History 109
Spr 2024
Essay Assignment #2
20% of total grade
Due: Wednesday, April 17 by 2:00 p.m. via Canvas.
Format:
Four to five pages
Double spaced
1 inch margins all around
12 point font (main text)
Times New Roman font
Parenthetical citations. See below for examples.
Question:
Scholar Benedict Anderson defines nations as “imagined political communities” in which residents are conscious of themselves as a people who are tied to a geographical territory, a shared history and a government. I would add common goals, values, and ideals as factors that can cement a national identity. How did the United States become a “nation” between 1763 and 1850?
Your essay must have a central argument (thesis) and use evidence from lectures, the textbook, and Major Problems in American History to support your views. Please confine your evidence base to sources from this class. To receive the best grade possible, your essay should be free of grammatical errors, and written with clarity and excellence. The best essays will use and explain the relevance of evidence from several chapters and numerous sources in Major Problems to forward the thesis argument. Note that the range of primary and secondary sources includes MP chapters 4-12, HIST chapters 5-14, and the CPS. There is much to sort through and choose from as you craft and defend your thesis!
Chicago/Turabian parenthetical citations must be used as you cite sources. Example: Some people moved westward due to financial hardship and lack of opportunities on the Atlantic Coast. For instance, in 1844, Mary Graham and her family planned to move from Buckland, MA to Wisconsin because the family farm in Massachusetts was failing and debt-ridden (MP 8-5, 219-220).
Note that in the e-versions of both HIST and Major Problems, the current page number is listed in the “Jump to Page” box (in the lower left of the interface on a computer).
Here are examples of correct parenthetical citations for the major source types:
HIST: (Schultz, 44)
A primary source in the “Primary Sources and Additional Exploration” section at the end of each HIST chapter: (Lewis and Clark, HIST 9-AD)
A primary source in Major Problems: Chapter 4, Source 7, page 42 would be cited: (MP 2-7, 42).
A secondary source essay in Major Problems: (Armitage, 116).
A chapter introduction in Major Problems: (Cobbs and Blum, 178)
Lecture: (Tarpley Lecture, 3/10/24).
