History 498

Devine

FIRST PAPER ASSIGNMENT (OPTION #2)

 

This essay is due Monday, November 22nd by 11:59 pm.  You may email your paper to me as an attachment, turn it in to the History Department office (Sierra Tower 610), or hand it to me in person. I recommend against slipping it under my office door.  If you have already submitted a paper, you do not have to do this paper. If you do both papers, I will take the higher grade of the two.

 

Essays must be at least FOUR FULL PAGES and no more than six full pages. They should be typed in 12-point font and double-spaced with one-inch margins all around. If you are quoting directly from a source, cite the author and page number in parentheses within the body of the text, i.e. (Morris, 47). All direct quotes MUST be in quotation marks and must be cited. Paraphrases of ideas drawn from the reading MUST also be cited. Please number your pages (if your word processor is Microsoft Word, use the “Insert” menu and choose “Page Numbers”) and give your essay an appropriate title (clever titles involving puns are always welcome).  If you have any questions or are in any way unsure about what the questions are asking, be sure to speak with me via email or in person.

 

Choose ONE (1) of the following  five essay questions:

 

  1. “The outcome of the 1876 election proved that the system worked.”

 

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement? Can a “stolen” election be a vindication of the soundness of the American political system?

 

             

  1. “The differences between Robert LaFollette, Woodrow Wilson, and Theodore Roosevelt, though considered significant in 1912, were more rhetorical than real.  If one looks closely at their views on corporations, their attitudes about the proper role of government, and their commitment to return political power to the people, all three men were putting forward essentially the same political platform.”

 

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

 

[Hint: The primary sources in the Brett Flehinger book will be helpful regardless of what side of this question you decide to argue.]

 

  1. “The international situation had a significant impact on the Democrats’ presidential campaigns in both 1948 and 1968 – it 1948 it helped them win and in 1968 it insured they would lose.”

 

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

 

[Hint: While you may agree or disagree with the statement, you may also make the case that its premise is incorrect: the international situation did not have a significant impact in these elections.]

 

  1. What influence did the candidacies of Henry A. Wallace and J. Strom Thurmond have on the Truman campaign in 1948?  Did their presence in the race in any way change Truman’s strategy or effect voters’ attitudes toward Truman’s candidacy?

 

  1. Choose one of the major party nominees in 1968 (Nixon or Humphrey) and identify the major strengths and weaknesses of that nominee’s campaign.  Were these strengths and weaknesses due the efforts and mistakes of the campaign itself or were they caused by forces outside of the candidate’s control?