Category: History

Step 1: Begin this assignment by reading this article available through JSTOR. Roger Cushing Aikin, “Paintings of Manifest Destiny: Mapping the Nation, “American Art, Vol. 14, No. 3 (Autumn, 2000), pp. 78-89.
In this article, the author states the artist responsible for the painting American Progress said of his potential audience that they would “prefer a heroic fantasy to what he perceived to be the uninteresting facts of the real experience (of the West and westward migration.) Think about this idea—that history is a construct that is often seated in fantasy.
Step 2: Review this article David Thelen, “Memory and American History,” The Journal of American History, Vol. 75, No. 4 (Mar., 1989), pp. 1117-112.
Here is a quote from the article, “The fresh possibilities in the historical study of memory begin with two starting points, deeply embedded in historians’ narrative traditions, that are now being hailed as major discoveries in other disciplines. The first is that memory, private and individual as much as collective and cultural, is constructed, not reproduced. The second is that this construction is not made in isolation but in conversations with others that occur in the contexts of community, broader politics, and social dynamics. Before we can explore further implications for historians in these starting points, we need to look at their origin in recent scholarship in other fields that has forced a reconsideration of traditional assumptions about the workings of memory.” (p. 1119) Think about this: how has memory shaped the writing and teaching of history?
Step 3: Choose a topic related to Manifest Destiny (see the bottom of this sheet for ideas) and look at it from the perspective of its “history” being both grounded in fantasy and constructed from potentially false memories. How can you see where this might be the case? Through art? Literature for the masses (non-academic works)? Film? Poetry? Speeches by politicians? Present your argument in a paper as to how the cultural history of this topic veers into fantasy and myth and how this has been created through community-created memories. Your paper should be three pages of content and be structured as follows: Paragraph One: Introduce your topic. This might be in art, film, or speeches, or something else that is available to the mass of people. State your thesis regarding the ways in which you have found your topic has veered into fantasy and myth and memory. Paragraph Two, Three, and Four: Present your analysis that demonstrates the ways in which your topic has been manipulated over time to create something “other” than the facts of history. Use concrete examples of of how the mythologized event is used to justify certain actions or romanticize or create a story around a person, an event, or an action. What does this tell us about the people who have created this “historical” myth? What does this tell us about the American public and its desire to have such fantasies? Paragraph Five: Conclude your paper. Wrap up and reiterate your main points. You can include images, lines of poetry or text, or speeches, or still shots from films or even a URL that links to a film or speech. Show me your topic and evidence!
Possible ideas, though you are not limited to these. You might choose one, like Louisiana Purchase
Lewis and Clark Expedition,
Donner Party,
Trail of Tears,
Oregon Trail,
Battle of Alamo,
Texas Independence,
Gasden Purchase,
John L. Sullivan,
Turner Thesis,
Mexican-American War,
Henry David Thoreau,
Slaves in the West,
Homestead Act,
Laura Ingalls Wilder,
Indian Removal,
Josiah Strong,
Protestant Missionaries,
Native Indians,
Oregon boundary dispute,
Gold Rush,
California Independence

Directions: Write a critical review essay of Jan Gross’s book Neighbors. The essay should be 12 pt. font, double spaced and 5-6 pages long with one inch margins. You should “give credit where credit is due” using MLA style parenthetical citation. You are also required to cite your evidence. You are encouraged but not required to include outside research but no free web sources may be used in your paper. Your essay is due online by 11:59 PM on Saturday.
As you plan your essay remember that a critical review essay must evaluate the quality of someone else’s argument. Your essay should include, in paragraph, essay form, but not necessarily in this order:
A title that reflects the thrust of your argument (centered at the top of your paper). [See the student essay example below for how to do this]
A full bibliographic reference for the work under review, in proper MLA style, immediately under your title (justified left). [See the student essay example below for how to do this]
An introduction that sets the scene. What does the reader need to know to understand the main point(s) of the book? Don’t assume that your reader has already read the book.
Your essay must identify the author’s thesis. Many writers do not state a clear thesis (or if they do, they do not make good on their promise set out at the beginning); therefore, you may have to figure it out yourself and state it in your own words. Sometimes, there may be three or four main points, not just one.
Your essay must identify not only the main claim of the book but also some of the reasons and evidence the author uses to support his/her argument.
Your essay must be organized as an argument that evaluates the work. It should reflect your thinking and the thinking of the author that you are reviewing. Be careful to distinguish between the two.
Your essay should use present tense when talking about the book (e.g. Gross argues, Gross writes, Gross thinks etc.) and past tense when you are talking about past events in history (the colonel collaborated with the Soviets, her neighbor hid from the Nazis, they said all the Jews must die etc.).
Your essay should evaluate the content of the book not its style. To this end, you might think about answering some or all of the following questions before you plan your essay. Does other information from other sources contradict the sources or evidence the author is using? Is the evidence relevant to the claims that he is making? Are there implicit or unstated assumptions that you might not agree with? What don’t you understand, and is this because you lack certain assumed knowledge or vocabulary or because the writer is unclear or his reasoning unsound?
The tone of your essay should reflect the fact that you are being asked to write for a public not your class or your professor. Your paper should look like a polished piece of scholarly writing, not a rough draft that still needs to be proofread.

