Thesis Statements

1. Thesis Statements

2. Thesis Statements • Thesis – is what you are trying to prove to the reader. • Must put thesis early in the paper • Do NOT just restate the question as your thesis

3. Question 1 • Religion had a profound impact on the colonization of British America. • To what extent is this a true statement Religion had a profound impact on the colonization of British America. To what extent is this a true statement Thesis While religion was the driving force behind the colonization of the New England colonies, its impact decreased as one traveled south.

4. 1993 Question 2 Although New England and the Chesapeake region were both settled largely by people of English origin, by 1700 the regions had evolved into two distinct societies. Why did this difference in development occur. Use documents AND your knowledge of the colonial period up to 1700 to develop your answer. Thesis Even though the settlers of North American were primarily English, the motives for settlement, resources and geography allowed for the development of two distinct societies.

5. 1985 Question 3 “From 1781 to 1789 the Articles of Confederation provided the United States with an effective government.” Using the documents and your knowledge of the period, evaluate this statement. Thesis While there were perceived deficiencies with the Articles of Confederation, its effectiveness depended upon one’s philosophical view of the role of the federal government.

6. 1990 Question 4 Jacksonian Democrats viewed themselves as the guardians of the United States Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity. In light of the following documents and using your knowledge of the 1820’s and 1830’s, to what extent do you agree with the Jacksonian’ view themselves Thesis In an attempt to be seen as the guardians of political democracy and economic opportunity, the Jacksonian Democrats trampled on the Constitution and individual liberty.

7. 1993 Question 5 “The sectional compromises of the first half of the nineteenth century were not in fact compromises but rather ‘sectional sellouts’ in which the North gave in to the insistent demands of the slave holding South.” Assess the validity of this statement. Thesis When the opportunity to compromise arises the outcome often leads both sides wanting more and even though it appears that the North “sold out” to the South both sides, in fact, compromised as long as possible to prevent war.

8. 1980 Question 6 “The decision of the Jackson administration to remove the Cherokee Indians to lands west of the Mississippi River in the 1830’s was more of a reformulation of the national policy that had been in effect since the 1790’s than a change in that policy.” Assess the validity of this generalization with reference to the moral, political, constitutional, and practical concerns that shaped national Indian Policy between 1789 and the mid-1830’s. Thesis

9. 1981 Question 7 “How and why did the lives an status of Northern middle-class women change between 1776 and 1876? Thesis

10. 1987 Question 8 By the 1850’s the Constitution, originally framed as an instrument of national unity, had become a source of sectional discord and tension and ultimately contributed to the failure of the union it had created.” Using the documents and your knowledge of the period 1850-1861, assess the validity of the this statement. Thesis

11. Question 9 America’s war with Mexico has been labeled, both then and since, an unprovoked and unjustifiable war of aggression and territorial aggrandizement. Using the following documents as well as your knowledge of the diplomatic history of the years from 1836 to 1846, evaluate this assertion. Thesis

12. Question 10 “The Civil War had started to preserve the Union, but for the majority in the North it had become a war to create a more perfect Union.” Assess the validity of this statement. Thesis

13. Question 11 “The debate over the relationship between the states and the federal government and over the principles of interposition and nullification began with the struggle to ratify the Constitution and continued to the end of the Civil War.” Evaluate this statement using the documents and your knowledge of constitutional history from 1789 to 1865. Thesis

14. 2005B Question 12 • In the early nineteenth century, Americans sought to resolve their political disputes through compromise, yet by 1860 this no longer seemed possible. Analyze the reason for this change. • Use the documents and your knowledge of the period 1820-1860 to construct your response. . Thesis

15. 2002 Question 13 • "Reform movements in the United States sought to expand democratic ideals." Assess the validity of this statement with specific references to the years 1825 to 1850. • Use the following documents and your knowledge of the period 1825-1850 in constructing your response. . Thesis

16. 2004 Question 14 • In what ways did the French and Indian War (1754-1763) alter the political, economic and ideological relations between Britain and its American colonies? • Use the documents and your knowledge of the period 1740-1766 in constructing your response. Thesis