HST501 American Civil War
ESSAY INFORMATION AND SUGGESTED THEMES
Outline
Should consist of one double-spaced page with a description of your proposed essay, an argument if you have one and/or your approach to the subject and the significance of your topic to the Civil War if not obvious. (Approximately 250 words.)
A one or two page annotated bibliography should accompany the essay description. This should consist of the author, title, publisher, city, and year of publication of the book, journal article, or other sources and what the source offers for your essay.
You will be assessed on the uniqueness of you subject and the depth of your sources. The use of academic articles, many of which are available online through the Ryerson Library is encouraged. (These are not considered "websites.") A search of JSTOR with the keyword "American Civil War" returns 166,795 results! If you are not familiar with academic article databases like JSTOR, go immediately to a librarian at the Ry Library and ask them to show you how to use these databases. You can access them from home and many (but not all) articles are available for downloading in full text. See also How to find and download seminar readings and journal articles on the website for some instructions on how to use the journal database. Use the "find article" interface to get started. Chose "history" for the subject of the available databases.
You may at any time after submitting a proposal, change your approach, sources, and even completely change your topic, without submiting a new proposal, but it is advised that you check in with me on the change of your topic.
Essays should be 2,500 words in length (approximately 10 pages of 12 pt text double spaced), they should be based on a minimum of six sources (not including course textbook), and should not be based on unapproved Internet websites, (2 marks deducted for every Wikipedia or like citation), encyclopaedias, course textbook, etc. If you intend to include websites, provide their URLs in the proposal for approval. Print material, or primary sources available via an internet website, are not considered "websites" and can be used.
Essays must have a bibliography and footnoted citations in the MLA/Chicago style. Essays that do not provide a page number in the citations (or no citations) will be automatically failed. See Course Outline for the required citation style and this link for citation formats http://www.aresearchguide.com/7footnot.html
The best essays will attempt to resolve some kind of
controversy or historical debate and will often feature sources that are
contradictory. As a historian you
should critically engage your sources and attempt to resolve these
contradictions with your own analysis and opinion. History is as much interpreting events as recounting events
of the past—why and how things happened are as essential to a
history essay as an account of when and what happened.
The past is not a “done deal”—it is constantly changing every time
it is written about.
Suggested Essay Themes
Here are a few ideas and themes describing some possible
topics for an essay.
1. A biography of a
lesser known Union or Confederate military figure, politician, business
figure, writer, journalist, or civilian, male or female, Black or White,
American-Indian, who
might have made a contribution to the history of the American Civil War.
2. An
exploration of a particular theme, policy, crucial moment or aspect in the
biography of a more prominent figure. For
example, Lincoln’s presidential nomination; Robert E. Lee’s decision to join
the Confederacy; the assassination attempt on William Seward, the relationship
between Generals Sherman and Grant, Grant's drinking, Nathan Bedford Forrest's
atrocities, etc. Do not attempt to write a complete biography of a major figure—pick a
decisive moment in their life or a particular theme.
Remember—you only have 10 pages!
3.
A particular battle or campaign, significant to the outcome of the war,
to military tactics or technologies. Explore
the historical debates about a battle and the elements attributed to its
outcome.
4.
An exploration of a military technology and/or the individual designer
behind it, a development in military management—logistics, medical care,
prisoner-of-war policy, recruitment, transport, espionage, aerial surveillance,
naval issues.
5.
A look at a particular social, business, or political institution and its
relationship to the conflict—either before, during, or after the war:
the Catholic Church, the Quakers, the Supreme Court, Congress, slavery,
the press, advertising, the financial markets, real-estate, abolitionist
movement, temperance, nativism, freedom of speech, the Habeas Corpus act, the
draft, monetary policy.
6.
The effect of the Civil War on a foreign policy issue or foreign
relations with a particular country and the US or the Confederacy – or even
between them – how did the Union and Confederacy communicate with each other
during the war? Could the war have been halted earlier?
7.
A look at cultural institutions of the period—music, art, theatre,
literature. Perhaps a comparison of
one of these between the South and the North.
8.
A look at a service or institution in the period and its relationship to
the Civil War: nursing, hospitals, orphanages, social policy, policing,
health care, telegraph communications, railways, banks. How did they
impact the conduct of the war? What effect did the war have on them?
9.
The role of professionals in the Civil War:
doctors, lawyers, journalists, scientists.
10.
An exploration of one of the historiographical themes of the Civil War --
"cracker culture" -- "ethno cultural divide" --
"economic determinism".
11.
The effects of the Civil War on American culture or politics today.