What historical contexts defined the “first-wave globalization” of the late 19th century, and how did those features impact global migration? How did changing concepts of race impact immigration policies in the United States in the early 20th century?

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DISCUSSION ESSAY

Section 1: Short Answer Responses (12 points)

Employing the lectures and readings, respond to each of the following questions in 200-250 words each. It is expected you spend 1 hour on this portion of the exam:

  1. What historical contexts defined the “first-wave globalization” of the late 19th century, and how did those features impact global migration?
  2. How did changing concepts of race impact immigration policies in the United States in the early 20th century?
  3. What is a diaspora, according to William Safran? Selecting one of his six “characteristics of diaspora,” explain that characteristic through one of the case studies presented in the course lectures.

Section 2: Essay Question (8 points)

Select ONE question below, and respond in an essay of 400-500 words. Your essay should lead with a thesis statement that responds to the prompt directly. Cite evidence from the readings parenthetically (De Clementi, 45). It is expected you spent 1 hour on this portion of the exam.

  1. This course includes a sustained focus on the role that gender plays in transnational migration. Compare the articles by Andreina De Clementi and Sarah Gualtieri on how women participate in migration systems. Identify and explain one point of similarity and one point of departure.
  2. Cindy Hahamovitch defines guestworker programs as temporary labor schemes that solve certain problems for employers and lawmakers. Examining her article, discuss one key way that guestworker schemes intersect with migration systems as we’ve explored them in this course. Connect her article to one other Canvas reading in your answer.

 

Analyze the historical importance of your chosen document and how it helps you understand the larger historical events/processes at play in the textbook chapter(s) it is associated with.

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Gottlieb Mittelberger, Journey to Pennsylvania in the Year 1750, trans. Carl Theo Eben (Philadelphia, John Jos McVey, 1898).

Analyze the historical importance of your chosen document and how it helps you understand the larger historical events/processes at play in the textbook chapter(s) it is associated with.  Remember to use specific details from the document to support your arguments.

Write a 4-5-page book review on Amitav Ghosh’s account of life across the medieval Indian Ocean as reconstructed in his In an Antique Land.

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Book Review

Write a 4-5-page book review on Amitav Ghosh’s account of life across the medieval Indian Ocean as reconstructed in his In an Antique Land. Devote the first 3-5 paragraphs (about a page and a half to two pages) briefly presenting who the author is (look him up online—he has his own webpage with list of published works), identifying the genre or style of the book (is the work a work of fiction such as a novel, a travelogue, a work of scholarly history, or a combination of the three?), and providing a quick sketch of the work’s plotline (the story told in book). Next, address how Ghosh relies on geniza documentation from the synagogue of Ben Ezra in Fatimid Fustāt(old Cairo) to reconstruct aspects of the medieval past. Please use Mark Cohen’s essay on the Geniza in addition to Ghosh’s own explanation of this strange institution to help make your case. Finally, address how the author contrasts his retelling of life in the medieval past with a critique of life in the twentieth century. Do you think Ghosh’s account of life in the medieval world of North Africa and the Indian Ocean presents a compelling case of convivencia(“a world of accommodation” of difference) between individuals from different communal and religious backgrounds? How does Ghosh use this “world of accommodations” to offer a contrast and critique of life in our own world of “exclusion”? Do you find his contrast convincing?

How and why does the same historical event, movement, process generate different and at times competing historical narratives?

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Historical narratives are often themselves history.

How and why does the same historical event, movement, process generate different and at times competing historical narratives?
Use examples from the course materials, your textbook, and our lectures, discuss who is writing, from what position, and to what end, and consider how historical narratives are susceptible to these factors. You may want to investigate the following cases: the Opium Wars, the Macartney Embassy, the Meiji Restoration, and the critique of the yangban, among others.

Why do authors choose specific examples and how do they support their arguments? How does a comparison of different historical narratives enrich your understanding of history?

Choose one case study and answer as many questions as possible in 3-4 pages single spaced (5-7 pages double spaced). Please note that your midterm requires both a draft version and a revised, final version In your essay, you should correctly introduce, contextualize, and cite any quote from your readings, textbook, or lectures and explain how any chosen quote supports your argument. Please note that this is not a research paper and extra reading/citation is limited to maximally ONE additional authoritative or scholarly source, if necessary. Be sure to consider some of the techniques you have learned in tutorials while composing your response.

What was the new religious conversion strategy that emerged in Christianity in the 16th century? Explain two reasons why Martin Luther broke from the Roman Catholic religion. Explain two reasons for Luther’s success. Finally, two ways that the Catholic Church attempted to stem the Protestant Reformation?

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Historical question

Answer the following two questions down below in the form of short but well-developed essays (2 pages for each question!). Be sure to address each part of the questions.

  1. What is meant by the Renaissance? Explain the shift in one’s view of the world that occurred at this time. What is the meaning of humanism and secularism and give an example of each term. Finally, explain why the later Scientific Revolution was a “revolutionary” movement?
  2. What was the new religious conversion strategy that emerged in Christianity in the 16th century? Explain two reasons why Martin Luther broke from the Roman Catholic religion. Explain two reasons for Luther’s success. Finally, two ways that the Catholic Church attempted to stem the Protestant Reformation?

