Stanwich School Eighth Grade
American History Research Project
Introduction: As we have traveled through the second half of American History, we have
studied numerous influences that have helped to shape the country we are today. These changes
are not only specific to politics, but also correspond to shifts in economics, societal norms,
culture, the arts, and even our identity as a nation. Your job over the next seven weeks will be to
shed light on a specific change or influential character that has helped to mold modern American
society.
In this paper you will take one of the topics within this document and create your own thesis for
which you will research and create a comprehensive, detailed, and organized argument to
support your claims. The thesis you create must be approved by your teacher, and it must be an
idea which can be easily researched online as well as in the Stanwich and local libraries.
REMEMBER: This paper is the final project for 8th Grade U.S. history, so it counts for 20% of
your grade. Take your time and work hard on this, for it matters greatly to your overall grade.
Also, each step of the process is graded, so don’t dog it until the final three days and hope you
can save yourself.
Finally, it is important to understand that the bulk of the work for this project is done on your
own, which is why there are seven weeks to complete the paper. We will be still covering and
studying 20th c. US history, and this project is in addition to that work.
Objective: To complete a SIX to EIGHT page paper with proper citations in MLA format. The
final paper must include:
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Title Page
Six pages minimum for body of paper (Times New Roman, 12 point font)
Works Cited page
Presentation:
 Each student will teach his or her topic to the class in a creative way once the
paper has been completed.
Goals:
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To learn in greater detail a topic that interests you
To develop necessary research skills
To practice the organizational skills necessary to create a well developed research
paper
To practice critical thinking through proving a thesis with research and writing
Step 1: Select a Topic and Develop a Thesis - Thesis must be approved by your teacher
Topics to choose from:
1. Jazz and its influence on American Culture. You can focus your thesis on:
a. Louis Armstrong
b. City of New Orleans
c. Harlem
d. Miles Davis
e. Billie Holiday
f. Ella Fitzgerald
2. Immigration
3. Urbanization
4. World War I
a. Home front
b. American entry into war
5. World War II
a. Role of women, African Americans
b. Internment of Japanese Americans
c. Industrial production, U.S. mobilizes for war
d. Use of propaganda
e.
6. The creation and use of atomic bombs during WWII. You can focus your
thesis on:
a. Manhattan Project
b. Truman’s decision
7. Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. You can focus your thesis on:
a. Jackie Robinson
b. Satchel Paige
c. Malcolm X
d. Thurgood Marshall
e. Betty Friedan
f. Shirley Chisholm
g. Cesar Chavez
8. Cold War and fear of communism post-WWII. You can focus your thesis on:
a. Joseph McCarthy
b. Cuban Missile Crisis
c. Korean War
d. Berlin
9. Vietnam War – you can focus your thesis on:
a. U.S. escalation of forces
b. Antiwar movement in America
c. Women’s role in the antiwar effort
d. Woodstock
What is the difference between a topic and a thesis?
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A TOPIC is “A subject of discussion or conversation.” (The American Heritage College
Dictionary, Third Edition, 2000)
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A THESIS is “A proposition/statement that is maintained by argument.” (The American
Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2006)
Your thesis is the overarching argument for your paper – it is a statement which you will prove
using specific evidence found from your in-depth research.
Example of topic and thesis:
Topic: Marcus Garvey
*Thesis: Marcus Garvey’s “Back to Africa” movement helped pave the way for
the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.
*note: thesis project is NOT a biography report. If you were to choose Marcus Garvey as
your topic, you CANNOT tell me the story of his life, but actually prove his influence
and impact on American society, culture, history, etc.
Step 2: FIRST 15 information note cards and FOUR source note cards
Once you have an approved thesis, begin researching and make note cards. You will be expected
to have at least *SIX sources for the final product. For this step in the essay, I expect for you to
have at least FOUR sources.
