Consequences of the Spanish American War History Research Paper

Research Paper Instructions:

Instructions: For this assignment, you will pick an American history topic that interests you the most and write a 3 to 5 page (double-spaced, 12 point font) essay based on primary and secondary sources. You can choose any topic but you are limited to events that occurred between Reconstruction and the 1920s (1865 to 1929). You are welcome to pick a topic we've already covered in Modules 1 through 8 and go into more depth with it or you can pick a topic we did not address. If you need help picking a topic, just reach out to me and I'll be happy to help.
1. Pick your topic.
2. Do research finding primary and secondary sources. American Yawp is a great starting point since it combines both a secondary source section (the main narrative that constitutes each chapter) and the primary source collections at the end of each chapter. If you still need clarification on what constitutes a primary and secondary source, click here. I strongly encourage you to do a little more research outside of American Yawp. This does not mean just using Wikipedia or history.com, though. I recommend using FSCJ's Library and Learning Commons search engines to find good online articles or essays. You can of course do general Google searches as well. Just be sure you cast a skeptical eye on the website where you get your information. Not all sources are equal and some can just be bad. Ask yourself: Does the information come from a reputable source - a museum, an archive, a university, a scholarly book or journal - or is the website a creation of somebody who is just offering their opinions or simply and poorly repeating others' information? You can always ask me for assistance with research.
There is no requirement for how many primary or secondary sources you use as long as you have at least one of each. If you only have one of each, I'll expect to read an essay that goes into depth analyzing both sources in an original way. In general, you should use your secondary source or sources to provide historical context. For example, if you are writing about the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction, you will want to use a secondary source to explain in general what was going on during Reconstruction that led to the rise of the KKK. You should then, for example, use your primary source or sources to interpret the meaning or purpose of the Klan as a violent vigilante organization. As always, I'm most interested to read YOUR interpretations of historical evidence and not simply your summary or paraphrasing of somebody else's work. Your interpretation of a primary source is your opportunity to write with your own voice and put your own stamp on your essay.
3. Read your sources carefully and begin to focus your topic. If you choose, say, Reconstruction, what specific topic do you want to address after looking at your sources? Do you think you have sufficient primary and secondary sources to write a 3 to 5 page essay?
3. Next, develop the historical question you want to answer in your essay. When historians write about the past they develop historical questions to help guide and focus their work and to create their main argument or thesis. If you don't develop a historical question and answer it, your essay can just be a flood of facts and not your interpretation of evidence. The best historical questions are ones without one word or yes/no answers. For example rather the asking, "Did African-Americans achieve equality during Reconstruction?" you might ask instead, "How did African-Americans fight for political equality during Reconstruction?" The question you develop will be your essay's title. As with topics, don't hesitate to ask me if you need assistance developing your question.
4. Write your essay. You should organize your essay so that has 1) an introduction with your answer to your essay's question - that is, your main argument or thesis statement; 2) supporting paragraphs where you present your evidence and analysis it support your main argument or thesis; 3) a conclusion in which you tie together your essay's main points.
5. You must cite your sources in your essay. Not citing your sources or simply copying and pasting text from websites and presenting it as your own work is plagiarism, a serious academic offense, which is very easy to detect. I can tell we have a class of ethical students so this shouldn't be an issue. I would like you to use MLA format to cite your sources in your essay and to create a Works Cited page at the end. For information on how to cite sources in your essay, click here. For information on creating a MLA format Works Cited page, click here. No, a Works Cited page does not count toward your page total.
https://library(dot)ithaca(dot)edu/r101/

Research Paper Sample Content Preview:

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Consequences of the Spanish American war
The Spanish American war impacted the countries significantly. They went through a detriment and a series of developments immediately after the battle. However, though the war may have affected the countries, it raised their economic status to high levels. The short war created a turning point for both antagonists. Spain went into a period of modern history with many changes and benefits from the war. Also, the United States realized many benefits that led to its establishment as a world power. Thus, the war impacted both countries differently, with most of the consequences being positive despite the distraction induced by the battle.
The war was disastrous for Spain, but it resulted in a remarkable renaissance in the country. Spanish individuals realized intellectual and material benefits immediately after the battle. The following two decades brought significant progress in agriculture (Dudziak, 42). Although the country would still indulge in agricultural activities before the war, they had not realized the benefits they enjoyed after the war. The farmers acquired new ways of farming and irrigation, resulting in vast harvests. They also found the techniques of using machinery to aid their agricultural processes. The opening of the country for interaction with other communities paved the way for trade and exchange of the acquired products, expanding the agriculture significantly (Dudziak, 44). Thus, the people engaged in agricultural activities produced food for both domestic and commercial purposes with ready markets locally and internationally, resulting in the great high progress in agriculture.
The country embraced a new era of development in mineral resources. The modern history impacted by the war established mining industry in the country, resulting in the ultimate realization and mining of the available mineral resources such as copper, gold, iron, and metals (Dudziak, 50). The development allowed Spain to realize, extract, and exhaust the resources into useful products. The opening of the mines created employment opportunities for a significant Spanish population who could otherwise be jobless. The earning from jobs improved standards of living of the Spanish population (Dudziak, 50). Also, the country gained revenue from the profits realized after the sale of final products made from the mineral resources and export of surplus minerals to the countries in their scarcity.
The economy of Spain grew to high levels due to the development of various industries and efficient transport systems. The war ensued the construction of great roads to aid the transport of the American military for battles (Dudziak, 40). Although the development was detrimen...

Updated on January 26, 2024

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Consequences of the Spanish American War History Research Paper

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