Category: American history

For your third essay assignment you will be analyzing an excerpt from Betty Friedan’s 1963 book, The Feminine Mystique. The book is often credited with reviving modern feminism. Friedan went on to organize the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1966. In the Feminine Mystique Friedan argues against the widely held belief that women could only find fulfillment through child-bearing, mothering, and homemaking. The book was enormously well-received by millions of quietly desperate housewives.
Your essay should do the following:
Place the document within its larger historical context using the textbook and lecture notes as your guide
Identify the major points, purposes, and intended audiences of the document
Determine what specific themes and issues from the covered material are represented in the document and explain their connections
Have a clear and focused thesis which reflects the conclusions you intend to explain
Use the document as primary evidence to make at least two historical conclusions about women and American culture during the 1960s
Your essay must be a minimum of two complete double-spaced pages with 12-point, Times New Roman font. It should be written in a comprehensive format with an introduction, thesis statement, specific examples (this does not mean large quotes from the text), citations, and a conclusion. It should not include any outside sources other than lecture notes and textbook without prior approval.

Objective:
Select a piece of major legislation and conduct a comprehensive analysis of its background, passage, and subsequent impact. Your paper should delve into the intricacies of the legislative process, public opinion, and the effects of the legislation. Your paper should be 10 – 15 pages in length (Times New Roman, 12-pt font, double spaced). Please be sure to cite your sources and include a works cited page (does not count towards the page count). Any citation style is fine so long as you use in text citations (ie. (Author, Date)).
Areas to Consider:
1    Introduction
a    Provide a brief overview of the chosen legislation.
b    Clearly state the thesis or main argument of your analysis.
2    Legislative Background
a    Explore the motivations behind the legislation. Consider historical, social, economic, or political factors.
b    Delve into the origin and development of the bill. Include any relevant events or precedents that influenced the bill.
3    Public Opinion
a    Analyze how the public felt about the issue at hand before and during the legislative process.
b    Examine public opinion regarding the bill as it was being debated and refined. Include polls, editorials, and other indicators of public sentiment.
4    Congressional Action
a    Identify and discuss the roles of key Congress members who spearheaded the legislation and why. Include information on cosponsors and highlight if the effort was bipartisan and why.
b    Describe the level of involvement from the president or executive branch during the legislative process.
c    Detail the committees involved in shaping the bill, including any significant amendments, debates, or hearings.
d    Provide the results of the final vote, noting any notable patterns or divisions within Congress or notable voting decisions.
5    Outcomes and Analysis
a    Discuss the immediate and long-term outcomes of the legislation.
b    Analyze the effectiveness and impact of the law on society, the economy, or other relevant areas.
Grading Criteria:
A strong paper will demonstrate a thorough understanding of the legislation’s background, development, and impact. It will utilize a wide range of in class and outside sources, including academic journals, reputable news outlets, and official government documents. It will be clearly organized and present information in a logical sequence with clear connections between sections and topics. It will employ clear, concise language with correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
Major legislation to consider:
The following link contains a list of all major legislation passed through the 115th Congress: https://proquest.libguides.com/congressionalhelp/leg#s-lg-box-wrapper-22689435 (https://proquest.libguides.com/congressionalhelp/leg#s-lg-box-wrapper-22689435)
For more recent Congresses, Wikipedia offers a solid list of major legislation passed each Congress.