Read the document that is posted for this week and answer the following questions. Use specific examples from the text as evidence to support your assertions, and use complete sentences. This is NOT an essay; answer each question by numbering the questions. Please type up your answers and either submit an accepted file type or copy and paste it into the textbox. [50 points total]
SOME TIPS:
connect evidence (quotes) to assertions (explain how your evidence supports what you’re saying, don’t just list quotations);
use quotation marks for your quotes;
maximum points cannot be achieved with meeting minimums: if you want the highest points, shoot for more than the minimum required;
most times, more than one piece of evidence is better;
sometimes we can only assert what is NOT true (reasonably connected to the context & evidence), rather than what is true about the speaker or time/place, etc
you can use a quotation more than once (sometimes a quote can tell you multiple things)
Speaker: What do we know about the speaker or author of this source? What are some things you can speculate about the speaker/author from the source? (you may not know his/her name, but you can draw conclusions about him/her and his/her position). What specific examples from within the source provide evidence to support your assertion(s)? [5 pts]
Occasion: When and where was the source created (what kind of historical context can you determine)? Make a guess based on the context or clues within the source (you do not need to guess a year; you can estimate a time period or context). What specific examples from within the source provide evidence to support your assertion(s)? HINT: names, places, technologies, etc can help us place things historically [5 pts]
Audience: Whom do you think is the intended audience of this source (to whom is the source speaking)? What specific examples from within the source provide evidence to support your assertion(s)? [4 pts]
Purpose: FIRST: What kind of source is it? (i.e., a speech, inscription, religious text, legal text, law code, proclamation, letter, treaty, etc [these are NOT the only things the source can be]) What specific examples from within the source provide evidence to support your assertion(s)? [3 pts]
SECOND: Why do you think this source was created? What is its purpose? What specific examples from within the source provide evidence to support your assertion(s)? [5 pts]
[8 pts total]
Subject: IN YOUR OWN WORDS, summarize the source (what is it about?). A good summary will give an overview of the content, breadth, and organization of the source. Your reader should have a good idea of what the source is about by reading your summary. Think about a summary as spoiling the movie plot for your friend who hasn’t seen it. Spoil this source for me! You do not need to quote from the source in your summary, but you should give enough detail to give the gist of what is happening within the source. HINT: a good summary will probably need a few sentences. [8 pts]
Tone: What is the attitude or tone of the speaker and/or source? Are there any emotions that can be detected in this source? What specific examples from within the source provide evidence to support your assertion(s)? [4 pts]
Digging Deeper: What does this source tell us about the people or time in which it was created? Give at least two examples supported by specific evidence from within the source of what we can know about their culture, religion, beliefs, politics, or social structure, etc. What specific examples from within the source provide evidence to support your assertion(s)? Two examples are the minimum. More examples and evidence mean more points. [12 pts]
Making Connections: Give one specific example of how our own society is similar to this one. Give one specific example of how our own society is different from this one. [4 pts]
I am more than happy to look over what you have or meet face-to-face beforehand, but we must do it before noon on Saturday the weekend it is due. This will allow me time to give better feedback and you enough time to make adjustments, if necessary.
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In what ways did the aftermath of World War I contribute to the rise of totalitarian regimes in Europe, and how did these regimes seek to redefine national identity and citizenship?

Using your text, lectures and course materials, you will address conditions covered in the materials for Week 2. Your essay must be a minimum of 500 words and address the following:
Address and explain at least THREE important policies under the Jackson and Van Buren Administrations. What impact did each one have and were they consistent with the values of the new Democratic Party led by Jackson?
You will need to cite your sources in the body of your essay and list your sources below the essay itself. Two sources minimum required. (Your textbook and module sources are acceptable). No title page or abstract required.

