[SOLVED] The Salem Witch Trials

The research paper is your opportunity to choose an historical question, search for the appropriate sources, examine these sources, and argue your findings. There are three themes you may choose from: The Salem Witch Trials, Slavery in the Americas, and The American Revolution.
Below is a list of research project topics for each theme. These questions are not thesis statements; your thesis statement would be your answer to the question you chose from below. You should choose one TOPIC (i.e. The Salem Witch Trials), and one QUESTION (i.e. What can we learn about the rights of colonial women from the Salem Witch Trials?) which you will write your paper about. The goal of the paper is to create a strong thesis statement (your answer to the question), and make a strong argument to support your thesis using primary and secondary source material.

The Salem Witch Trials
What do the Salem Witch Trials reflect about the social, political, and religious tensions of the day?
What were the causes? In what ways was society changed by the trials?
What can we learn about the rights of colonial women from the Salem Witch Trials?
Slavery in the Americas
In what ways did slaves in the Americas recreate life from the Old World? How did they create new traditions?
Why was indentured servitude replaced by African slavery?
What was the process of acculturation involved in becoming an African American? In what ways did slaves “Africanize” the South?
How did the system of slavery develop and become entrenched in the Americas? How was the slave system that emerged in North America different from that which emerged elsewhere in the Atlantic world?
The American Revolution
What three events were most important in building tensions between the Colonists and the British leading to the American Revolutionary War?
Were Americans justified in fighting for independence? How were Americans able to win the American war for independence?
What rights, claimed by the Declaration of Independence to be the inalienable rights of all men, were denied to those held in slavery, and how was that justified?
What roles did Indian peoples and African Americans play in the Revolution? What was the effect of the Revolution on Indians and African Americans?
Assess the relative strengths of the Patriots and the Loyalists in the American Revolution.
When is the assignment due?
The paper is due on November 21st.
Submit the paper in CANVAS under ASSIGNMENTS before 11:59pm on November 21st.
HST 202 – Structure of the Research Paper
FORMAT:
2000-2500 words (you can see this count in the lower left of your Word document)
Name, title, bibliography do not count towards your word count.
Put your name, date and HST 202 in the upper left corner of the first page.
Put your name and page number in the upper right corner (use headers/footers)
Center your title in quotations (i.e. “The Economics of Witchcraft”)
Your title should give me an idea of what the paper is about.
Times New Roman font
12-point font
1.5 spacing
1” margins on all sides
Bibliography should be in MLA format
Must use AT LEAST two different primary sources AND two secondary sources than your textbook. At least one secondary source must be a book or academic article from a peer reviewed journal (not website). You may use more of each, but you may not use less.
THE INTRODUCTION: The introduction for this paper should be one short paragraph (3-5 sentences). Its purpose is to: (1) set out the problem to be discussed; (2) define the sources you will use to explore the problem (4) state your thesis.
THE BODY: This constitutes the bulk of your paper. Here is where you provide background on your subject, provide context within the period, and make your argument. Be sure to analyze your sources, and see how they substantiate (or fail to substantiate) your thesis.
CONCLUSION: This is usually one paragraph long, and briefly recapitulates your thesis, with a summary of your findings. The first sentence of the concluding paragraph is a clear, specific re-statement of thesis. The conclusion should do more than simply re-state the argument. It also suggests why the argument is important in the bigger scheme of things, or suggests avenues for further research, or raises a bigger question.
At the end, include the bibliography in MLA Format:
Bibliography:
Davis, Devotion. “Untitled Advertisement.” State Gazette of North Carolina [New Bern], 1785-1790 13 Feb. 1790. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.
Unknown. “Letter to John Foster – August 17, 1692.” Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project. The University of Virginia, 17 Aug. 1692. Web. 1 Jan. 2010.