History Essay

Choose ONE of the following five questions to answer.

Your responses need:

• Please indicate which question you are answering.
• 6-8 paragraphs (a paragraph is 3-5 complete sentences, not fragments, not bullet points).  1 paragraph of introduction, 4-6 paragraphs for the body, 1 paragraph of conclusion.
• a thesis statement. You need to make an actual argument that needs to be supported with facts.
• need to rely on evidence found in classroom lectures, our textbook, primary sources in the textbook source collections. YOU MAY NOT use outside sources, like the internet.
• You must cite where you got each piece of evidence [For Example: “Hitler annexed Austria in 1938” (Created Equal) or “African Americans were often forced to take bogus literacy tests before they were outlawed in 1965 (“Voting Literacy Test 1965” in Created Equal) or “The Union Stockyards are an example of Gilded Age industrialism” (Gilded Age Lecture)]

Follow the question prompts carefully.  If a question asks you to give four specific examples, give four examples. If the question asks you to discuss the cause and effects, please discuss both.

The number one thing that students do wrong in these essays is over-generalize. Be very clear and very explicit.  Do not tell me, for example, that the lives of women changed in the 20th century because “they got more freedoms.”  That will not receive a passing grade.  Instead, you should talk about things like the 19th amendment or the specific things feminism did for women. 

1. Explain the lasting effects of the Progressive Era.  What reforms were successful?  How did they shape US History going further? Be specific in your response using evidence from your textbook, primary source readings, lectures, videos to support your argument.
2. Outline the transition of the US government from isolationist to globalist. Use at least 4 specific events and detail how the event led the US closer to a global foreign policy. Be specific in your response using evidence from your textbook, primary source readings, lectures, videos to support your argument.
3. How did the lives of Immigrants change over the course of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries? Please detail at least 4 specific examples and outline the evolution. Be specific in your response using evidence from your textbook, primary source readings, lectures, videos to support your argument.
4. Explain the economic rises and falls over the Twentieth Century. Provide me with at least 4 key events of the US economy, describing its causes and effects. Be specific in your response using evidence from your textbook, primary source readings, lectures, videos to support your argument.
5. Explain the lasting effects of the New Deal.  What programs succeeded? Which programs failed? How has the New Deal shaped US History through the 1990s? Be specific in your response using evidence from your textbook, primary source readings, lectures, videos to support your argument.