Write an essay in which you explain how historians have struggled to articulate the nature and meaning of resistance in both institutional and day-to-day settings. What theoretical frameworks have been used to explain what resistance is, how it functions, and where it can be located? What are the key areas of contention among historians, if any?

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Nature and meaning of resistance among enslaved Africans and African Americans in the United States

African Americans who came of age in the South in the past two hundred years ago faced a world dominated by institutional and individual oppression such as slavery, Jim Crow, mob violence, political repression, and economic subordination. Yet even in the darkest years the black experience was not without its points of resistance. Indeed, one of the dominant historiographical debates in the field of African-American history revolves around the question of resistance.

Write an essay in which you explain how historians have struggled to articulate the nature and meaning of resistance in both institutional and day-to-day settings. What theoretical frameworks have been used to explain what resistance is, how it functions, and where it can be located? What are the key areas of contention among historians, if any?

Analyze if the South should have been treated as a defeated nation or as rebellious states. Explain how the American culture and society changed in the North versus the South during Reconstruction. Analyze the impact of the Compromise of 1877 that ended Reconstruction on African-Americans.

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Reconstruction and the Compromise of 1877

Address one (1) of the following for your selections:

Analyze if the South should have been treated as a defeated nation or as rebellious states.
Explain how the American culture and society changed in the North versus the South during Reconstruction.
Analyze the impact of the Compromise of 1877 that ended Reconstruction on African-Americans.

Identify two or three themes or arguments within the book that you would like to focus on. Identify the book by author, title, and publishing information. Provide an overview, including paraphrases and quotations, of the book’s thesis and primary supporting points.

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CHICAGO STYLE

•Go to a public or university library, and select a scholarly book on a topic that is related to Modern American History that interests you.
o By now, you have completed two short research-based written assignments and amassed a bibliography of four to six sources.
o You may find it useful to go back to the bibliographies of those sources to see if they include a book that interests you.
o You also may want to include materials from those sources in your critical book review.
o This book should be included in the bibliography that you also are preparing in this Module.

• After you have chosen a book, please do the following:
o Familiarize yourself with the book and its contents.
o Identify two or three themes or arguments within the book that you would like to focus on.
o Do some additional research to deepen your understanding of the issues associated with the book.

  •  The sources from the previous two assignments can provide some of this research.
  •  You might seek additional research by looking at other documents included in the Major Problems text or through repeating the research assignment from Module 2.

• Write a review of approximately 800 to 1,000 words Please structure the review in four parts:
1. Introduce the subject, scope, and type of book
o Identify the book by author, title, and publishing information.
o Specify the type of book (for example, fiction, nonfiction, biography, autobiography).
o Describe the book’s theme.
o Include background to enable reader(s) to place the book into a specific context. For example, you might want to describe the general problem the book addresses or earlier work the author or others have done.

2. Briefly summarize the content
o Provide an overview, including paraphrases and quotations, of the book’s thesis and primary supporting points.
o If the book has a narrative quality, briefly review the story line for readers, being careful not to give away anything that would lessen the    suspense for readers.

3. Provide your reactions to the book
o Describe the book: Is it interesting, memorable, entertaining, instructive? Why?
o Respond to the author’s opinions:

  •  What do you agree with? And why?
  •  What do you disagree with? And why?

o Explore issues the book raises: What possibilities does the book suggest? Explain. What matters does the book leave out? Explain.
o Relate your argument to other books or authors: Support your argument for or against the author’s opinions by bringing in other authors you agree with.
o Relate the book to larger issues:

  •  How did the book affect you?
  •  How have your opinions about the topic changed?
  •  How is the book related to your own course or personal agenda.

4. Conclude by summarizing your ideas
o Close with a direct comment on the book, and tie together issues raised in the review.
o Briefly restate your main points and your thesis statement.
o If you like, you can offer advice for potential readers.

Explain how world war II served to bring the United States out of the economic distress known as The Great Depression.

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World War II

Explain how world war II served to bring the United States out of the economic distress known as The Great Depression.

Based on the historical facts given in this module, assess if the American Civil War was inevitable. Analyze if the United States Supreme Court can settle legal and moral issues through judiciary review. In your response, provide a documented example of a modern parallel of a legal or moral issue settled by the United States Supreme Court.

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Stepping stones to the Civil War

Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Chapter 12, 14
Lesson
Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)
Initial Post Instructions
For the initial post, pick three (3) of the leading causes of the American Civil War:

The Compromise of 1850
The Fugitive Slave Law 1850
Uncle Tom’s Cabin 1852
The Kansas Nebraska Act 1854
The Dred Scott Case of 1857
The Lincoln Douglas Debates 1858

Then, address one (1) of the following for your selections:

1.Based on the historical facts given in this module, assess if the American Civil War was inevitable.

2.Analyze if the United States Supreme Court can settle legal and moral issues through judiciary review. In your response, provide a documented example of a modern parallel of a legal or moral issue settled by the United States Supreme Court.

Follow-Up Posts
Compare your selections and analysis of selections with those of your peers. If they chose different events, examine how yours are similar and/or different. If they chose the same events, build on their posts by providing additional information about the events that you have not already noted in your own post.