 

What was the “Protestant Reformation”? What happened overall? What does the reader need to know to understand what you are going to be arguing about?

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To what extent did the Protestant Reformation contribute to an increase in violence?

Introduction
What was the “Protestant Reformation”? What happened overall? What does the reader need to know to understand what you are going to be arguing about?

Thesis. One or two-sentence answer to the research question,

Body Paragraphs
1st Topic/Argument
2nd Topic/Argument
3rd Topic/Argument
Conclusion
Restate reworded Thesis
Final Argument addressing R.Q. & explaining Thesis

State the main issue and give the major provisions. Based on the historical circumstances at the time, were these compromises doomed to fail in the long run? Why?”

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Slavery issue

Below is the topic and question the whole paper is to be written over:
“Democracy is a series of compromises. Concerning the slavery issue, mention some of the important compromises in our national history between 1787 and 1850. For each compromise, state the main issue and give the major provisions. Finally, based on the historical circumstances at the time, were these compromises doomed to fail in the long run? Why?”

What traditions in instrument-making did Black Americans retain in America? How did the experience of slavery in America change instrument-making and use?

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African culture in the Americas

Reading: Excerpts from “Chapter 4: African Culture in the Americas,” in Krauthammer, Barbara and Williams, Chad. Major Problems in African American History, 2nd edition.
Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2018, linked in previous page of module.

Background: In this paper you’ll examine the ways in which Africans enslaved in America drew upon African cultural traditions to create a hybrid Black American culture, focusing mostly on cultural artifacts. Most historians of slavery in the early twentieth century maintained that slavery either was a benefit to enslaved Africans, by introducing them to white Christian civilization, or later, that the trauma of enslavement so utterly destroyed the psyches of captured Africans that they retained no African heritage. In the late twentieth century, however, historians of slavery began to pay greater attention to how the enslaved held on to African traditions in America.

Investigation: The reading for this chapter provides evidence of diverse African cultural traditions practiced by enslaved Black Americans, but it also addresses how enslaved Africans from different regions of Africa created a new, hybrid Black American culture, incorporating European as well as African traditions. Armed with this evidence, in this paper students will examine how enslaved Black Americans interpreted and used European American traditions and institutions in their own, separate way.

Method: Students should first read the assigned reading in Yawp, especially Section II, on “Slavery and the Making of Race.” Next, read the introductory and “Questions to Think About” sections from the Krauthammer handout. Then, with those questions in mind, read the “Documents Overview” and then carefully examine the sources. Enlarged versions of the visual sources, including photographs of the African instruments, are inserted into the handout.

Questions to Consider: In addition to the “Questions to Think About” section of the handout, please consider the following questions while reading and examining the handout. These need not be answered directly in the paper itself; these questions are just to guide your thinking as you read.

  • Musical instruments essay: What traditions in instrument-making did Black Americans retain in America? How did the experience of slavery in America change instrument-making and use?
  • Visual sources: Which things seem the most “African,” and why? Which items seem most “European,” and why? After inspecting these sources, would you assume that they were from America or Africa? What makes something look “African” or “European”? Almost all of the artifacts are from the twentieth century; what conclusions can you draw from this information?
Paper Topic: Write a one-to-two page paper (around 500 words) answering the following questions in the form of an essay: How did Africans enslaved in America create a hybrid Black American artistic and musical culture? How did these Africans use European artistic and musical traditions as well as African ones? Be as specific as you can and use the sources from the reading. DO NOT USE OUTSIDE SOURCES.

Using what you have learned about the practice of segregation within the United States government, as well as President Wilson’s knowledge of these practices, imagine that you are living in America in 1920 and work for the postal service or another government organization.

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Should the President Be Held Accountable for the Violation of Citizens’ Constitutional Rights

Using what you have learned about the practice of segregation within the United States government, as well as President Wilson’s knowledge of these practices, imagine that you are living in America in 1920 and work for the postal service or another government organization. You have witnessed firsthand the practice of segregation, and have decided to write to your local congressman about how these practices are violating the Constitutional Rights of your African-American co-workers.
You will write a minimum 2 paragraph letter to a Philadelphia congressman from 1913 (found here). In your letter be sure to identify at least three specific ways in which African-Americans’ rights have been violated. Finally, explain whether you believe that the President should be held accountable for these violations, and discuss whether these violations warrant the removal of his administration.

Explain why or why not. Do you think their tactics were justified at the time? How does time and perspective affect our understanding of events and groups like these?

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Sons of Liberty Journal

The Sons of Liberty staged acts of resistance against the British government and agitated for revolution. Their tactics at times have led some to categorize them as a terrorist group. After reviewing the textbook and sources on the Sons of Liberty, the writings of Samuel Adams, and given what was taking place at the time (the Stamp Act, Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, etc.), do you believe that they were a terrorist group or freedom fighters? Explain why or why not. Do you think their tactics were justified at the time? How does time and perspective affect our understanding of events and groups like these? (for example, consider the events of January 6, 2021; how do you think our perspective of that day will change 25 years from now?)

To receive full credit for this assignment your post must:

Address the questions asked in the paragraph above in at least a 300-word post and cite all outside sources appropriately
Include at least one interesting question the readings raised for you.