History 474A

Spring 2009

Devine/Arrowsmith

Essay Assignment #1 (Option B)

INSTRUCTIONS

 

This essay is due Sunday, March 15th by 11:59 pm.  If you did not turn in an Option A essay, you must complete this assignment.  You may email your essay to me as an attachment (the preferred method), turn it in to the History Department office (Sierra Tower 610) during business hours, or hand it to me in person.

 

If you completed an Option A essay but turn in this assignment as well, I will count only the better of the two grades.

 

I prefer you email me the paper since this is the best way to ensure that it does not get lost. Please send a copy to Laura as well. When you email us, you should also send a copy to yourself on the “cc” line. If you receive the email, it’s likely we did as well. I will send you a confirmation email when I receive your paper, however, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY (and not the email server’s) that I get it. (“But I sent it to you – didn’t you get it?” will not be a legitimate excuse for a late paper.) 

 

How Long? 

Papers MUST be 1500 words and no more than 1900 words. If you use MS Word, you can check number of words by pulling down the FILE menu, selecting PROPERTIES, and then clicking on the STATISTICS tab.

 

Format?

• Typed, double-spaced, 12-point font with one-inch margins all around.  Margins can be set by using the FILE menu in MS Word and choosing “Page set up.”

 

• Please number your pages (use the INSERT menu on MS Word and choose “Page numbers…”)

 

• Give your essay a title that indicates what the paper is about. (Something more revealing than “Essay #1” or “The Great Depression”) Clever titles will be duly noted.

 

• Base your essay entirely on the assigned course reading. You do not have to (nor should you) draw on any outside sources.

 

Don’t forget to put your name at the top of page 1 of the essay before you email it. (People actually forget to do this.)

 

How to cite?

If you are quoting directly from a source, cite the author and page number in parentheses within the body of the text, i.e. (Boyle, 47). All direct quotes MUST be in quotation marks and must be cited. Paraphrases of ideas drawn from the book MUST also be cited.

 

If you have any questions or are in any way unsure about what you are being asked to do, be sure to speak with me or Laura via email or in person.

THE ASSIGNMENT

 

Choose ONE of the following questions:

 

  1. Why was there a confrontation between the family and friends of Ossian Sweet and the white residents of Garland Avenue on September 9, 1925?

 

[In answering, you should not simply describe the immediate events that precipitated the event – rock throwing, shooting of guns, etc. – but consider more broadly the circumstances and historical context that had made such a confrontation possible – even likely – in the Detroit of the 1920s. One way of organizing your response is to develop a thesis that argues for the conflict being the result of human agency, long-term systemic factors, or a volatile combination of both.]

 

  1. Although the Great Depression, perhaps more than any other moment in U.S. history, seemed to offer the ideal circumstances for radicals who wished to take American politics far to the left and fundamentally restructure the nation’s economic and social order, there was no broad based support for such a course.  Why not?

 

[In answering, you should draw on the reading from Levine, McGovern, and Maney. Consider how both FDR’s New Deal and traditional American values undercut the appeal of revolutionary fervor and sustained hope and confidence in American institutions.]

 

  1. What influence did FDR’s “patrician self-confidence,” “unquestioning religious faith,” and “optimistic world view” have on his public life and his public image?  How did these factors contribute to his success as President?  Were there instances when they led Roosevelt to pursue unwise courses of action?

 

[In answering, draw on the first half of Patrick Maney’s biography. Be sure to discuss each of the three qualities and how they shaped – positively and negatively – both FDR’s image and his approach to governing.]

 

  1. What were the New Deal’s most striking successes and disheartening failures?  What factors explain the New Deal’s decidedly mixed record?  Why do you think FDR’s program of reform succeeded in some areas and failed in others?

 

[In answering, draw on the New Deal readings and the first half of the Maney biography to provide specific evidence to demonstrate the validity of the points you argue. In answering the third question, you might consider the responsibility of individuals, including FDR himself, as well as long-standing structural factors in the American political and economic systems.]