Text Book
https://openstax.org/books/us-history/pages/1-introduction

Links
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/brief-overview-american-civil-war

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/era.cfm?eraID=7&smtid=1

How different were women’s lives in the colonial period from our lives today? What have been the most significant changes for American women?

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Different in women’s lives from the colonial period and our lives today

How different were women’s lives in the colonial period from our lives today? What have been the most significant changes for American women? Consider a few aspects of life such as work, marriage, motherhood, family, education, health, etc.

Discuss 3 major themes of particular relevance to women that should be traced through the history of American women. Explain why these themes are invaluable for an understanding of women in American history.

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Distinguished historian of American women

You are a distinguished historian of American women. For that reason, a major publisher has asked you to supervise revision of its college-level U.S. history survey textbook which, as it now stands, has very little coverage of women. Summarize your recommendations of the necessary changes and additions.

Your 8-10 page essay (report) should have three distinct sections:

Section 1: Discuss 3 major themes of particular relevance to women that should be traced through the history of American women. Explain why these themes are invaluable for an understanding of women in American history.

Section 2: Discuss 6 important women that might appear at various points in the survey (persons profiled may be ”great,” or typical but obscure, but together they should provide a representative sample of various significant types of American women, over time).

Section 3: Discuss 3 events/issues in American history whose interpretation would be substantially altered if the roles of women in them or their effects upon women were included alongside the ”traditional” (more male-oriented) interpretations.

Why does Margaret Walker call this book “Jubilee”? What can we learn about slavery from Vyry’s childhood? What does it mean to be a young girl in Vyry’s world? How does her experience compare to other young girls at the time? What expectations did men have of women in slavery?

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 “Jubilee” by Margaret Walker

In a 4+ page essay reflection on Jubilee, consider the following questions:

*Why does Margaret Walker call this book “Jubilee”?
*What can we learn about slavery from Vyry’s childhood?
*What does it mean to be a young girl in Vyry’s world? How does her experience compare to other young girls at the time?
*What expectations did men have of women in slavery?
*How helpful is this book to an understanding of American history?

How are women’s friendships portrayed in this book? What about sisterhood, such as that between Victoria Woodhull and her sister Tennie? How would you describe Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s relationship with Susan B. Anthony? What are the marital relationships like between Victoria Woodhull and Colonel James Blood, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Henry Stanton? What role does sex play in their marriages?

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Sex Wars book

Write a 4+ page reflection, double-spaced, on the Sex Wars book, addressing which of the main four stories were you most interested in, and why? Each main character (except for Freydeh) was a real person. Make sure you know who they were and why they were important historical figures.

You should consider three or four of the following questions in your reflection:

How are women’s friendships portrayed in this book? What about sisterhood, such as that between Victoria Woodhull and her sister Tennie? How would you describe Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s relationship with Susan B. Anthony?

What are the marital relationships like between Victoria Woodhull and Colonel James Blood, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Henry Stanton? What role does sex play in their marriages?

How does Freydeh Levin create a new family for herself after the loss of her husband, parents, and younger sister? Do you think she was right to enter the kind of business that she did? Did she have a choice?

How do the circumstances of his upbringing influence Anthony Comstock as an adult? Do you find him to be a sympathetic character in any way?

Elizabeth Cady Stanton says, “Slaves have no names but what their masters give them….Similarly, a woman’s name disappears upon marriage because she becomes property too.” What other connections did feminists draw between the abolition of slavery and women’s rights? What obstacles did they encounter when they tried to get abolitionists to support their cause?

Although most women during this time were expected to marry, what advantages did women who never married, such as Susan B. Anthony, have over women who did marry? If you were a woman living at this time, would you choose to marry for security? What if you were impoverished?

Victoria Woodhull accomplished many “firsts” in her life—she and her sister were the first female brokers on Wall Street, she was the first woman to address Congress, and she was arguably the first woman to run for president. How did her views on subjects such as free love hurt her campaign? Do you think a woman running for president today would face the same kind of prejudices?

What hardships did Freydeh Levin encounter as a Jewish immigrant in Post-Civil War New York? How were immigrants perceived at the time? Have these perceptions changed?

Freydeh Levin is thrown into jail for manufacturing condoms. Another character, Madame Restell, is arrested for giving women abortions. What were the moral and legal attitudes toward contraception and abortion in late 19th-century America? Do you think these issues are as controversial today?

Some of the censorship laws enacted by Anthony Comstock’s Society for the Suppression of Vice are still on the books today. What do you think Marge Piercy is saying about such censorship in this book?

Which of your two selections do you consider most impactful on Westward Expansion during 1800-1848? Explain why. Analyze the effects of the ideology of Manifest Destiny on the two historical events that you chose from the list.

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Initial Post Instructions

For the initial post, pick two (2) of the following historical events:
• The Lewis and Clark Expedition
• The Missouri Compromise
• Independence of Texas
• Mexican War of 1846-1848
• The California Gold Rush

Then, address the following for your selections:
• Which of your two selections do you consider most impactful on Westward Expansion during 1800-1848? Explain why.

• Analyze the effects of the ideology of Manifest Destiny on the two historical events that you chose from the list.

https://openstax.org/books/us-history/pages/1-introduction