HHS 125 B Essays, Fall 2011
Professor Russell
1. Digital History: Online project analysis and critique.
There are a number of digital history projects - collections of primary sources, sometimes with some analysis by a professional historian or by a group of students. For this assignment you should analyze and critique one of these projects that deals with any aspect of American history before 1865. You must start at one of these three websites:
George Mason University "History Matters"
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/wwwhistory/
WWW Virtual Library
http://vlib.iue.it/history/USA/
US Library of Congress American Memory Project
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
Pick a project and confirm with me that it is suitable for this assignment. To do this, send me an email that includes the title and url of the project you plan to review. You should do this before the beginning of class on September 8. You should then take a comprehensive look at the project, noting what parts of it are successful and what are not. You might also consult outside resources to check the accuracy of historical statements or to learn more about the broader historical context.
You should then write a 3-4 page essay in which you assess and review the project you have chosen. Your essay should address the following questions: what was the topic of the online project? What primary sources did the project use? Was it successful? What were the strengths and weaknesses, and how could it be improved?
Your essay is due September 20. Keep three additional things in mind:
1. Your citations should adhere to either MLA style or the Chicago Manual of Style Citation Guide.
2. It would also be wise to consult the American Library Association's guide to Using Primary Sources on the Web.
3. Review some considerations for papers in HHS 125.
2. The Federalists and the Constitution
First, download the file posted on Moodle that contains the primary source documents for Essay 2. You should read all of the documents in that file, including James Madison's Federalist Number 10 (1787), Mercy Otis Warren's "Observations on the New Constitution" (1788), Thomas Jefferson's "Declaration of the Rights of Man" (1789), and William Manning's "The Key of Liberty" (1798). Each of these documents contains different perspectives about the creation of the American government, such as the potential dangers of republican government, the widespread suspicion of the new American elites, and the international implications of the American revolutionary struggle.
In a 3 to 4 page essay, compare and contrast the perspectives and concerns of the authors of these documents. You do not need to incorporate all four documents into your essay, but you should consider at least two. In your essay, you should also indicate how these authors fit into the broader concerns of the post-Revolutionary era that we have been discussing in class and that have been discussed in our textbook Inventing America (especially chapters 5-8) and in Foner's The Story of American Freedom (especially chapter 2).
Your essay is due Thursday October 27. Please keep two additional things in mind:
1. Your citations should adhere to either MLA style or the Chicago Manual of Style Citation Guide.
2. Review some considerations for papers in HHS 125.
3. The Civil War. Due December 6.
This semester we have seen that historical events can be studied from different vantage points, such as the history of racism, political history, women's history, biographical history, and the history of technology. Use one of these analytic vantage points to analyze some aspect of the Civil War that interests you. You can also use other approaches, such as economic history, medical history, history of mapping, and so on.
Two good starting points for material online are the American Historical Association article on Civil War Resources and the History Matters website. There are also some interesting books in the Williams Library - search for "American Civil War" (or related topics). You might also consult the JSTOR database, which is available through the Williams Library from http://www.stevens.edu/library/research/azlist.html#J.
Please email me the topic of your paper no later than Sunday December 4.
As usual, your essays should begin with a crisp introduction and strong thesis statement that the rest of the essay supports. Your essay should be 3-4 pages, double-spaced, 12 point font. Your citations and works cited page should adhere to MLA style. If you use websites, you must include a sentence or two annotation that explains why you trust that source. You should also review some considerations for papers in HHS 125.