American History

Book: “Give Me Liberty ‘An American History’ by Eric Foner Brief, Volume 2”

Minimum 1200-word essay, answer and create an argument that supports your thesis:

Prompt: Why did the United States transform from a rural to an urban country between 1865 and 1945? Focus on (1) key factor and explain how that factor contributed to the transformation of the United States during the period in question.

Include an introductory paragraph (length: 4-6 sentences).

This should include:

1. A) A topic sentence. This sentence will give the reader a specific idea of the subject/topic of the essay.
2. B) 1-2 more sentences setting the context. For example, if you’re writing about the American Revolution, include a couple of sentences talking about the events leading up to it.
3. C) Thesis statement. Your thesis should be clear, concise, fully address the prompt, and be specific. It should have a clear (and specific) argument and have a why or how component.

For example: “The Civil War was caused by a debate over the expansion of slavery across North America.”

A poor thesis statement is: “The Civil War was an important event in American history.

Another poor thesis statement is: “The Civil War was caused by social, cultural, and political factors.”

1. D) A roadmap sentence that outlines how you will argue your thesis statement. This sentence may follow an “a, b, and c” formula. All elements (a, b, and c) should support and be directly relevant to your thesis.

For example: Most important in this debate was the question of the balance of power in the U.S. Congress, human rights abuses of slaves, and religious ideas about the morality of slavery.

Include (3) body paragraphs (length: 6-10 sentences or more for each paragraph).

This should include:

1. A) A topic sentence. Your topic sentence should give the reader a specific sense of what the body paragraph is about. Topic sentence should also

be relatable back to thesis. In other words, it should be obvious or explicitly stated how the topic sentence (and body paragraph) supports the thesis statement. Be direct and concise.

For example, “The question of the balance of power in the U.S. Congress caused political conflict between the North and the South.”

1. B) Provide a concrete and specific example. Use an example to support your thesis.
2. Introduce example. Simple factual statement is okay.
3. Interpret example. Analyze here. Find something insightful to say.
4. Explain relevance of example to overall argument. Explicitly tie back to thesis, if need be.
5. C) Use another example, if you want.
6. Introduce example. Simple factual statement is okay.
7. Interpret example. Analyze here. Find something insightful to say.
8. Explain relevance of example to overall argument. Explicitly tie back to thesis, if need be.
9. D) Wrap up/Conclude paragraph (maybe two sentences). Craft a sentence to explain relevance of your examples to your thesis. You should also transition to the next paragraph.

For example, “The question of the balance of power in the U.S. Congress was closely related to outrage over human rights abuses of slaves.” (Outrage over the human rights abuses of slaves should be the subject of the next support paragraph.)

Include a conclusion (length: 4 to 6 sentences).

This should include:

1. A) A restatement of thesis (in different words) – 1 sentence.
2. B) Sum up your argument and evidence and tie everything together (2-3 sentences)
3. C) A statement of why this topic, question, and your argument is important (1-2 sentences)