Evolution of Abolitionist Beliefs in New England, 1800-1865
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ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS:
In your final project, you will bring together several primary sources on a related
topic, and show, in a paper of between 5-7 pages, or 1500-2000 words, how beliefs.
attitudes, laws, or perspectives concerning your topic or focus changed (or did not
change) between the years (or some subset of years between) 1500 and 1865.
You must use at least three (3) written primary sources, and at least one (1) visual
primary source in your paper. You should also have other secondary sources to aid in
your interpretation of the primary sources. Your task will be to read and take notes on
each of your primary sources, and ask yourself how these particular accounts
demonstrate that attitudes, laws, and/or beliefs concerning your overall topic have, or
have not, changed during the period of the course.
Be sure to focus during your reading on crafting a WORKING THESIS, and ultimately, a
STRONG and SPECIFIC THESIS concerning your topic.
Possible topics include, but are by no means limited to:
SLAVE NARRATIVES
LAWS REGARDING SLAVERY
ABOLITIONIST BELIEFS
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
ATTITUDES TOWARD FOREIGN NATIONS (France, Great Britain, Spain, Mexico, etc.)
BELIEFS/LAWS CONCERNING VOTING and DEMOCRACY
BELIEFS/LAWS CONCERNING TECHNOLOGY and INDUSTRIALIZATION
BELIEFS CONCERNING THE AMERICAN WEST (“The Frontier”)
U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
THE PRESIDENCY
WORK and LABOR
THE END OF THE WORLD
AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM
RACISM
FREE BLACKS
IMMIGRATION
FEDERALISM and ANTI-FEDERALISM
NATIVE AMERICANS
NATURE
MORMONISM
AGRICULTURE and FARMING
ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION
CHILDBIRTH
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
CONSCRIPTION and MILITARY SERVICE
CORPORAL PUNISHMENT
CHILD LABOR
DEATH and DYING
PHOTOGRAPHY and PORTRAITURE
I can provide suggestions for primary sources, but it is part of the project that you must
do the digging first. Be sure that your primary sources are relevant to American History.
The American Yawp text likely has several primary sources you can use as “jumping-off”
points, but ultimately you will have to perform library research to find additional
sources.
The topics above are all viable topics but remember — a narrower topic results in a better
paper. Always. So if the topic of “The Presidency” and “1500 to 1865” seems too large (it
is) — narrow the topic down to “The Presidency” and “1800 to 1824”. If you chose
“abolitionist beliefs” you could narrow it down to “abolitionist beliefs in New England”
between “1800 and 1865”. The narrower your focus, the more specific insights you will
come up with.
Helpful resources:
PRIMARY SOURCES
The Internet History Sourcebook at Fordham University has a large collection of primary
sources organized into various topics. ONLY USE THOSE TOPICS THAT RELATE TO
AMERICAN HISTORY. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/modsbook.asp
The Transatlantic Slave Trade Database, which we used in Paper #3, is an excellent resource
with thousands of primary sources (each record is a primary source.)
The Hanover College Historical Texts Project has many primary sources organized by topic.
The last few sections cover the United States. https://history.hanover.edu/project.php
This helpful Youtube video details how best to search for primary source collections using
Google.
There are thousands more collections, across the world. Searching under your general topic
and “primary sources” may give you many more places to look.
WRITING A RESEARCH PAPER
The USC Library has an excellent site for organizing a social science research paper.
https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/purpose .
A writing guide issued by Harvard is also available. It is immensely useful. Following the
directions closely on these sites will result in a well-structured paper, and truthfully, structuring
your paper correctly, and clearly, is more than half the battle in making yourself understood to
the reader. Writing a clear, concise essay with a strong thesis is like riding a bicycle — once you
learn the basics, you never really forget, although you can always get better at it.
First of all, the proposal is needed:
CHANGE OVER TIME Final Project Proposal (400-500 words)
PLEASE REFER TO THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE FINAL PROJECT BEFORE
COMPLETING THIS.
YOUR PROJECT MUST BE FOCUSED ON U.S. HISTORY UP UNTIL 1877.
What is the topic, and potential title, of your final project?
What set of primary sources will you be using in your project?
What secondary sources will you use?
What is your research question? The brief answer to your question will be your thesis or the
main statement you will seek to prove with evidence from your primary and secondary sources.
Justify why the collection you have put together, or discovered, is important
and worthy of study.
HOW TO WORK ON THIS ASSIGNMENT (EXAMPLE ESSAY / DRAFT)
The American abolitionist movement was an important social and political movement that aimed to abolish slavery in the nation. Early in the nineteenth century, the campaign gained steam and was ultimately instrumental in the abolition of slavery. This essay will look at the changes in New England’s abolitionist attitudes between 1800 and 1865 and the causes that influenced those changes.
Three written main sources—”Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave” by Frederick Douglass, “Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World” by David Walker, and the William Lloyd Garrison-edited periodical “The Liberator”—will be cited in the paper. I will also add one graphic primary source, the anti-slavery medallion “Am I Not a Man and a Brother?”
Secondary materials: I will draw on several secondary materials, including “The Abolitionist Movement” by John R. McKivigan and Stanley Harrold and “Inheriting the Trade” by Thomas Norman DeWolf, to help me interpret the primary sources.
Between 1800 and 1865, how did New England’s abolitionist attitudes change, and what influences led to this change?
The purpose of my thesis is to demonstrate how New England’s abolitionist ideals eventually moved from gradual liberation and colonization to immediate abolition and racial equality. To do this, I will analyze primary and secondary materials.
Justification: The collection of sources consulted for this essay is significant and deserving of study because it provides insight into the growth of the abolitionist movement in one of its most significant geographic and ideological hotspots. The primary materials consulted for this essay shed important light on the development of abolitionist ideas in New England, which played a crucial role in the abolitionist movement. A greater understanding of the social, political, and economic causes that eventually resulted in the abolition of slavery in the United States depends on comprehending the elements that contributed to the development of abolitionist ideals.
The primary points made in the article will be briefly discussed in the conclusion, along with how they affect how we perceive the abolitionist movement in New England and the United States as a whole. The significance of the sources studied in the study and their contribution to our understanding of American history will also be highlighted.
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