Critique the following statement: Although servitude/slavery became more expansive and more rigid as an institution in colonial America from contact until the early years of the United States of America, American society, nevertheless, became more democratic.

Description

• Essays should be three to five full paragraphs long and you should strive to write in full sentences with grammatically correct language (though since you are being timed, I don’t expect them to be perfect).

• Essays must be written entirely in your own words — anything not written in your own words will be considered plagiarism.

1. Critique the following statement: Although servitude/slavery became more expansive and more rigid as an institution in colonial America from contact until the early years of the United States of America, American society, nevertheless, became more democratic. How valid is this assertion? Do you agree or disagree with it? Or do you agree/disagree only in part? Whatever you believe, you must take a clear and definitive position that can be defended with evidence from our course materials.

2. Assess the various encounters and relationships European explorers/colonists faced with local indigenous peoples. What kind of impact did those encounters have on important developments during the colonial era and in the early years of the United States? In framing your response, you should include specific examples of interactions between Native Americans and the colonists/Americans.

3. How did thirteen disparate English colonies evolve from their individual foundings to their unification during the American Revolution? In the immediate aftermath of the Revolution, did they seem firmly united or were there lingering obstacles to their unity?

A thorough response will address the following:

• various reasons for the founding of the colonies (you may focus on regions rather than individual colonies)

• development, growth, and stabilization over the 17th and 18th Centuries

• differences among the colonies (e.g. political and economic structures, as well as systems of labor)

• how and why the colonists eventually came to see themselves as united for a common cause

• challenges the United States faced in its formative years