Question: Was the pursuit of ideals or material gains more important in shaping the United States in the years before 1865? Answer this question in 2-3 pages using evidence that supports your position.
Explanation: Throughout the first half of HIST 2010, we’ve covered a number of factors that have shaped the development of the United States from a collection of British Colonies into an independent and united political entity. The factors at work in this process can be grouped into two general categories: those driven by ideology (religion, political and other types of philosophical beliefs) and those driven by material concerns (land acquisition, the desire to accumulate wealth, etc). While there is no doubt that both types of factors were important in these years, do you find ideology or material concerns to be the most important? Pick one or the other and argue for that position. Make sure to use plenty of evidence from the course readings.
Assignment Overview:
You must back up your argument/thesis with plenty of evidence that supports your position. The purpose of this assignment is to show that you know and understand the material we’ve covered in this course, so you should include evidence from several readings and use only the materials assigned for HIST 2010 (ie no outside sources). In other words, you should do well to demonstrate that you know the material in this course. Anyone can give an opinion based on how they feel, but you are scholars, so what I expect is that you take an informed position that is based on what you can prove with evidence. If you choose to turn in a paper with few sources to back up your thesis, then you choose to receive a poor grade on this paper. Papers that draw only a single source will receive a maximum grade of a D.
In order to receive full credit for this assignment, you must turn in both of the following to the dropbox on D2L.
-A typed copy of your paper
-An audio copy of you reading your paper
***- Your assignment will not be considered fully submitted until you have turned in both of these.
