History 101Z
Fall 2004
Prof. Gerald Zahavi
PAPER #1: WRITING INTENSIVE SECTION
Due October 25, 2004
Select one of the following topics. Write a 10-12 page (double-spaced) essay on that topic.
Any direct quotations or references to specific interpretations and discussions in another work
should be cited in a footnote and referenced in a short bibliography at the end. Follow
footnoting/endnoting conventions as outlined in the Chicago Manual of Style or Kate Turabian’s,
A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. There are several summaries of
these rules on the WWW (there’s a link to one at the top of the on-line class syllabus).
A good essay should 1) be well written and well structured, 2) specifically address the topic
as defined in the question you choose, 3) have a clear and coherent thesis, 4) include an
introduction and conclusion, 5) offer adequate evidence and examples to support general
arguments, and 6) have documentation in the form of correctly formatted footnotes or endnotes (for
direct quotations, elaborations, and specific arguments made by other authors). If you use on-line
primary and secondary sources, make sure you CITE them correctly. You can find instructions on
footnoting on-line sources in Maurice Crouse's Citing Electronic Information in History Papers
http://cas.memphis.edu/~mcrouse/elcite.html. There’s a link to that source on the syllabus.
CHOOSE ONE:
1. Discuss Charlotte Perkin Gilman’s Herland and Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward.
Examine what these two utopian novels have in common, how they differ, and what
they tell us about the assumptions, world views, and theories that Gilman and Bellamy
held. What do they suggest about their respective views of society and economy in the
later 19th and early 20th centuries?
2. Write an essay on American foreign policy or on ONE major foreign policy crisis in the
late 19th and early 20th centuries, exploring its relationship to domestic social, economic,
and political debates and concerns.
3. Write an essay exploring how one or more contemporary periodicals viewed the major
issues arising in late 19th Century America? Choose one of the following issues:
Reconstruction
Labor unrest
The rise of corporations and trusts
Populism
American Indian or Native American unrest
The Railroad Strike of 1877
Socialism
Reconstruction and Southern Race Relations
Go to the following website, and select one or more periodicals that span the majority of
the period 1865 through 1900, and describe the arguments, opinions, and debates raised
related to your chosen issue:
http://library8.library.cornell.edu/moa/moa_browse.html.
4. Native Americans (Indians), "new" immigrants, and Afro-Americans faced a variety of
social, political, cultural, and economic barriers in the late nineteenth century. Some
historians emphasize the common characteristics of these barriers; others stress the
qualitatively different nature of their experiences. What do you think? Compare and
contrast the nature of these groups' encounter with white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant
America. What specific obstacles did they face? How did they confront these obstacles?
Utilizing evidence from assigned readings and from the Library of Congress’ American
Memory Web Site (lcweb2.loc.gov/) — newspapers, magazine articles, cartoons, songs,
interviews, photographs, films, and other primary sources — evaluate the relative
success of each group.
5. Looking Backward was one of the most popular books published in the United States in
the late 19th century. It sold in the millions, and was ultimately translated into more
than 20 languages. For many working-class Americans, as well as reform-minded
intellectuals, this short utopian novel provided a powerful rejoinder to conservative
Social Darwinism. Write an essay on “Edward Bellamy’s Response to Conservative
Social Darwinism.” Make sure you address how how does the novel specifically
responds to the conservative Social Darwinism.
6. Write an essay exploring how state and federal laws were changed in response to
political and social developments between 1865 and 1920. What lay behind these
changes—and how did the application of the laws change over time to subvert or
support the original intentions of lawmakers?
7. "Progressivism was essentially an undemocratic movement concerned mainly with
coercive reforms. Reformers preferred to place their faith in experts rather than the
people." Discuss and evaluate the validity of this statement in an essay.