This writing assignment focuses on the topic of inequality and equality in America between 1865 and the present. It challenges you to examine the historical documents from the period that relate to that topic (e.g. the primary sources) and to place those documents in the context of the secondary sources and lecture material from the course. The goal, in other words, is to demonstrate your ability to think like a historian by critically analyzing the types of evidence that historians utilize to make sense of the past and to answer the questions that interest us.
To begin this assignment, select at least three primary sources from the course that offer three different perspectives on the nature and experience of equality and/or inequality in the United States. You might choose, for instance, the primary documents that deal with any of the following or other topics:
race relations,
immigration,
imperial politics,
class inequality,
religious conflict, or
gender experiences.
You need not pick a single subject, such as race, but may choose to look at equality and inequality from three different episodes and perspectives from different time periods that intrigue you. Your paper should focus on the primary source documents but also draw on the unit lectures and textbook readings to contextualize those documents.
Your paper needs to contain a clear thesis statement. That thesis statement should make some claim about the character of the various American perspectives on inequality and equality in the United States that you have chosen to examine in your paper.
Provide a title to your essay that captures its content. There is no need for an individual title page.
Include page numbers in the right upper corner, excepting the first page.
Double-space your essay, with the exception of long quotations, which should be indented and single spaced.
Provide citations for the documents and sources you use. Cite these documents with footnotes or endnotes. Do not also include a bibliography for this short paper.
Check both spelling and grammar
Use the Chicago Manual of Style for citations

The paper must be in the Times New Roman font.
The paper must have citations and a bibliography. The words used in these elements will not be part of the total word count. If your paper does not have both citations and a bibliography, the highest score you can receive is 105 points, or 70% of the available credit for this assignment.
Sierra College history papers are required to utilize Chicago (also known as Turabian) citation style. If you do not use the Chicago Style citation form, the highest score you can earn on the Final Paper is 105 points. If you are unfamiliar with the Chicago style, the college Writing Center (Rocklin LRC, 2nd floor and online) has information on this style. Information is also available online. Instruction on this citation style will not be provided in this class. You will be using the “Notes and Bibliography” format for this paper (this is the format with the superscripted numbers – like this 1  .  The parenthetical form of Chicago Style (it looks similar to MLA format and is called the “author-date” format) is not acceptable for this assignment.
You might need some help on the required Chicago style for your Final Paper. If so, the Sierra College Writing Center has on online Chicago manual available.
VIDEOS AVAILABLE IN WEEK 1 MODULE: “How to Cite in Chicago Style” and “Citing – How to Cite in Chicago/Turabian Style: A Three-Minute Tutorial” – videos are found on the “Instructions and Requirements – Research Paper” page
You will write the paper as an at-home assignment. The answer will be graded on completeness, clarity, organization, grammar, spelling, selection of evidence, and the persuasiveness of your argument. Additional factors will apply also, such as neatness of presentation.
Depending on which question you choose, the number of sources you need vary. However, three sources minimum is usually the acceptable amount. Good papers usually have at least five sources. Very Good to Excellent papers usually have at least 10 sources. Although it is preferred that you use a mixture of online and printed (“Hard copy”) sources, due to the emergency that made this History 17A class an online class, Final Research Papers that use only online sources will be perfectly acceptable. A list of Recommended Sources is available in the Week 1 module.
Your last name and page number must be in the upper right corner on every page in the header. A title page is not necessary — in fact, it is discouraged. However, if you use the title page recommended by the Chicago Style handbook, you will not be graded down.
Please structure your paper so that the following appears in the upper left corner of the first page of your paper. If you use the title page recommended by the Chicago Style handbook, present this material as instructed.
Here are some resources I would like to use, Please add 5 more resources to complete this paper. 
J. Atack
et al., “Did Railroads Induce or Follow Economic Growth? Urbanization and
Population Growth in the American Midwest, 1850-1860,” Social Science History
34, no. 2 (April 21, 2010): 171–97, https://doi.org/10.1215/01455532-2009-024.[1]
Dave
Donaldson and Richard Hornbeck, “Railroads and American Economic Growth: A
‘Market Access’ Approach,” NBER, July 11, 2013,
https://www.nber.org/papers/w19213.[2]
Libretexts,
“2.6: Western Economic Expansion- Railroads and Cattle,” Humanities LibreTexts,
January12, 2021,https://human.libretexts.org/Courses/Diablo_Valley_College/Hist_121%3A_History_of_the_United_States_after_1865_%28Conrad%29/02%3A_Conquering_the_West/2.06%3A_Western_Economic_Expansion-_Railroads_and_Cattle.[3]
Railroads
in the Late 19th Century:  Rise of Industrial America, 1876-1900: 
U.S. History Primary Source Timeline:  Classroom Materials at the Library
of Congress:  Library of Congress,” The Library of Congress, accessed
April 5, 2024,
https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/rise-of-industrial-america-1876-1900/railroads-in-late-19th-century/.[4]
Stephen,
“19th Century Growth: Railroad Booms Role,” Semilla de Botjael, accessed April
5, 2024, https://19thcentury.us/the-railroad-building-boom-during-the-19th-century-contributed-to/.[5]
[1] Atack,
J., F. Bateman, M. Haines, and R. A. Margo. “Did Railroads Induce or Follow
Economic Growth? Urbanization and Population Growth in the American Midwest,
1850-1860.” Social Science History 34, no. 2 (April 21, 2010): 171–97.
https://doi.org/10.1215/01455532-2009-024.
[2]
Donaldson, Dave, and Richard Hornbeck. “Railroads and American Economic Growth:
A ‘Market Access’ Approach.” NBER, July 11, 2013.
https://www.nber.org/papers/w19213.
[3]Libretexts.
“2.6: Western Economic Expansion- Railroads and Cattle.” Humanities LibreTexts,
January 12,
2021.https://human.libretexts.org/Courses/Diablo_Valley_College/Hist_121%3A_History_of_the_United_States_after_1865_%28Conrad%29/02%3A_Conquering_the_West/2.06%3A_Western_Economic_Expansion-_Railroads_and_Cattle.
[4]
“Railroads in the Late 19th Century:  Rise of Industrial America,
1876-1900:  U.S. History Primary Source Timeline:  Classroom
Materials at the Library of Congress:  Library of Congress.” The Library
of Congress. Accessed April 5, 2024.
https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/rise-of-industrial-america-1876-1900/railroads-in-late-19th-century/.
[5]  Stephen. “19th Century Growth: Railroad Booms
Role.” Semilla de Botjael. Accessed April 5, 2024.
https://19thcentury.us/the-railroad-building-boom-during-the-19th-century-contributed-to/.

