A few things: Each essay response should include a THESIS STATEMENT that is to be supported by SPECIFIC HISTORIC EXAMPLES in the body of your essay (your “argument.”) It is upon the strength of your argument and your use of historic examples in supporting that argument that you are evaluated. Your essay should include a concise conclusion. Only use these sources:
-Divine, et al, America Past and Present Vol I
-Zinn, Howard, A People’s History of the United States
You ARE NOT to use sources other than those provided for this course. The inclusion of outside sources will result in an “F” grade.
Base the argument on this question: Discuss the ideological origins of the American Revolution. How did ideas (secular and religious) combine with social conflict and “class” tensions to make a “revolution”? How “revolutionary” was the War for Independence?
Directions: There are three components to the second prompt. In drafting a response DO NOT simply try to retell the tale of the “Imperial Crisis” (those acts of parliament generating political conflict b/t the colonists and England b/t 1763-76); I know the story well. Instead, the first component asks that you consider the “ideology” — those sets of ideas — that shaped American responses to the actions of parliament and which helped to shape the meaning of the Rev. for Americans. (Please do not offer up the regular refrain of “No taxation w/o representation;” this will not suffice…). Those ideas — religious, classical, historical, enlightened — found a receptive audience among different groups of Americans who — as Zinn correctly outlines — had interests often quite distinct from one and other and, consequently, interpreted these ideas in very different ways. Zinn does an especially good job in both identifying how preexisting economic/social grievances prepared ordinary Americans to challenge the colonial elite (including, of course, the British). Finally, both Zinn and Divine offer perspectives on the extent to which the Independence struggle resulted in meaningful social or economic change or opportunities for ordinary Americans (including African Americans and Native Americans. You should recognize that the the “democratizing” effects associated with the Revolution would unfold gradually, over the course of nearly 50 years….Again, my posted lecture and overview of the reading bloc will be especially useful (esp in regards to “ideas/ideology”) in your preparations so please don’t neglect these.
