Paper #1( fill out worksheet Below): US History Exploration Worksheet All historians have areas of interest that they choose to study. This is what you will be doing in your final paper! First, however, you must decide what will be the focus of your paper. In this activity, you will be exploring your chosen topic and then narrowing your focus. Finally, you will begin thinking about your sources and how they might connect to your paper. Answering these questions below is the first step in writing your final paper! Step 1: Select your topic and focus question! Read the topics from the list on page 2 of this document and choose the topic and focus that interests you. Fill out the box below. What’s your topic and focus question? Topic: Focus Question: Step 2: In 50 words or more, state why you chose the topic and focus question that you chose. It could be how the topic is of interest to you and that you have studied it previously, or it could be a subject that you want to learn more about something of which you do not have knowledge. Step 3: List the two primary source and two secondary sources that you have chosen in the boxes below. Source Type Source Name Primary Source #1 Primary Source #2 Secondary Source #1 Secondary Source #2 Step 4: In 50 words or more, describe your initial thoughts about how your sources relate to your chosen topic and focus. Make sure to provide specific examples from each of the four sources that illustrate how they will help you answer your focus question. This will help you begin to think about the form of your paper! Topic instructions: Select a topic from this list. Once you have done this, select your specific focus and sources from the next list. 1. This Land is My Land 2. Revolutionary Ideas 3. The New Nation 4. Going Underground 5. All Men Are Created Equal 6. In Her Place 7. Splitting Up 8. Fighting for Peace Focus and source instructions: Now that you have your topic, select your desired focus option. Then, it will list the sources that can be used for this topic. Choose two primary and two secondary sources . Think about your choices and then fill out the worksheet on page 1! 1. This Land is My Land a. Focus Question : Analyze the major causes of the tensions between the Native Americans and the European colonists in the 16th-18th centuries.  Primary Sources: 1. Lion Gardener, “Relation of the Pequot Warres”, 1660 2. John Mason’s “Brief History of the Pequot War” 3. Indian Complaints about English Settlers, 1675 4. Edward Randolph’s Report of King Philip’s War, 1675 Secondary Sources: 1. Philip Ranlet, “Another Look at the Causes of the King Philip’s War” 2. Alden T. Vaughan, “Pequots and Puritans: The Causes of the War of 1637” 3. James Drake, “Restraining Atrocity: The Conduct of King Philip’s War” b. Focus Question : Evaluate the impact of the Pequot War on either the Europeans or Natives.  Primary Sources: 1. Indian Complaints about English Settler.

1. Paper #1( fill out worksheet Below):
US History Exploration Worksheet
All historians have areas of interest that they choose to study.
This is what you will be doing in your final paper! First,
however, you must decide what will be the focus of your paper.
In this activity, you will be exploring your chosen topic and
then narrowing your focus. Finally, you will begin thinking
about your sources and how they might connect to your paper.
Answering these questions below is the first step in writing
your final paper!
Step 1: Select your topic and focus question! Read the topics
from the list on page 2 of this document and choose the topic
and focus that interests you. Fill out the box below.
What’s your topic and focus question?
Topic:
Focus Question:
Step 2: In 50 words or more, state why you chose the topic and
focus question that you chose. It could be how the topic is of
interest to you and that you have studied it previously, or it
could be a subject that you want to learn more about something
of which you do not have knowledge.
Step 3: List the two primary source and two secondary sources
that you have chosen in the boxes below.

2. Source Type
Source Name
Primary Source #1
Primary Source #2
Secondary Source #1
Secondary Source #2
Step 4: In 50 words or more, describe your initial thoughts
about how your sources relate to your chosen topic and focus.
Make sure to provide specific examples from each of the four
sources that illustrate how they will help you answer your focus
question.
This will help you begin to think about the form of your paper!
Topic instructions:
Select a topic from this list. Once you have done this, select
your specific focus and sources from the next list.
1.
This Land is My Land
2.
Revolutionary Ideas

3. 3.
The New Nation
4.
Going Underground
5.
All Men Are Created Equal
6.
In Her Place
7.
Splitting Up
8.
Fighting for Peace
Focus and source instructions:
Now that you have your topic, select your desired focus option.
Then, it will list the sources that can be used for this topic.
Choose two primary and two secondary
sources
. Think about your choices and then fill out the worksheet on
page 1!
1.
This Land is My Land
a.
Focus Question
: Analyze the major causes of the tensions between the Native
Americans and the European colonists in the 16th-18th