Reporter: Good evening, everyone. Tonight, we delve into the inspiring stories of two groups who have peacefully impacted change, as highlighted in the recent Newsela articles. Joining me is my esteemed colleague, Sarah, who has extensively researched these remarkable movements. Welcome, Sarah.
Sarah: Thank you for having me, John. It’s a pleasure to be here.
Reporter: Let’s start with the first group mentioned in the articles. Sarah, could you tell our viewers about the civil rights activists and their significant contributions?
Sarah: Absolutely, John. The civil rights activists, particularly during the 1960s, spearheaded a powerful movement for racial equality in the United States. Led by iconic figures like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., these individuals organized peaceful protests, such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Selma to Montgomery marches, to challenge segregation and discriminatory laws.
Reporter: It’s truly remarkable how their nonviolent actions sparked a nationwide conversation and led to significant legislative changes, like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Sarah: Exactly, John. Their courage and resilience in the face of adversity paved the way for progress and inspired future generations to continue fighting for justice and equality.
Reporter: Moving on to the second group mentioned in the articles, environmental activists have been making waves globally. What can you tell us about their efforts, Sarah?
Sarah: Environmental activists, John, have been instrumental in raising awareness about the urgent need to address climate change and protect our planet. From grassroots movements to international initiatives like Fridays for Future, individuals of all ages are advocating for sustainable practices and policy changes.
Reporter: Their dedication to preserving the environment for future generations is commendable. Through peaceful protests, tree planting initiatives, and educational campaigns, they’re making a tangible difference in communities worldwide.
Sarah: Absolutely, John. Their collective action serves as a reminder that we all have a role to play in safeguarding our planet and ensuring a sustainable future for all.
Reporter: Thank you, Sarah, for sharing these enlightening insights with us. It’s clear that both civil rights activists and environmentalists are driving positive change through peaceful means.
Sarah: Thank you for having me, John. Let’s continue to support and amplify the voices of these impactful groups as they strive for a better world.
[The camera fades out as the conversation comes to a close, leaving viewers inspired by the stories of these transformative movements.]

