Instructions
1. Your research must answer a relevant historical question. All too often we decide to write on a topic. Instead of framing a question, we embark on a long discussion or description. Historians do not merely describe; we analyze. Otherwise, we are merely journalists and chroniclers. Those professions have a place, but we are training to be historians. If questions do not drive our research, then all too often ideology, scientism, or political agendas become our starting points, not a quest for historical truth.
2. Your research must have sources. Some things are now lost to us. This is why you are required to have a very basic, preliminary bibliography that outlines the main primary and secondary sources for your research. Remember, primary sources are the original documents and things related to the historical action of your topic. Primary sources can be writings, newspapers, personal papers, government documents, battle maps, furniture, oral history interviews, paintings, architecture, and even historic flower gardens. If you cannot find enough primary sources to answer your historically relevant question, then choose another topic.
3. Your topic must match your time frame for research. Big, bold historical questions are not suitable for this assignment. You will not have time to answer whether the Jeffersonian Revolution of 1800 successfully closed the experimental phase of the American Founding, but you will have time to research how Albert Gallatin’s congressional opposition to Federalist financial policies in 1796–1799 influenced the election of 1800.
4. Your topic will be subject to historiographic arguments. This is a tough one, but is necessary for this course. Yes, there are plenty of historically relevant questions that historians have yet to ask, some of which will inevitably open up new ways of understanding the past, simply because nobody ever asked them. This assignment and course are not about coming up with brand new understandings. Do not choose esoteric topics that relate to such a narrow band of knowledge that other historians have not analyzed it.
5. Be sure that your research topic is grammatically correct and that your bibliography of preliminary sources is in order.
Upload in a MS Word document the following information:TitleYour nameStatement of your research topic in question form.A 1-paragraph statement about the historical significance of your topic. Address why it is important, what primary sources will guide you, and any other historically significant questions other than the one listed above. Write this statement in third person narrative.Preliminary Bibliography (Turabian bibliographic format, no annotations)Primary Sources (2–3)Secondary Sources (2–3 books or articles—either will suffice)
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