Reference no: EM133280597

Question:

How was race conceived in this period of the British Colonial America/United States and how did this play out in minority experiences? Focus on how racist beliefs and laws shaped minority experiences. You will be writing on two minority groups. One is the African American experience, and the second will be your choice (hint, the group that has the most for you to cover is Native American Indians, most of the other minority groups do not come into play until the 19th century). Answer the question citing specific examples that demonstrate the equal or unequal opportunities presented to them, and how this measures up to the notions of what it means to be free as an American. I will expect to see information that shows you understand the differences between the 17th century, 18th century and the Revolutionary period.

The alternative essay question you can answer is: How was race and class conceived in this period of the British Colonial America/United States and how did this play out in minority and lower-class experiences? Like the question above, you must focus on African American experiences. But in this one, instead of focusing on a second minority group, you focus on the lower white laborer classes as your second group.

Coverage of the two groups should not be equal. On African American experience, it should take up about 2/3 to ¾ of your paper. The minority that you chose to cover should be 1/3 to ¼ of your paper. That is because you have a lot more sources on the African American experience, and less (your own research) of the other, and so I'm am not requiring you to do the kind of research that would bring in half the information (I'm being nice to you here). If you're doing the second option, I'm thinking African American from ½ to 2/3, and lower classes 1/3 to ½.

Here is what I recommend in both cases. No matter what groups you are focusing on, the backdrop to them is colonialism (and the reasons for colonialism: opportunities, economic expansion, religious freedom) and Revolution (changing political and economic norms). The historical context changes over time, and it in turn changes experiences. You can trace those changes and explain why they happened the way they did. So you can ask yourself, how did African American and other minority experiences change, why? You can also ask yourself the same thing about the working class. And you can answer other types of questions like, do the ideals of the American Revolution such as Republicanism and Liberalism have a positive effect on the minority groups or lower working classes? If it was me, I would show how things transformed (like how laws began to be racialized and then trace the differences of experiences for difference groups) or show how they were not different. I would use the historical context to explore the motives (greed, profit, etc.) or power. I've given you a lot of resources for both of these questions.

Word count: 1500 minimum no more then 2000 (for the essay, not including works cited, footnotes, title, etc.).

Source requirement: minimum of 5 primary sources, minimum of 7 secondary source citations.

5 Primary sources: at least 2 primary sources for each minority group. Primary sources can be laws, court cases, anything from the period and time.
7 secondary sources: your research article (substantive or peer reviewed that you found that was appropriate to your topic) found in MJC's database, and of the minimum 6 references left, should come from at least three different lectures, and three different readings (core or topical essays and most important, Lepore's These Truths).
1 research article this is either peer reviewed or substantive that covers your second minority group or covers the white working class (lower classes) both within the period (17th to 18th century). You must use the databases recommended by Iris in the Iris's Research Corner (Find Information: Using & Finding Articles) and then there should be a list of "Librarian Picks" of history databases.

Format and Citation

Citation: You should be using Format: (Chicago Citation) https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html

use footnotes (not endnotes) and use the standard numbering system.
Citing Primary Sources

All Primary Source citations should have these things:

Author's last name, first name. (if given)
Title.
Format.
Publisher city, company, copyright date (if given)
Source.
Medium (if given)
URL (if not from three listed sources above)
Accessed date (in parenthesis) add this only if not from three sources listed above.

Example for Globalyceum Readings/Essays: This is what the Free People of Color and Citizenship, slide 3 cartoon citation should look like (notice not all the information is in the citation because you were not given it). The essay didn't provide you with the cartoonist, the date, so you do not have to put it into the citation. IF it did provide this information, you would need to put it into the citation.
Cartoon Ridiculing Free Blacks. Essay. From (GPS, wk10, S3).

If you are just citing the secondary source material on the right side, then it should look like this:
Rockman, Seth. "Free People of Color and Citizenship" from (G wk10, S3).

Example for Primary Sources found in Race Module: This is what the source "Annexation of Texas" should look like found in Hispanic Americans, Sources 1 - 3.
O'Sullivan, John. Annexation of Texas. Democratic Review, 1845. Source Collection. From (Hispanic Race Module).

Example for Professor Mo's lectures: If you are referencing the map on race from the lecture on Expansion which is in lecture 22, and slide 17, this is how your citation should look:
Woodbridge, William C. Moral and Political Chart of the Inhabited World. 1835. Lecture. From (L22, S17).

Remember, this explanation is for primary sources found in the three areas (core/topical essays, my lectures, or the Race module). All other citations from books and articles need the page number. Every time.