President Andrew Jackson, American Political Parties, and Constitutional Amendments

Instructions
Instructions (read carefully before you begin)
Answer three essay questions (approximately 500 words EACH) in one document that also contains a Works Cited page.
NOTE: Any strong response that covers all the sub-questions in the essay prompts will likely go well beyond 500 words. This is a minimum word count, though I do not expect you to write a dissertation. Just answer the questions well with relevant details and thorough explanation and you will easily surpass this minimum word count for each essay.
These essay responses will serve as your Midterm summative assessment. Several topic questions encompassing various historical themes and events covered during the first half of the course are provided below these instructions, and you will choose three that best suit your interest. All components of the multilayered topic questions you select need to be addressed.
Almost every essay prompt asks for CONNECTIONS between the historic event/period being covered and the present. Your responses to these are very important for course assessment purposes.
Pay attention to dates. If a question asks about the years 1835-1870, then you shouldn't be writing about events happening before or after those years.
Responses should be based primarily on paraphrased module content and in-text module citations to the specific pages where relevant material was found are expected.
Also, you will gather additional supportive information through basic background research to enhance your responses (this material needs to have MLA style in-text citations at the end of the passage where it was incorporated).
A Works Cited page containing all of your external sources must be provided at the end of your paper. Every source you list in your Works Cited should match at least one in-text citation within the essays. (There is no need to list module pages in the Works Cited; in-text module citations are fine on their own.)
Example of a module in-text citation: (Module 8, "The Powder Keg Explodes").
Example of an MLA source in-text citation: (Harari) if the author was Yuval Noah Harari, or ("The World After the Pandemic") if that is the name of the article and an author is not mentioned.
See the first announcement for tips on MLA and module in-text citations (and Works Cited listings).
Your comprehensive essay responses will allow you to demonstrate what you have learned thus far by integrating specific class content and supplementary research material into your responses and explaining your understanding of historical issues in original wording. Information obtained from the module pages and through basic research must be paraphrased and summarized so that your entire paper is unique. Do not copy and paste anything (except for the topic questions). When looking at sources of information (module pages and one or two external sources at most), jot down a few notes in your own summarized wording. Afterwards, include some of that paraphrased data in your responses and leave a citation at the end of the sentence. The idea here is to demonstrate that you can interpret material obtained through research and apply it to what you have learned in the course.
DO NOT USE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING FOR "RESEARCH":
Wikipedia (or Encyclopedia Britannica or anything along these lines)
Khan Academy
History.com
Sparknotes
Chat GPT (an automatic ZERO if you do)
We're not in middle school. Find better sources. I recommend using the AAU Library database search. This is an excellent resource that your student fees pay for, so why not take advantage of it? Google Scholar is another good option. Sites like History.com and Wikipedia are generic and lazy.
All you need to do is find ONE (two at most) good source to support each response. It should be something interesting that was not presented in our limited module content. I want to see your understanding of these historical events and class material, and not how well you can summarize an article written by someone else.
The grading rubric is provided in Module 7 to serve as a checklist before you turn in your paper, and helpful information on MLA citations, paraphrasing, and criteria for the Midterm Paper can be found within this module and in the "Important Class Information" announcement thread from the beginning of the semester. (Please note that the 350 word minimum has been increased to 500 for each essay.)
Do not "recycle" your old Discussion topic responses as part of your exam essay responses. There may be similarities with some questions, but overall, the exam essay prompts are different and ask for a broader scope as well as connections between the past and present.
Give yourself some time to compose strong responses. I wish you the best of luck on this!
Attention
Papers must be submitted through Turnitin.com and this assignment submission thread. The only "unoriginal" material flagged in the Turnitin Originality Report should be the selected topic questions listed above your essay responses. This is easy to accomplish if you simply write your own paper and paraphrase all research and module information.
Essays not uploaded to Turnitin.com may receive up to a 10-point penalty
MIDTERM ESSAY TOPIC QUESTIONS
Choose and answer THREE of the multifaceted questions below. Be sure to answer all parts of each of your three prompts.
I will provide the module (s) where the topic was covered but you need to include the name of the specific module page/slide in your module citation. For example, (Mod 3, “A House Divided”).
Be sure to provide the question you are addressing on top of each essay response (this part you can copy and paste, of course).
What were at least three (3) personal characteristics or accomplishments that made President Andrew Jackson a prominent figure in his time? Which groups of Americans tended to support Jackson, and which were generally opposed? What were at least two actions or personal flaws that have tarnished Jackson’s reputation over the years? Who has been a modern world or American leader who could possibly be compared to Andrew Jackson and why? (Be sure to present specific details and back your assertions with supporting evidence from current sources as well as module pages (paraphrased and followed by proper in-text citations.)) (Module 2)
How did American political parties evolve between 1792 and 1860, eventually becoming the Democratic and Republican two-party system that has prevailed ever since? Which groups of people generally belonged to the Democrats and the Republicans by the mid nineteenth century and what were some key political and socioeconomic variances that distinguished them from each other? Lastly, how are the Democratic and the Republicans parties different today (compared to how they were in 1860s)? (Be sure to present specific details and back your assertions with supporting evidence from current sources as well as module pages (paraphrased and followed by proper in-text citations.)) (Module 5)
What was the Conservation movement and who were some of the key founders and organizations? What was going on in the United States during the late 1800s -early 1900s that inspired or necessitated such a movement? Who originally lived in California’s Yosemite Valley, one of the first National Parks, and what happened to them? What are at least TWO specific accomplishments of the Conservationist period that are still evident today? (Be sure to present specific details and back your assertions with supporting evidence from current sources as well as module pages (paraphrased and followed by proper in-text citations.)) (Module 6)
Explain the three Constitutional amendments (13th,14th, and 15th) that were implemented to end slavery and racial inequality during the final months and immediately following the conclusion of the Civil War (please summarize and paraphrase entirely). How did these amendments affect Reconstruction and the process for states to be readmitted to the Union? What were some ways that southern states circumvented these federal laws? Which of these three amendments do you feel is most relevant to a current political or social issue and how/why? (Please do not just give a simplistic answer like “racism” but rather explain how a specific political or social issue is related to one these individual amendments.) (Be sure to present specific details and back your assertions with supporting evidence from current sources as well as module pages (paraphrased and followed by proper in-text citations.)) (Module 3)
What were the primary reasons that fighting broke out between the United States and Great Britain in 1812? What were the significant events that occurred in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and New Orleans? What were some prominent Native American nations (or tribes) that played a significant role in the war (whose side were they on and why)? What are a few cultural, political, and/or geographical remnants of this war still evident today? (Be sure to present specific details and back your assertions with supporting evidence from current sources as well as module pages (paraphrased and followed by proper in-text citations.)) (Module 2)
BONUS QUESTION (up to 3 points extra credit)
What do you think are some ways one can try to distinguish legitimate historical work from propaganda, inaccuracy, promotion of opinion or agenda? What is your process for discerning bias when reading articles and books
I need to write Three Questions and Bonus Question.