4. centuries.
Primary Sources:
1.
Lion Gardener, “Relation of the Pequot Warres”, 1660
2.
John Mason’s “Brief History of the Pequot War”
3.
Indian Complaints about English Settlers, 1675
4.
Edward Randolph’s Report of King Philip’s War, 1675
Secondary Sources:
1.
Philip Ranlet, “Another Look at the Causes of the King Philip’s
War”
2.
Alden T. Vaughan, “Pequots and Puritans: The Causes of the
War of 1637”
3.
James Drake, “Restraining Atrocity: The Conduct of King
Philip’s War”
b.
Focus Question
: Evaluate the impact of the Pequot War on either the Europeans
or Natives.
Primary Sources:
1.

5. Indian Complaints about English Settlers, 1675
2.
Edward Randolph’s Report of King Philip’s War, 1675
Secondary Sources:
1.
Adam J. Hirsch, “The Collision of Military Cultures in
Seventeenth-Century New England.”
2.
Michal L. Fickes, “’They Could Not Endure that Yoke’: The
Capitivity of Pequot Women and Children after the War of
1637”
2.
Revolutionary Ideas
a.
Focus Question
: Compare and contrast the main arguments of the Patriots and
Loyalists.
Primary Sources:
1.
Reports of Mob Attacks on Loyalists
2.
A Loyalist Poem, “The Patriots of North America”
3.
Thomas Paines’s
Common Sense
4.

6. A Loyalist Tract
Secondary Sources:
1.
Benjamin A. Irvin, “Tar, Feathers, and the Enemies of American
Liberties, 1768-1776”
2.
Keith Mason, “Localism, Evangelicalism, and Loyalism: The
Sources of Discontent in the Revolutionary Chesapeake.”
3.
Wallace Brown, “The American Farmer During the Revolution:
Rebel or Loyalist?”
b.
Focus Question
: Analyze the main reasons for the outbreak of the
Revolutionary War.
Primary Sources:
1.
Thomas Paine’s
Common Sense
2.
A Loyalist Tract
3.
Charles Inglis’ reply to
Common Sense
Secondary Sources:
1.

7. Michael A. McDonnell, “A World Turned ‘Topsy Turvy’:
Robert Munford, The Patriots, and the Crisis of the Revolution
in Virginia.”
2.
Anna Alden Allen, “Patriots and Loyalists: The Choice of
Political Allegiances by the Members of Maryland’s Proprietary
Elite.”
3.
The New Nation
a.
Focus Question
: Analyze the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
How did the Constitution serve to address these weaknesses?
Primary Sources:
1.
Federalist #15
2.
The Dissent of the Minority of the Convention of Pennsylvania
Secondary Sources:
1.
Robert A. Feer, “Shay’s Rebellion and the Constitution: A
Study in Causation”
2.
Donald S. Lutz, “The Articles of Confederation as the
Background to the Federal Republic”

8. b.
Focus Question
: Evaluate the “spirit of compromise” involved in the
ratification of the Constitution.
Primary Sources:
1.
Objections to the Constitution
2.
The Dissent of the Minority of the Convention of Pennsylvania
Secondary Sources:
1.
Robert A. McGuire and Robert L. Ohsfeldt, “Self-Interest,
Agency Theory, and Political Voting Behavior: The Ratification
of the United States Constitution.”
2.
Robin Brooks, “Alexander Hamilton, Melancton Smith, and the
Ratification of the Constitution in New York.”
4.
Going Underground
a.
Focus Question
: Analyze the motivations for the development of the
Underground Railroad.
Primary Sources:
1.
Fugitive Slave Act

9. 2.
Reward for Return of a Slave
3.
Levi Coffin’s Underground Railroad Station
4.
The Slave Policy
Secondary Sources:
1.
Larry Gara, “The Underground Railroad: Legend or Reality”
2.
Gayle T. Tate, “Free Black Resistance in the Antebellum Era,
1830 to 1860”
3.
Stanley Harrold, “On the Borders of Slavery and Race: Charles
T. Torrey and the Underground Railroad”
b.
Focus Question
: Evaluate the effectiveness of the Underground Railroad in
assisting slaves escape and remain free.
Primary Sources:
1.
The Conductor’s Diary
2.
Levi Coffin’s Underground Railroad Station
Secondary Sources:
1.

