Nathaniel Bacon's Rebellion and the American Revolution

Part I: Short answer section. Please answer all three questions below with 1-2 paragraph responses (40 points each; 120 points total).

1. Image analysis. Please analyze the images below together. Note: it is not enough to just explain what is in these images - you need to also go deeper and bring in historical context and analysis involving specific historical themes, events, ideas, people, groups, issues, etc., discussed in the course that help you contextualize and explain these images in their historical context. NOTE: You can use your Zoom (+) function to get a better look at the images. (40 points)

                          Image 1                                                                                                    Image

1. Text Analysis. Please analyze this text in 1-2 paragraphs. The text was published in 1676. You should analyze the substance of the text itself, but also discuss the specific historical context that produced the text, including specific historical themes, events, people, issues, etc. (NOTE: You need to be logged onto your Rutgers account to view the text. If for whatever reason you have trouble accessing the link to the text, please contact me)

1. Video Analysis. Watch this half-hour clip from A Midwife's Tale, which is about the life of Martha Ballard and her family in Maine in the mid/late 1700s. Write a 1-2 paragraph response that discusses what Martha Ballard’s story reveals to us about the role of women in Northern colonial/US society in the late 1700s? Be sure to also bring in relevant historical context on women, gender, and family labor from the course - especially from your reading from Who Built America - to support your analysis. (NOTE: You need to be logged onto your Rutgers account to view the text. If for whatever reason you have trouble accessing the link to the text, please contact me)

Part II: Short Essay. Please write a 2½-3 page double-spaced essay that responds to what’s below (80 points).

The American Revolution and the founding of the United States - from the revolution’s origins in the 1760s through its final victory in 1783 through the U.S. Constitution’s enactment in the late 1780s - are often depicted as being “top-down” products of the leadership, wisdom, and greatness of elite leaders - namely, the “Founding Fathers.” But as we’ve learned, the American Revolution and the founding of the United States were also a “bottom-up” affair, driven by ordinary people, especially working people, who tried to shape the direction of the revolution and the nation’s founding.

Write a 2½-3 page essay that responds to this prompt: “The American Revolution and the founding of the United States was more of a “bottom-up” achievement driven by ordinary people than a “top-down” achievement by elite leaders - but ultimately, it’s not clear that the people on the “bottom” won out.

You can agree with or disagree with the prompt, or you can offer a qualified or “in between” response - but your paper does need to address the prompt in a clear and direct way. You should draw on course material, especially on Who Built America, Chapters 4 and 5, and “Jack Tar in the Streets.

As you write this essay, keep in mind that the phrasings “ordinary people” or “working people” have different meanings depending on region, race, gender, etc. You are encouraged to think critically about these phrasings. There were different experiences of the American Revolution and the founding of the US among “ordinary people” based on their race, gender, nationality, etc

Citations: You can use footnotes, endnotes, or parenthesis - whatever you prefer, as long as I know where you're getting your information.