History
Pick a question from the focus questions of chapter 15 of the book –
Give Me Liberty! An American History (Seagull 5th Edition) Vol. 2 by Eric Foner
HIS262CShort Writing Assignments
Fall 2020
On two separate occasions, students will write 2-3 page response papers. Papers are due
uploaded to Blackboard by 12pm of the beginning of the Friday class of your choosing. You
may choose which week you would like to write on based on your interests, other
assignments, and your workload in your other classes. EXCEPTION: first-year students
must submit a paper by Friday October 2, 2020.
For each of the short papers, you will choose one Review Question listed at the end of each
chapter in Give Me Liberty. You are not expected to use any outside sources in your paper,
but instead to reflect on the question based on your chapter reading.
Note: the Review Questions for this assignment follow the chapters in the orange book, Give
Me Liberty, not the blue document reader.
On Friday, September 4, we will have time in-class to discuss the writing assignments and
work on thesis statements and incorporating evidence into your writing.
General Instructions:
• Essays are due uploaded to Blackboard by 12pm (noon) the Friday of your choosing
• Essays must be double-spaced and in a reasonable 12-point font
• Please write out the entire question at the top of your paper so I know which
question you chose
• Although not a formal research essay, your response should be thoughtful and
demonstrate engagement with the chapter reading.
• Incorporate direct evidence from the text in your response.
• Use a basic in-text parenthetical citation for Foner quotations to indicate the page
number, e.g. (554). If you use any other source, you will have to cite that as well.
Tips:
• Don’t give yourself more work! I do not expect you to do any outside reading or
research. Rather, the goal of the short assignments is to have you digest and reflect
upon the chapters of Give Me Liberty.
• Organize your essay into clear paragraphs.
• Weave the text into your response; for example:
The Compromise of 1877 served to effectively end the Reconstruction era,
although as Foner writes, the forces at work in “the nation’s adjustment to
the destruction of slavery” continued (583).
• Adhere to the length guidelines as closely as you can. A little bit under or over is not
a problem, but please do not hand me a ten-page paper or a single paragraph.
• Proof read for clarity, spelling, and grammar
Questions to Ask
Yourself
Did I…
Write out the entire question at the top of my
paper?
Use direct quotations from the text in my
response?
Answer the question?
Upload my paper to Blackboard by noon on
Friday?
Is my paper…
At least 2 pages in length?
Free of spelling and grammatical errors?
Organized into paragraphs?
*If you have completed two papers before the last possible week to submit, you have
the option of writing a third paper, and I take your two highest grades. So if you’ve
written two papers by Friday, November 6th, you can write the optional third for
Friday, November 13th.
Kathleen Daly
HIS262C
Paper #1
Chapter 15 Short Writing Assignment
Question: The women’s movement split into two separate national organizations in part because
the Fifteenth Amendment did not give women the vote. Explain why the two groups split.
After the passing of the Fifteenth Amendment, the women’s rights movement fractured
into two groups, the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage
Association. The split occurred because women fundamentally disagreed over what the Fifteenth
Amendment meant for women. To the National Woman Suffrage Association, the Amendment
was a failure because it did not enfranchise women, while to the American Woman Suffrage
Association, it represented a step in the right direction for expanded suffrage.
White women largely disagreed over whether the Fifteenth Amendment represented a
setback or progress for women’s suffrage. As Foner explains, the “bitter split” between the
groups had disagreements over race at its heart. The National Woman Suffrage Association, led
by Elizbeth Cady Stanton, often “appealed to racial and ethnic prejudices, arguing that native-
born white women deserved the vote more than non-whites and immigrants” (590).
-OR-
The “bitter split” between the groups had disagreements over race at its heart. The
National Woman Suffrage Association, led by Elizbeth Cady Stanton, often “appealed to racial
and ethnic prejudices, arguing that native-born white women deserved the vote more than non-
whites and immigrants” (Foner, 590).
Kathleen Daly
Kathleen Daly
Kathleen Daly
Question written out at the beginning of your paper
Kathleen Daly
Kathleen Daly
Answer the question in the first paragraph
Kathleen Daly
Incorporate direct evidence (quotes, etc.) from Foner
Kathleen Daly
Kathleen Daly