UNITED STATES HISTORY RESEARCH PAPER
As part of this U.S. History course, each student is required to complete a
research paper. Your first question undoubtedly will be “how long does it have to be”?
Well, here is your answer: five pages. Fortunately, you may select your topic from a
huge pool of possibilities. You may choose anything (with my approval) in U.S. History
from the years 1830-2000. However, you should keep in mind that this paper MUST
address a debatable or controversial topic. So, when you choose your topic, choose
wisely. Here is an example:
Topic: John F. Kennedy
Question: Who killed JFK?
Possible thesis: Although it is popularly accepted that Lee Harvey Oswald conspired
with others to assassinate JFK, it is evident that he indeed acted alone.
What you should gather from this is that if you choose JFK, your paper should not
be on the life and times of JFK. Your paper should address a critical question or
controversy or debate about JFK. Another possible topic involving JFK could be his
handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Either way, if you select a person, don’t give me
their biography. Select something from that person’s life, or that they were involved in,
so that you can formulate a thesis, find differing opinions in your research, and come to
some sort of conclusion.
Another example:
Topic: Westward Expansion
Question: Was our acquisition of the West truly justified by the idea of Manifest
Destiny?
Possible thesis: However romantic and heroic the deeds of those who “won the West”
for America may have been portrayed, there is indisputable and often ignored evidence to
suggest that the West was in fact conquered through manipulation, broken treaties, and
outright aggression.
Again, it is important to identify some aspect of your topic that can be debated or
discussed. Notice that for this topic I focused on just one part (Manifest Destiny) of
westward expansion. You could never give a history of westward expansion in 5 pages.
But, you can discuss the idea of Manifest Destiny in five pages. Or, you could discuss
the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, or the experience of Donner Party. Focus
your paper on something small enough to fit into a five page paper.
Most importantly, MAKE SURE IT INTERESTS YOU! Try to select something
that you might possibly enjoy learning about. Your enthusiasm for it will come through
in the finished product. And trust-there is such a diverse array of topics to choose from
that you are sure to find something that interests you…even if it is only slightly.
Below is a list of possible topics that you may want to choose from. You are not limited
to these choices. Just be sure to clear your selection with me beforehand.
SOCIAL TOPICS:
Major Social Movements
Women’s Rights, Civil Rights, Prohibition, Slavery, Anti-War Protests, Labor
Movements, Underground Railroad, Immigration, etc….
Impact of any Organization/Association/Group
NRA, KKK, NAACP, ACLU, etc….
Life during any time period
The roaring 20’s, the Great Depression, Westward Expansion, Civil War, WWI, WWII,
Vietnam, the 1950’s, Industrial Revolution, Cold War, etc….
Impact of any person on society
Inventors, writers, musicians, athletes, activists, entrepreneurs, or scientists such as:
Harriet Tubman, Henry Ford, Jackie Robinson, Clara Barton, William Randolph Hearst,
John Wilkes Booth, W.E.B. Dubois, Buffalo Bill, Billy the Kid....
POLITICAL TOPICS:
Influence or particular accomplishments of any President: Eisenhower and the Interstate
Highway system, FDR and the birth of the welfare state, Teddy Roosevelt and the
Panama Canal, Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War, Ronald Reagan and the Cold
War…..
The U.S. on the global stage: United Nations, Isolationism, Imperialism, NATO, League
of Nations, Iran-Contra Affair, Cuban Missile Crisis, Genocide in Rwanda……
Amendments to the Constitution
Supreme Court cases and their impact:Roe v. Wade, Brown v. Board of Education,
Miranda v. Arizona, the Scopes Trial….
Political parties
ECONOMIC TOPICS:
Women in the workplace, Consumerism, Inventions and their impact, economic policies,
factory workers, the American System of replaceable parts….
MILITARY TOPICS:
Weapons of war and their impact: tactics, armored vehicles, tanks, aircraft, chemical
weapons, smart bombs, nuclear weapons….
War strategies or particular battles: Tet Offensive, D-Day invasion, Gettysburg,
Antietam….
Military Leaders: Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Patton, Pershing, Fremont,
Westmoreland, MacArthur, Doolittle….
You will probably select something that is not on this list, but search around using
these as a guide and be sure to double check with me if you find something interesting
not on this list.
CRITERIA
Length: 5 pages
Format: typed, double-spaced, 12 font, Times New Roman
Sources: you must have 4 sources, one must be a primary source
Citation: MLA parenthetical citation
Elements: Cover page and Bibliography
GRADING-This paper is worth 2 project grades. Basically, not handing in or failing this
assignment will most likely lead to your not passing the 4th Quarter.
COMPONENTS
Primary Research Activity………………………..25 points
Note Cards………………………………………...25 points
Thesis and Paper Outline………………………….25 points
Rough Draft……………………………………….25 points
Final Draft…………………………………………100 points
You will receive additional rubrics for each component of the research paper as
their particular due date approaches. Notice that the whole of your grade does not hinge
on the final product. 100 points are delegated to other pieces, and these are designed to
kill you procrastination and give you plenty of material and organization with which to
compose your final draft. As long as you complete each of the first four components, you
will not feel overwhelmed when it comes time to write up the final paper.