1: At least One item from each of the Four Time periods. There are effectively four time periods covered in class. Of the ten items you choose, AT LEAST one should fall into each of these four categories. The other six could be in any four of them (so you could have 2 / 3 / 3 / 2, 4 / 2 / 1 / 3, etc.) Those four time periods are: 1. Early Colonial (Up to the 1750s) 2. American Revolution (1760s-1780s) 3. Early National (1790s-1820s) 4. Manifest Destiny to the Civil War (1830s-1865) Please note this means I am being a meanie and making sure you have read ahead in the book! 😀 Requirement #2: No Double Dipping! If you choose Adam Smith as the person who invented the economic system of capitalism in the book the Wealth of Nations, then Wealth of Nations or Capitalism MAY NOT also be separate choices. If you choose a big event (The Civil War) then you may not also choose as separate individuals or events part of that event (The Emancipation Proclamation, Robert E. Lee.) One exception to this rule is that sometimes people have MANY impacts on different fields. So if you do the Declaration of Independence as an individual item, you can mention Thomas Jefferson wrote it and STILL do Thomas Jefferson as a separate item — but ONLY if the reason you are choosing Jefferson is for a reason other than the Declaration of Independence (say his leadership of the Republican Party, or overseeing the Louisiana Purchase, or his role as President.) Requirement #2: Avoid Clustering! It gets far too easy to get hung up on one topic. So if you are writing about 7 Civil War Generals, maybe EACH general is not specifically the most important thing in early American History as much as THE CIVIL WAR or CIVIL WAR MILITARY LEADERSHIP was and should be a combined topic. Protip: When choosing your top ten things, note the runners up (11-20, for example.) This may help for part of the assignment later.