Your paper should be based around one of the research questions you developed in Milestone One, and you should use the sources you listed in Milestone Two to answer that question. Your answer to the question will be your thesis statement. Your first draft/outline should be as complete as you can make it, but should be at least 6 pages or more.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
• Demonstrate an advanced knowledge of the development of American society since World War II
• Critically analyze ideas from both primary and secondary sources
• Develop arguments based upon primary and secondary sources and articulate those ideas in writing
Prompt:
The Cold War era lasted for roughly 46 years, from the end of World War II until 1991. The ideals of Western capitalism were pitted against those of the Soviet-led communist bloc. This was an extremely eventful period within American history, and you have been exposed to these events throughout this course. The final project for this course is the creation of a historical narrative. The research for this paper should be centered on some aspect of American society during the Cold War era. Choose one event that you consider important during the Cold War era and discuss its impact on American society.
You will construct a fully researched, thesis-driven narrative containing both primary and secondary sources. You will use these sources to shed light on your chosen topic without propagating any historical fallacies. Your task is to narrow your focus to a manageable question that can be answered in a coherent, thesis-driven fashion.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Background: Identify the aspect of Cold War-era American history that will frame your essay. This must be a major event, trend, or development that shaped the history of American society since WWII. Is the major event political, military-diplomatic, social, economic, or cultural in nature?
II. Historical Argument: Narrow your focus by creating a manageable question. Propose an argument that answers the question you have derived about the major event. This is your thesis statement and it must also be connected to historical evidence.
III. Historical Analysis
a. Factors: What are the factors that influenced this event? Include the policies of the time period as well as any key confrontations and clashes.
b. Individuals: Assess the role of the individual(s) involved in the event. This might be involved leaders or other nations. Who is the protagonist? The antagonist? What significant actions did the central figure(s) take? Why did they do so? What was the response to such actions taken?
c. Trends: What trends did this event influence? Which new policies came about? What effect did these policies have? What themes originated —or were repeated —as such policies were enacted?
d. Impact: What impact did this event, the individual(s), and resulting policies have on Cold War era American history? Who significantly benefited from these events and moments? How? Who dramatically suffered from these events and moments, and how?
IV. Source Analysis: You must select sources to support your thesis statement. Ideally, you will include a mix of primary and secondary sources. Critically examine the resources in context with your essay topic. Remember this is not based on opinion, but rather this is your analysis of the historical content and context.
*My research question was Why did Rosa Parks refuse to give up her seat and how did she help to spark the civil rights movement
I have some specific sources that need to be used. There can be others used too.
I attached the annotated bibliography of what sources need to be included.
Primary Sources
Video
“Interview with Rosa Parks (Video).” Interview with Rosa Parks. Accessed February 29, 2020. http://repository.wustl.edu/concern/videos/5d86p1921.
Book
Parks, Rosa, and Jim Haskins. Rosa Parks: My Story. New York, NY: Puffin Books, 1999.
Website
“Rosa Parks Papers: Writings, Notes, and Statements, 1956-1998; Drafts of Early Writings; Accounts of Her Arrest and the Subsequent Boycott, as Well as General Reflections on Race Relations in the South, 1956-circa 1958, Undated; Folder 2.” The Library of Congress. Accessed February 29, 2020. https://www.loc.gov/item/mss859430226/.
Website
“Rosa Parks.” Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, February 4, 2020. https://www.biography.com/activist/rosa-parks.
Archives
“Transcript for the Trial of Rosa Parks vs. City of Montgomery.” Alabama Textual Materials Collection. Accessed February 29, 2020. http://digital.archives.alabama.gov/cdm/ref/collection/voices/id/2100.
Secondary Sources
Book:
Baker, Paula (university Of Texas At Austin). Major Problems in American History since 1945. Cengage Learning, Inc, 2013.
Website
Letort, Delphine. “The Rosa Parks Story: The Making of a Civil Rights Icon.” Black Camera 3, no. 2 (2012): 31-50. Accessed March 1, 2020. doi:10.2979/blackcamera.3.2.31.
Website
Nasstrom, Kathryn L. “Between Memory and History: Autobiographies of the Civil Rights Movement and the Writing of Civil Rights History.” The Journal of Southern History 74, no. 2 (2008): 325-64. Accessed February 29, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/27650145.
Book
Theoharis, Jeanne. The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks. Boston: Beacon Press, 2015.
Website
Thornton, J. Mills, III. “Challenge and response in the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955-1956.” The Alabama Review 67, no. 1 (2014): 75+. Gale In Context: U.S. History (accessed February 29, 2020). https://gold.worcester.edu:3771/apps/doc/A367075646/UHIC?u=mlin_c_worstate&sid=UHIC&xid=0ea348d2.