10. Nilgun Anadolu Okur, “Underground Railroad in Philadelphia,
1830-1860”
2.
Larry Gara, “The Underground Railroad: Legend or Reality”
5.
All men Are Created Equal
a.
Focus Question
: Evaluate the key arguments of the abolitionists, making sure to
discuss the economic, social, and political impact of abolition.
Primary Sources:
1.
Fugitive Slave Act
2.
Dred Scott
3.
Three Grand Mistakes
4.
Reward for Return of Slave
5.
Caution to African American’s in Boston
Secondary Sources:
1.

11. Jane H. Pease and William H. Pease, “Confrontation and
Abolition in the 1850s”
2.
John S. Vishneski, III, “What the Court Decided in Dred Scott
v. Sandford”
3.
Alix Oswald, “The Reaction to the Dred Scott Decision”
4.
Stephen Middleton, “The Fugitive Slave Crisis in Cincinnati,
1850-1860: Resistance, Enforcement, and Black Refugees”
5.
Robert J. Loewenberg, “John Locke and the Antebellum
Defense of Slavery”
6.
In Her Place?
a.
Focus Question
: Analyze the changing role of women in society. Be sure to
discuss the economic, religious, demographic, and/or cultural
influences and highlight the reformers who helped shape the
movement. What were the goals of the early women’s
movement?
Primary Sources:
1.
Eliza Bixby’s letter to her brother
2.

12. How the Americans Understand the Equality of the Sexes
3.
Woman’s Present and Future
4.
The Ladies of Trenton Assemble
Secondary Sources:
1.
Elizabeth Cometii, “Women in the American Revolution”
2.
Barbara E. Lacey, “Women in the Era of the American
Revolution: The Case of Norwich Connecticut”
3.
John L. Brooke, “Spheres, Sites, Subjectivity, History:
Reframing Antebellum American Society”
4.
Regina Markell Morantz, “Making Women Modern: Middle
Class Women and Health Reform in 19
th
Century America”
5.
Thomas Dublin, “Women, Work, and Protest in the Early
Lowell Mills: ‘The Oppressing hand of Avarice Would Enslave
Us”
7.
Splitting Up
a.

13. Focus Question
: Evaluate the arguments given by the south justifying
secession. Contrast these arguments with those in favor of
maintaining unity.
Primary Sources:
1.
The Declaration of Causes of Seceding States
2.
The Rebuke of Secession doctrines
3.
The Secession of Virginia and the American Civil War: The
Illustrated News, May 18, 1861
4.
Northern Interests and Southern Independence: A Plea for
United Action
Secondary Sources:
1.
Hudson Meadwell and Lawrence M. Anderson, “Sequence and
Strategy in the Secession of the American South”
2.
William S. Hitchcock, “The Limits of Southern Unionism:
Virginia Conservatives and the Gubernatorial Election of 1859”
3.
Frank F. White, Jr., “A Soldier Views the Secession Crisis”
8.
Fighting for Peace

14. a.
Focus Question
: Compare and contrast the war efforts of the Confederacy and
Union. What were the strengths and weaknesses of each side?
Primary Sources:
1.
Confederate soldier’s letter home about shortages in camp
2.
“Four Years Under Marse Robert”
3.
“Life in the Confederate Army”
4.
A Woman’s War Record, 1861-1865
5.
Union Soldier’s letter to his sister on the comforts of camp life
Secondary Sources:
1.
Richard H. Shyrock, “A Medical Perspective on the Civil War”
2.
Alan Farmer, “Why Was the Confederacy Defeated?”
3.
William O. Brown Jr. and Richard C. K. Burdekin, “Turning
Points in the US Civil War: A British Perspective”
4.
The National Museum of Health and Medicine, “To Bind Up the

15. Nation’s Wounds”
Part Two:
Write paper in a well educated flow (Very Thorough)
Write in seperate Word Documents.
Thanks!