HIST 15; Essentials of U.S. History
HIST 15; Essentials of U.S. History Final Exam Part II – Short Essay Write one (1) short essay in response to one of the prompts listed on the following page. • Answer the prompt in 800 – 1200 words • Avoid anecdotal examples, long summaries or excessive quotations. • Cite evidence from the course readings. o Citations should clearly state page numbers from the American Yawp, the lecture date as listed on the rubric, or the author and date of the primary source document. • Use only course material: Lectures, Linked Videos, American Yawp, and Assigned Primary Source readings. No Outside Sources! Please use the following guidelines when formatting and completing the assignment: • Heading with Name & Course Information (suggested format provided on Canvas) • Size 11 or 12, Times New Roman or similar Font. Double Space the entire document. • Use either MLA or Chicago style citations, as long as it is clear and consistent. • Structure your essay with clearly organized paragraphs. Suggested Outline: • • Write a brief, 3-4 sentence introduction including a 1-3 sentence thesis statement § The thesis statement should clearly answer the main question(s) in the prompt. This is the argument that you will support with your essay. § The prompts each contain multiple questions or points to cover, make sure to integrate your responses into your thesis statement. Organize your writing into clearly delineated body paragraphs, containing concise sentence structure. § Start each paragraph with an argument or claim that reiterates a portion of the thesis statement. § Provide plenty of specific historical evidence from the class material. • Introduce your evidence – listing details or simply inserting quotations will often result in lower scores when judged against the rubric. • Evidence means specific historical examples of things that happened, or things that people said or did in the past to support your argument. • All evidence requires analysis – the evidence cannot speak for itself. Explain how the details of the evidence support your arguments in response to the prompt. Final Exam Part II – Short Essay Essay Prompts – choose only one (1) 1. Analyze the ways in which slavery formed a central component of United States history from 1800 – 1877. Select 2-3 events from the list below and explain how slavery was a major cause of, or motivation for the historical development: o Indian Removal, The War of 1812, The Texas Rebellion, Westward Expansion, The U.S. war with Mexico, The Women’s Rights Movement, The American Revolution, the Labor Movement or the Market Revolution 1. Compare the ways different groups of Native Americans responded to the encroachment on their lands by White Americans. Explain the different ways that Native Americans resisted, negotiated, or accepted U.S. influence and evaluate the degree to which these different tactics were successful. o Your answer should discuss the experience of different Native peoples from two (2) the following regions at any time between 1776 and 1865: 1. California 2. Texas , New Mexico and/or Arizona 3. The Old Northwest (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio) 4. The U.S. South (Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida) 2. To what extent did U.S. society foster upward social and/or economic mobility for all classes of Americans from 1800-1860? Discuss examples that demonstrate the challenges and/or opportunities faced by BOTH free and enslaved Americans in United States history. 3. After John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, Southerners claimed that the attack represented a conspiracy by the North against the South. One newspaper claimed “The ‘irrepressible conflict’ between the North and the South then, has already commenced; to this complexion it must come at last”(Charleston Mercury, 1859). Governor Wise of Virginia declared that Southerners had no choice but to defend slavery “by force of arms” (Wise, 1859). Were Southerners correct in their assessment that serious plan existed to end slavery nationally? Explain the extent to which Northern abolitionists had succeed in limiting the institution of slavery before 1861. Identify who had greater influence over U.S. politics before the Civil War, Southern pro-slavery interests or northern anti-slavery advocates. Characteristics of previous higher and lower-scoring essays: Higher-scoring essays did the following consistently: Lower-scoring essays tended to do the following: 1. Answer the prompt early in the essay in a well-crafted, debatable claim (thesis statement), and refer back to that original claim repeatedly throughout the essay. 1. The prompt is answered by mostly repeating the prompt, generally stating broadly related topics, events, or people, or do not provide a clear answer. These answers are more matter of fact and less debatable. 2. Avoid long summaries of events; instead, they focus on the key details that truly support their original claim. 2. 3. Every fact, or closely related set of facts, was accompanied by a specific source citation (video lecture, class meeting, textbook reading, primary documents, etc) Introductory paragraphs are very long, using much of the limited word-count or causing extra-long essays, leaving less room for the analysis of evidence in supporting paragraphs. 3. Long summaries of events; they tell the beginning, middle and end of a historical moment in a narrative (story-like) fashion. These summaries lose sight the any main argument or the main questions of prompt itself. 4. Details are stated without source citations. Often, only the primary documents are cited or only quotations are cited. 5. The primary documents are either the main focus of the essay or are the only pieces of evidence in the essay. In an essay of only 3-4 pages long, whole paragraphs are used to introduce a document, quote from it, and comment. This takes up a significant portion of the essay, leaving only minimal room for discussion of other important details and analysis. 6. Not enough evidence. Whole paragraphs were dedicated to describing or summarizing a single point, event, or broad historical development with little to no discussion of the significance of the historical details describes. 7. Excessive or ill-chosen quotations. Quote general descriptions from the textbook or lecture instead of specific historical facts or details. Include quotes without explaining how the quote supports the argument. Or attribute too much significance to a quote that was just a general description or opinion instead of actual evidence of the argument (because Prof. MC or American Yawp says so is not evidence). Overall, too many quotations and not enough of their own analysis. 8. The prompts specifically ask about United States History of the 19th century. While discussing the early colonial period can be useful for context, lower-scoring essays tended to dwell too much on Columbus, European colonization, origins of the Atlantic Slave Trade, etc. 4. 5. The Primary Documents were used to supplement their evidence in support of their overall argument. The primary documents were included among the many other pieces of evidence in any single paragraph. The documents were integrated into the main argument and body of the essay. Only specific details from any document are carefully selected to support the original claim or subclaim, topic sentence, etc. Within in one paragraph, there is an abundance of evidence, from diverse sources, with many specific details that are relevant to the main argument. Instead of a long summary of a single event, paragraphs present different historical details to support a single point of the argument. 6. Carefully select key evidence and strike a balance between summarizing, quoting, or only briefly alluding to evidence. They do not always quote, or always summarize or always paraphrase. They judge well when it is better to quote, describe or only mention key facts evenly and thoughtfully throughout the essay. 7. Focus on the content and time period asked about in the prompt. They do not reach too far back in history or dwell too much on other time periods, or reflect on today, to answer the prompt. If they do, it is to briefly set up context or write concluding thoughts. Or they skillfully make direct connections and return quickly to the appropriate content or time period.
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