Write a four paragraph essay on the following:
Given Fannie Lou Hamer’s very limited formal education as the child of sharecroppers, how and where in her life did she learn lessons that enabled her to become such a powerful grassroots civil rights leader? To earn full credit, make sure to describe at least FOUR different “lessons” she learned outside the classroom. Write ONE PARAGRAPH on EACH “LESSON.” use the source that I provided in the file only that source thank you

The assignment question:
is Pan Africanism an ongoing global mass movement? You need to answer the question in the context of these two events:
1. The development of Black Consciousness since the 1960s
2. the movement from civil rights to human rights during the 1960s

These will be based on one primary source document of your choosing from Chapter 15 found in the document reader, For the Record. (A primary source is something generated at or near the time of the event under examination.) The primary source document will be followed by Review Questions. Use those questions to guide your prose essay response. Do not simply respond with bulleted or numbered answers. Again, the expectation for this assignment is college-level analysis and writing, No Al!! Make sure you have all the appropriate citations and works cited. Include an accurate word count at the end of the essay that does NOT include footnotes or works cited. After carefully proofreading and checking that the word count is a minimum of 300 words. 
“The Daily Cleveland Herald: Women, War, and Negroes (1869)” 
Text required: For the Record: a
Documentary History (8th Edition Vol. 1) by David E. Shi and Holly A. Mayer

A big-picture theme we’ve discussed in class is the rise of American liberalism in the 1930s, its pinnacle in the 1960s, its decline in the 1970s, and the triumphant of American conservatism from the 1980s onward. Your assignment is to write a 1000-1,500 word essay that chronicles this rise and fall of liberalism and the triumph of conservatism.
Be sure to include all the following topics in your essay: Keynesian Economics, Great Depression, New Deal, World War II, Cold War, Eisenhower Administration events, Civil Rights Movement, Great Society, Vietnam War, Southern Strategy, Nixon Administration events, Supply Side Economics, Reagan Administration events, Clinton Administration events.
Be sure to show cause and effect and demonstrate an understanding of how/why the events contributed to the big picture theme.
Due Date
Exams must be submitted to Blackboard no later than 11:59 pm on Tuesday 5/7. Late exams will not be accepted. It is your responsibility to insure that exams are uploaded onto Blackboard by the due date. Plan accordingly for unexpected things like illness, accidents, computer crashes, internet outages, Blackboard problems, plagues, locusts, etc.
Guidelines
1) While the occasional internet source is permissible, the lecture should be your primary source material. Exams that rely heavily on internet sources will receive a failing grade.
2) Any information in your exam that did not come from the lecture MUST have a citation. Exams that do not cite non-lecture source material will be considered plagiarized and receive a zero.
3) Exams must be an organized and developed essay. Do not copy and paste notes. Instead, explain how the events contributed to the rise and fall of liberalism and the triumph of conservatism.
4) Exams must be organized in a clear, logical manner.
5) Exams must be written to the best of your ability. Refer to the Guidelines for Good Writing found in the paper assignments for tips on how to improve your writing.
6) Exams are to be written individually.
7) Exams must be double-spaced in a standard 12-point font.
8) Exams must be original work—meaning no cutting and pasting work from other classes or from former students. Note that if you submit something through SafeAssign, I will know about it.
Additional Instructions
Not adhering to any of these guidelines on this assignment sheet will adversely affect your grade. So please, edit and proofread your paper thoroughly before submitting. Since this is a final exam, I will not read rough drafts or discuss your answer with you. I will, however, cryptically answer any questions you may have via email.

Select 3 different topics covered in the chapter reading. For each of your selected topics, tell me about your thoughts on the topic. Did you find it interesting, outrageous, etc? Why? Reading Responses should contain 3 paragraphs (one paragraph per topic). Each paragraph should concisely summarize the selected topic, discuss your thoughts on/ reaction to the selected topic and reference the section of the textbook that you found your topic. Completed responses should be about 100 words in length and submitted as Rich Text Files or Microsoft Word Documents.