This is a model for how to write a DBQ essay.
 Notice the all-important first paragraph that introduces the student to the reader. Create a
powerful first impression through presentation of outside information and analysis, and of course,
an interesting thesis statement. The first paragraph must introduce the main ideas—or organizing
principles—that will be used to support the thesis
 High scores are obtained by incorporating outside information with analysis of the documents in
a well-organized essay. In the following example outside information is identified with underlined
bold type and analysis is identified with bold italics.
 Pay special attention to how the documents are incorporated into the essay. The document is
NEVER the subject of the sentence (Document A stated…) Assertions are made that support the
thesis and the document is the evidence that supports the assertion. The DBQ is not an essay
about documents!
Although New England and the Chesapeake region were both settled by
people of English origin, by 1700 the regions had evolved into two distinct
societies. Why did this difference in development occur?
The organizing principles for the essay:
paragraphs will develop each of these main ideas.
The people who settled in New England and the people who settled the
Chesapeake region may have come from the same country, but what they were fleeing
from and what they were looking for varied greatly; their political, economic, religious
and social differences were profound. The original motivations of the people were a
factor in the development of different approaches to government. The different climates
led to the establishment of differing economies. Religion was far more important to the
New Englanders and was emphasized in all aspect of their life. Underscoring all these
differences were social differences—they were simply different “types” of people.
Under Queen Elizabeth and after the defeat of the Spanish Armada English
settlement of the North American continent began in earnest. In the 1600s, as a result of
economic changes within England that led to the Enclosure Movement , as well as
continuing religious conflicts, millions fled overcrowded England for the colonies
(“Great Migration,”. ) These initial differences in the people who were settling the
land meant that the regions would continue to evolve into gradually more dissimilar
societies resulting in serious tensions between the two regions. These differences
between the North and the South eventually culminated in the bloodiest war in
United History—the Civil War.
Participatory government was established in both New England and the
Chesapeake region, but the forms they took were quite different. In 1620, even before
they got off the ship, the Separatists who settled in Plymouth wrote the Mayflower
Thesis statement in 1st
sentence (easy to
locate.) Sentence is
complex; not a
simplistic rewording
of the question.
Background (outside
information) that
establishes the context
for the essay
Outside information that
establishes the importance of
the question. A
demonstration of complex
historical thinking (i.e.
analysis)
Topic sentence for the first
idea to be developed:
political (governing) issues.
Focus on New England
Compact—a simple agreement concerning self government . The Puritan settlers of
New England arrived with very specific ideas about what sort of community they would
build. As expressed by John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay
Colony, they wanted to establish Godly communities where the settlers would live in
Use of quotes should be
a close-knit “city upon a hill”(Docs. A & D) As new communities were established,
minimal and only used when
the emphasis was on establishing towns where all the residents would “walk in all the
they add power to the essay.
ways of Christ .” (Doc. D) As time went on religious thinking continued to dominate
government, even in court orders. A strong sense of community with equal access to
Transition sentence for
property and fair wages and prices would be maintained. (Docs. D & E) This emphasis
next paragraph
on religion was not evident in the Chesapeake Region. Winthrop’s vision of a
community of equals “knit together” with “brotherly affection” contrasts vividly with
John Smith’s recollections of shipboard “brawls.”
Topic sentence for next
The issues facing the leaders in the Virginia colony were less about imposing a
paragraph was a main
Christian vision and more about simply maintaining law and order. Without the efforts
idea introduced in the
first paragraph: political
of John Smith, the leader of Jamestown (Virginia’s first colony,) this colony of goldissues
seekers founded by the profit driven Virginia Company (one of the first joint-stock
companies) would have certainly failed. The House of Burgesses was an early from of
representative self-government that was established in Virginia. However, this was a
government that emphasized class stratification not equality. (Doc H) Wealthy
families who held Virginia’s most valuable land—the “first families of Virginia,” or
FFVs—dominated the House of Burgesses. These wealthy landowners of the
tidewater region were not responsive to the needs of the desperate poor. This lack of
Topic sentence for next
main idea: economic
responsiveness led to Bacon’s Rebellion, when a gang of impoverished and landless
differences
former indentured servants attacked the capital of the colony and plundered the
homes of the wealthy.
Economic differences between New England and the Chesapeake region were
Discussion of geography
and natural resources is
another reason for the growing dissimilarity between the two regions. The natural
NOT suggested by
environment and the differences of life and lifestyle dictated by geography and
documents and therefore
resources were a factor that determined the evolution of the regional economies. The
counts in a major way
thin rocky soil of New England served to discourage agriculture (although cattle and for outside information.
grain remained the major products) and encourage some diversification. Early
Don’t let your essay be
limited by documents!
industrial efforts in New England involved lumbering and distilling. The deeply
indented coastline with its numerous natural harbors encouraged fishing, trade and
shipbuilding. While the New England economy diversified, the Chesapeake economy
narrowed
The original settlers of Jamestown hoped to find wealth through gold. (Doc F)
Once it became clear that gold was not to be found, and after John Rolfe introduced
tobacco, the economic base of the Chesapeake was focused more and more on this
single cash-crop. Tobacco cultivation tended to exhaust the soil, creating the need
for more and more land. Wealthy planters established vast plantations and they
turned to indentured servants for labor, many of whom would contribute to the
growth of a poor and desperate lower class after their period of indenture was over.
The best land was no longer available to them as they were forced to move farther
West. (Docs G & H) Increasingly, slavery was established in the Chesapeake as the
Where possible,
demonstrate your
main source of labor. The fact that slavery ultimately became entwined in the
understanding of how
multiple documents
interrelate
economy and social structure of the South and not in the North was the most
significant regional difference which brought about the Civil War.
Central to the early settlement of the English colonies were religious issues and
this also led to differences between the two regions. Many of the first settlers in New
England came for religious reasons. They wanted to be able to practice their Puritan
faith and to build ideal Puritan communities (Docs A & D) Puritanism dictated all
aspects of life, even the layout of new towns .(Doc D) Many of the newer colonies
outside of Massachusetts were established by religious dissenters, such as Roger
Williams of Rhode Island and Anne Hutchison of Long Island. In New England the
political leaders were also the religious leaders, such as John Winthrop, a Puritan
minister and first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Although the majority
of the settlers in the Chesapeake belonged to the Church of England, (Doc.C) their
behavior did not always appear to be very Christian. (Doc F)
These religious differences were central to the emergent social patterns of the two
regions. Immigrants to New England in 1635 were primarily young families with
children and servants. There were nearly as many men as women and the party included
skilled craftsmen and farmers. (Doc B) A Virginia ship’s list in the same year reported
six times as many men as women with little evidence of any relationship among them.
(Doc C) The relative stability of the nuclear family and it ordering influence suggested
a very different New England society than the Virginia populated by young singles.
A troubled and turbulent England had served to pry up a population from its old
traditions and ties. When the time for English settlement of North America came, there
was no shortage of candidates. Some came for wealth and some came for adventure.
Some fled poverty while some others fled religious discrimination and persecution. Their
reasons for immigration were as different as the new lands they clamed and the
communities they founded. What precious little they shared in common, beyond English
origins, was the fragile hope of a better life.
Concluding paragraph:
1. Refer back to the thesis but do not simply reword the thesis. Refer to the idea of
the thesis.
2. Remind the reader why your paper is important
3. Suggest a counter argument. Rarely in history are issues clearly black and white!
Concluding sentence:
You never want your
reader to get to the last
sentence and ask, “So
what?”