Choose one of the following topi

Choose one of the following topics and write an essay of not more than three normal pages (similar in length to the short essays) discussing how the topic affected and/or impacted the development of American society over the period of our course. You need not cover the entire period from exploration to Reconstruction, but you should include the period prior to and after the Revolutionary era so as to touch on both halves of the course.

Note that this is NOT a research paper and you need not include other sources beyond those used in the course. The objective is to express some of what you have learned about historical development over a somewhat longer period of time as you participated in the course. A good essay will make specific references to events and people in the course.

Your essay will be graded on the understanding you express regarding historical change, how well you support your views with examples and evidence, and the clarity of your writing and argument. I do not necessarily require originality, so feel free to simply express some of what we read and discussed in the course. I am really more interested in seeing you express your thoughts clearly than in repeating mine, but you can argue as you like. You will probably do best if you think about your topic for a while before you write.

(Note: You need not discuss any or all of the questions I raise after the topics. These are provided as thought-starters. Fee free to use or ignore them as you see fit. You may find it easiest to write a paragraph or two on each idea you choose to discuss.)

1)Economic Ideas and their Effects: For example, what economic ideas or principles drove people to colonize America? What economic ideas and principles affected the revolution and/or the structure of the new nation? What conflicts or effects do you see as the new nation developed, and what effects do you see as the nation divided before the Civil War?

2) Religion and Society: Did religious issues drive the early colonists, and how? How were the new Americans affected by their religious beliefs or allegiances? Did the religion of the various regions affect their development? Is the faith of the Americans a key aspect of their new Constitution? Is religious toleration easier in America than Europe? How did the two Great Awakenings we discussed impact their social context? How did religion affect the instuitions of slavery?

3)The Political Idea of Liberty/Freedom: What aspects of liberty were visible among the early colonists? Was liberty a new idea or an old one? Did liberty mean something different than independence, or could there be liberty without independence? What is the relationship among liberty, equality, and freedom in the early republic (e.g., in de Tocqueville)? How did the idea of liberty/freedom come to mean different things i the North and the South before the Civil War?

4) Social Class and Social Hierarchy: How did the class structure of the English colonists reflect and/or differ from those of the home country? did it change in the new environment, and why? Can you see class issues in the coming of the revolution? What social hierarchies can you see in the early national period, and how are they changed? Do you see class conflict in the early nation? How did the class structure change as the economy developed due to factories and the transportation revolution? How did the economic and class structures differ in North and South as the Civil War drew near?