Please answer all of the questions Questzalcoatl
How did Quetzalcoatl look physically?
How would you characterize the Toltecs and their culture?
What is significant about the priests of Tula copying the conduct of Quetzalcoatl, according to the text?
What relationship develops between the Huaxtec (Tezcatlipoca in disguise) and Quetzalcoatl once the latter’s daughter has been healed?
How does the Huaxtec win the approval of the Toltecs?
What might be the significance of the Toltec’s inability to remove the corpse of the man they stoned to death, and of their reaction to this failure?
Before Quetzalcoatl leaves for Tlapallan, what does he do with his belongings?
What is ironic about the companions that Quetzalcoatl has with him on his journey between the mountains Popocatepetl and Iztactepetl?
What are the most remarkable things that Quetzalaocatl does on his journey beyond the mountains to Tlapallan?
Please answer all of the questions Huitzilopochtli
Who is Coatlicue related to and how does she become pregnant?
What do Coyolxauhqui and the four hundred gods of the south decide to do to Coatlicue, and why?
What did Cuahuitlicac do for Hutizilopochtli?
What became of Coyolxauhqui after Huitzilopochtli was born?
What did Huitzilopochtli do to the four hundred gods of the south?

Reading Questions on ‘Metaphysical and Theological Ideas of the Nahuas’
Please answer all of the questions.
At the beginning of their comments, do the tlamatinime seem humble or proud?
Whom do they speak for, and why do the tlamatinime do what they do?
Why are they “disturbed…[and] troubled”?
According to these wise men, what do the gods do for humanity?
What do the tlamatinime have to say regarding the beginning of the gods and man’s worship of them?
What do the tlamatinime say regarding the teachings of the Spanish priests?
Reading Questions on ‘Philosophy, Education and the Aztecs’
Please answer all three questions “From the heavens they come” poem
1. Using the reading as your guide, what do you think Cuetzpalin is saying in the first seven lines of the poem?
2. Using the reading as your guide, what do you think Cuetzpalin is saying in lines 22-28?
3. Using the reading as your guide, what do you think Cuetzpalin is saying in lines 29-36?

The Spanish Conquest – Fact & Fiction’
I would like you to simply single out at least one item of information for discussion that you found interesting?
please use video below

Explain the complexities of slavery using the readings attached (e.g., Transatlantic Slave Trade, etc.) and the Catholic Church (e.g., Martin Luther, etc.).

***I need the term paper Bibliography only at this time.
The paper will be completed in three stages:
1. Draft bibliography. Worth 50 points. Due by midnight Saturday (Eastern Time) at the end of Week 3 of the course.
2. Draft paper. Worth 100 points. Due by midnight Saturday (Eastern Time) at the end of Week 6 of the course.
3. Final paper, which includes revisions to both the text of the paper and the bibliography. Worth 150 points. Due by midnight Saturday (Eastern Time) at the end of Week 9 of the course.
An integral part of the course will be the writing of a term paper 5-6 pages long. In the paper the student will examine a topic arising from the course material, such as the forces that drove a particular change in American society or they ways in which American society or the lives of Americans changed as a result of some particular historical event or development (such as one of the World Wars or the influx of immigrants in the late 19th century).
The Term Paper calls for you to use and cite at least (2) primary sources, and (4) secondary sources. It is important, therefore, to be clear about the distinction between primary and secondary sources.
For submitted bib., you need to separate primary from secondary and give full info on sources such as author, publ, date, and how accessed. Urls do not take place of full bib. entry. Style should follow that of University of Chicago.
Let’s suppose, for example, that you were writing a paper about immigration in the 1880s and wanted to set about gathering the ten required sources for your paper. Under the guidelines of the grading rubric for the assignment (and please read those guidelines carefully), you would need to assemble at least two primary sources. The remainder may be secondary sources.
A primary source is a document that comes directly from the time period being studied or a document that was produced by someone who had direct involvement in that period’s events. Primary sources generally include letters, journals, government documents, photographs or newspaper articles from the immediate time period of the events under discussion.
A diary or letters or a memoir written by someone who emigrated to America in the 1880s would be considered a primary source. So would government records from the 1880s showing numbers of immigrants arriving at, say Ellis Island in New York Harbor or Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. An article about the new immigrants published in the New York Times during the 1880s also would be considered a primary source. Many primary documents are available online through the Library of Congress, the various presidential libraries, and major public or university libraries.
Books and articles published in later decades that discuss immigration in the 1880s would be considered secondary sources.
One final reminder: Do not use Wikipedia as a source, nor any other web site that is not in the .edu or .gov domains, unless you have received specific prior approval from the instructor.

Research paper of approximately 35 pages in total length–similar to a journal article that follows the guidelines for developing a historical research topic, question, problem, and working hypothesis as laid out in Part I, Chapter 2 of Turabian.