When you hand in your final project, your source breakdown should have AT LEAST:
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two books – from our library or a local public one (let me know which library your
books are from if they are not Stanwich’s)
two authoritative websites
one online database through RESEARCH ROAD
one other non-book source. Consider newspapers, magazines, speeches, journals,
films, etc. These sources can be either recent pieces, or items from the time period.
*note: you MUST HAVE AT LEAST ONE Primary Source document within your six. Some
examples of primary source documents would be: original piece of artwork, recording of a song,
diary, poem, a presidential address.
Note: If the class textbook is used, then it must be referenced in your works cited, but it DOES
NOT count towards your six total required sources. Also, do NOT use Wikipedia! It is Stanwich
School policy that no notes can be taken from Wikipedia, so don’t bother going there.
Note: Also, it is important to understand that you are citing only those sources you use –
meaning if you glance at a book, but feel that it is not helpful then you do not cite it. However,
for those materials you read and find helpful, but maybe you do not cite directly in your paper,
you still should have a reference to them for your teacher.
Note Cards–see attached handout at back for how we will be creating and organizing note cards
if/when you forget the class discussion on the material.
FIRST 15 information note cards and FOUR source note cards
Step 3: Outline and Completed Research.
At this point in the project, you should have completed all research (so NOW you should have all
six sources, with at least two primary sources), and you will be expected to have an outline
which offers as much depth as possible in an appropriately organized fashion with:
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Introduction
Background Information (1-2 paragraphs MAXIMUM)
Evidence to prove/support the thesis (2 paragraphs MINIMUM)
Conclusion
Note: NO COMPLETE SENTENCES in outline – only short phrases.
Note: at least THREE supportive citations* (of SIX which will be required in completed paper),
along with parenthetical reference.
*Supportive citation means quotes or direct references to your research.
Also, important note – although it says that your research should be done now, it does not mean
that if you feel that your paper is lacking in substance or quality that you can’t go back to do
more research. Go back, look for more if you feel that more is needed. However, you need to
have found at least six sources by now, and two of those sources need to be Primary documents.
Step 4: Rough Draft with Title Page and Works Cited included
Once you have received your outline back with suggestions, begin writing your essay
making sure to follow your outline for organization and ideas. Hopefully the outline and research
have helped to organize your paper for you so that the writing is much easier.
Requirements for Rough Draft:
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Thesis Statement within your introduction.
SIX citations to quotes or sources which help to prove your thesis.
Paper is meant to be six to eight pages in length, so if your rough draft is only three or
four pages in length, then you’re in trouble… (Also, if you’ve got 12 pages, then we
need to talk…)
Works Cited Page:
Now that you have all of your sources written down nicely on your source note cards, we
need to place that information onto a WORKS CITED page at the end of your essay in proper
MLA format. We will discuss proper MLA format in great detail.
Step 5: Final Paper – with proper Title Page and Completed Works
Cited at the back.
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Along with Final Paper, a copy of corrected Rough Draft must be included as well.
Make sure to have page numbers included (Title page does NOT count as a page for
your six to eight total.)
Make sure to have AT LEAST six supportive citations or quotes with proper
parenthetical citation (we will cover proper parenthetical citation).
Deliverable
Research Topic
Information and source cards
Outline
Rough draft
Final essay
Teaching of class
Due Date
Friday, April 13
Thursday, May 10
Monday, May 14
Monday, May 21
Friday, May 25
Tuesday, May 29 / Thursday, May 31 / Friday
June 1
Some potential topic ideas:
1930s
Pick a New Deal Program: Was it a success or a failure?
What was the Impact of the American Dust Bowl?
What advances or losses did unions make during the Depression?
What positives and negatives came from baseball’s Negro Leagues?
1940s
Did FDR and/or the American armed forces do enough to prevent Pearl Harbor?
Did the Role of Women in World War II contribute to U. S. war effort?
How did the U.S. use propaganda to rouse support for World War I?
Was the Treatment of Japanese-Americans during WWII justified?
What impact did the Tuskegee Airmen have on WWII?
