Research Paper
1) The research paper will focus on helping students learn to connect actions/decisions, choices, and consequences in decision-making within a relevant historical context. The department has created a list of acceptable topics for instructors to choose from (see below). Instructors may add their own tailor-made topics to the list by submitting their requests to the history department chairman, who will then submit the topic(s) to the HIST curriculum subcommittee.
2) The research paper should have at least three main parts: (a) A section where the student provides historical context and background for the topic. (b) A section where the student analyzes a controversial decision made by a relevant historical figure or institution, including all options available to said figure/institution and the various factors that contributed to the outcome of the historical scenario. (c) A section where the student explains the historical significance of the decision that was made.
3) Minimum paper requirements: The paper must be a minimum of three pages in length (excluding the title and works cited pages). The paper must be typed in a 12 point font and double spaced. Students must cite their sources using MLA style. Internal citations are REQUIRED. Each paper must analyze and incorporate a minimum of one primary source and one secondary source; the class textbook may not be used as a source. Failure to meet the minimum paper requirements will result in a failing grade for the assignment.
4) Students must submit the research paper to Safeassign to check for plagiarism issues. See Appendix I for details.
Research Paper Topics from which to Choose:
1. Investigate the interactions of Christopher Columbus with the Amerindians on his voyages to the Americas (it’s probably best if each instructor narrows this topic down to a particular voyage or event before presenting it to students).
2. Did the Columbian Exchange ultimately do more harm or good, and how much responsibility/credit should Columbus bear for it?
3. Investigate the interactions of the American colonists with the Amerindians. Each instructor should use his/her own discretion to narrow this broad topic down considerably, perhaps to a specific colony/community and timeframe or perhaps to a specific event.
4. Investigate the decisions/actions of Geoffrey Amherst and his use of germ warfare against the Amerindians. Were they justified?
5. Investigate the motivations for Radical Reconstruction following the Civil War. Did the South deserve to be punished for the Civil War?
6. Investigate the decisions/actions of Thomas Jefferson regarding the institution of slavery. What motivated his decisions/actions? Is it possible to reconcile Jefferson’s words and actions?
7. Investigate President Andrew Jackson’s Indian removal policy in the 1830s.
8. Investigate the decisions/actions of John Brown in the Harpers’ Ferry raid of 1859.
9. Investigate President Abraham Lincoln’s decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
10. Were the American Revolutionaries guilty of disloyalty to the government of England? Is there an ethical duty to rebel against a government rather than peacefully protesting?
11. Investigate the role that John Adams played in the Boston Massacre of 1770 and the subsequent legal trial.
12. Investigate pro-slavery southerners’ use of the Bible to defend the institution of American slavery. Were pro-slavery southerners right to cite the Bible in defense of the institution of slavery?
13. Investigate the Supreme Court case of Dred Scott vs, Sanford (1857) and the court’s motivations for making that decision.
14. Investigate the decision of American General Benedict Arnold to switch sides during the American Revolution.
