The Spanish American War between the United States and Spain lasted for just 15 weeks during the spring and summer of 1898. By this time, Spain was declining as an empire and held just a few colonies among Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam. The United States, on the other hand, was on the verge of world domination. The war began as an intervention into the Spanish-Cuban conflict, a nationalist revolt by the Cubans. The fact that the United States emerged from the conflict with a set of colonies extending from Puerto Rico to the Philippines has created a wide range of interpretations about whether the American decision to intervene in Cuba was motivated by the desire to engage in empire-building or whether the decisions to start the war and acquire an empire were made separate from each other.
Make sure you read the essay prompt carefully. Thoroughly and accurately answering all the parts of the essay prompt below is perhaps the most critical part of your essay.
PROMPT:
As a historian you are to analyze three or more factors or events that ultimately lead to the Spanish American war. In your argument be sure to consider the political, economic and ideological influences. Next, evaluate the ultimate outcome of the war for the Americans, the Spanish and for the Cubans.
You must include a thesis statement and you must underline your thesis statement.
The essay must include a thesis/argument based on evidence that answers the essay prompt question. The thesis should be in one or two sentences long, and needs to be engaging and though provoking.
Length Requirement: To receive full marks/exceeds standards your paper needs to be four (4) pages or longer.
Primary Sources: To receive full marks/exceeds standards you must use four (4) primary sources documents or more from the list below and use them as evidence. Keeping in mind the essay prompt, review the primary sources below. Select at least four (4) primary sources to support your thesis. You are required to use at least five primary sources to support your thesis and but you are encouraged to use more. In the essay be sure to explain how/why these four primary source documents support your thesis. Make sure you show evidence of thorough knowledge of the sources and period in which the sources were created.
your sources must be appropriately cited using MLA or Chicago Style Citation Format.
Please note that it is crucial to follow academic standards for ethical information use. This includes accurately citing the sources in the text as an in-text citation and in full citations at the end of the work product in the Works Cited ( if you are using MLA) or Bibliography page( if you are using Chicago Style.)
Your essay must include a Work Cited page (when using MLA) or Bibliography page (when using Chicago). Please note that the Bibliography or Works Cited page do not count as part of your overall page requirement.
Your essay must be typed doubled spaced New Times Roman 12 font.
You essay must include a title page. The title page must include assignment title “Historical Thinking Essay”, your first and last name, class, and date.
(Please note that the title page does not count as part of your overall page requirements)
Grammar and Mechanics
Make sure you proofread your essay. The essay must have no grammatical or mechanical errors.
Your Essay must have an Introduction, Body and Conclusion:
It will be essential to write an essay with a coherent organization, clear thesis/central idea of the paper, topic sentences/central idea of the paragraphs, and clear transitions. Below are some examples of how you can organize your essay.