What impact did Navajo Indians have on WWII?
How did the U.S. try to rouse patriotism during World War II?
How was Life in America (the Home front) influenced by American war effort?
WWII: an End to Discrimination in the Military?
What dissent existed against the war in the United States during World War II?
What was the Impact of the Truman Presidency on the Cold War? OR
Did the Truman presidency instigate the Cold War?
How did the introduction of the nuclear age influence U.S. foreign policy?
Why did baseball choose to integrate? OR
What impact did Jackie Robinson have on American culture?
How did the GI Bill of Rights affect Americans?
Was the Marshall plan necessary? Was it a success?
What were the effects of American occupation on Japan? (or Germany)?
1950s
What effects did the McCarthy hearings have on the U.S.?
How and why did women’s roles change in this era?
How was Hollywood affected by the Red Scare?
The Rosenberg Case: guilty or innocent?
Did the Eisenhower Presidency provoke the Cold War?
How did the proliferation of television affect American society in the 1950’s?
How did popular music change in this era?
Korean War: success or failure of U.S. foreign policy?
How did the Cold War affect the everyday lives of Americans?
Did Brown v. Board of Education achieve its goals?
1960s
Should the U.S. have gotten involved in the Vietnam War?
How did the Vietnam War impact veterans?
How was the music of the 1960s a reflection of the issues of the time period?
The Impact of the Black Panther Movement on American Society
The Impact of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
The Impact of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
Did Student Protest influence the end of U. S. involvement during the Vietnam War?
Were Race Riots a positive or negative influence on the Civil Rights movement?
Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society: success or failure?
Was media a positive or negative influence during the Vietnam War?
How did women make contributions to the Civil Rights Movement?
JFK: Cold War Warrior or Peacemaker? (Choose 1 viewpoint)
The Cuban Missile Crisis: an end of the Cold War?
How did a certain individual impact the Civil Rights Movement?
How did a certain organization impact the Civil Rights Movement?
The My Lai Massacre: Casualty of War or National Disgrace?
The Women’s Liberation Movement (Any phase): positive or negative influence on
American society?
President Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis: success or failure in diplomacy?
What impact did the space race have upon America?
1970s
Who was to blame for the deaths at Kent State?
How did the Vietnam War affect the U.S. foreign policy in the years following its
conclusion?
What impact did the Watergate scandal have on America?
Carter & the Iran Hostage Crisis: Praise or Criticism?
Carter’s Human Rights policy: disaster or success?
What was the effect of the energy crisis on the U.S. and how did we respond?
How did Title IX affect women in athletics?
Why did the Equal Rights Amendment fail?
What caused Americans to get more involved in environmental issues in this era?
What effects did the environmental movement have on America?
1980s
Why did the U.S. refuse to participate in the 1980 Moscow Olympics?
How did Ronald Reagan and conservatives change the function of American
government?
Did Reagan’s foreign policy contribute to the collapse of the Soviet Union?
What impact did the U.S. have on the fall of the Berlin Wall?
How did Reaganomics impact the U.S.?
Was the Iran-Contra Affair a threat to the Constitution?
Other Ideas:
Pick a President and research whether or not his Presidency was a success or a failure
Compare the impact of two Presidents on the U.S.
Pick a public figure and trace their impact and how they affected the U.S.
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A. Phillip Randolph
W.E.B. Du Bois
Booker T. Washington
Eugene Debs
Ida Tarbell
Father Charles Coughlin
Huey Long
Eleanor Roosevelt
Susan B. Anthony
Marcus Garvey
Douglas MacArthur
Malcolm X
Betty Friedan
Barbara Jordan
Cesar Chavez
Henry Kissinger
Examine a certain group of people and trace how their experience changed during a
certain time period.
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African Americans
Latinos
Native Americans
Women
Disabled People
Examine a particular country and trace how its relationship with America changed over
the course of a certain time period
Examine a Supreme Court Case and its impact on the U.S.