Describe and analyze the key changes in American society from the 1790s to the 1840s. Successful responses will consider a broad range of evidence in support of arguments and use a minimum of three primary and three secondary sources. Take a few moments to consider how things were in the 1790s and how things were in the 1840s in the categories listed above. Then think about the events that happened to make these changes come about Then choose the strongest three key changes you have listed and write your essay around these points. ________________________________________ RULE OF THREE THESES – Do you have a well thought out and clear overall thesis in your introduction? Do you have a thesis statement for each of your three paragraphs of the body? Do the paragraphs of the body follow the overall thesis statement? ________________________________________ EVIDENCE – You must have solid evidence for each point you raise in the thesis. Evidence is not simply a statement, there must be an explanation of how that evidence supports the thesis statement. Example: If you were writing a paragraph on the causes of the Cold War, you might use the Baruch Plan as an example. Simply writing “the Baruch Plan was a cause of the Cold War” in your paragraph would not be enough and would not be analytical. However, the following sentences do provide a good analysis of this piece of evidence: “One cause of the Cold War was the failure of the United States and the Soviet Union to agree upon a plan for nuclear disarmament after World War II. The Baruch Plan, presented by the US, would maintain the American atomic weapon advantage for the foreseeable future. This played into Stalin’s suspicions of the Americans’ true motivations toward the USSR.” Did you use the required minimum number of primary sources? secondary sources?
