In the first part of The Story of American Freedom, Eric Foner argues that the experience of the Revolution transformed Americans’ ideas of freedom. He suggests, in other words, that freedom meant different things after the Revolution than before. For this assignment, write a short essay exploring Foner’s argument using the documents assigned for weeks six and seven.
According to Foner, how did American ideas of freedom change during the era of the Revolution? To what extent do the documents we have read during weeks six and seven support Foner’s argument?
This assignment asks you to explain Foner’s argument and draw connections between that argument and the documents. Your essay should be 750-900 words long (about 3 pages), double-spaced, in a 10 or 12-point font. It should have a clear thesis statement that directly addresses the question and introduces your essay’s major point. It should support the thesis with a well-developed argument using both Foner and the documents. You should document the sources thoroughly with MLA citation, and your essay should have a works cited page (MLA). Remember, you must cite a source whenever you draw information from a source, not just when you quote.
Submit your essay before the start of class on Friday October 8. This assignment will provide the starting point for discussion that day.
Citations
In your essay, you should document your sources thoroughly using MLA in-text citations, and you should include a works cited list. Remember, you should use a citation whenever you draw evidence from a source, not just when you quote.
Your citations should show a reader where your material came from and how you formed it into an argument of your own.
Your works cited list or bibliography should be in alphabetical order by the first word in the citation (which will be either an author’s last name or the first word in a document title).
Textbook
MLA in-text citation:
(Shi and Tindall, 23-25)
MLA works cited:
Shi, David Emory and George Brown Tindall. America: A Narrative History. 10th edition. New York: W. W. Norton, 2016.
Foner
MLA in-text citation:
(Foner, 20-22)
MLA works cited:
Foner, Eric. The Story of American Freedom. New York: W. W. Norton, 1999.
Documents
The documents for this class are all from published collections. At the beginning of each document, you’ll find the bibliographic information for the collection from which I drew the document. In citing the documents, follow the form for an article or essay in an edited volume.
MLA in-text citation:
(“Massachusetts Slaves Argue for Freedom,” 308)
MLA works cited:
“Massachusetts Slaves Argue for Freedom, 1773.” Major Problems in the Era of the Revolution, edited by Richard Brown. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath, 1992, 308-309.
