Having achieved their independence, Americans spent the next 50 years (well, maybe the next
200+ years) debating what it meant to be an “American.”
Based on the primary sources in chapters 6-8 (and 10 if you want), discuss one (or more) of the
following:
1. What do you think were the characteristics of an American?
2. How did people of the time agree or disagree on what it meant to be an American?
(Was there no such thing as an American?)
3. How did excluded groups try to demonstrate that they were American?
4. We think of America as a democracy. Is that an accurate assessment? How do the
documents address the idea of democracy?
Write a 3-4 page paper addressing one or more of the prompts above (you should not address
them all. I would concentrate on 1 or maybe 2 of them.) There is no right or wrong answer.
However, to address the prompts, you will need to make an argument. And, you will earn a
grade based on the quality of your argument (and within your paper, you should underline your
argument/thesis), which in turn will be based on your ability to use the primary sources
effectively.
You do not need to use all of the sources (that would be impossible). You do need to use more
than one source (and you should use sources from more than one chapter). I do not put a number
(as in “use at least 5 sources”) because then everyone uses 5 sources and assumes that they will
earn an A.
I would advise against using other primary sources.
Your grade will be based on how you use
Voices of Freedom
.
Also, you may use secondary sources such as my lectures, the textbook, etc.
to strengthen your argument. Nevertheless, your paper must be grounded in primary sources.
0 comments