Analyze the development of the American West during the second half of the nineteenth century.

This assignment aligns with the following course objective(s):
Analyze and interpret primary and secondary sources
It also aligns with the following module objective(s):
Analyze the development of the American West during the second half of the nineteenth century.
PRIMARY SOURCE ESSAY
Like most history textbooks, HIST5 by Kevin M. Schultz gives students an excellent overall overview of different events in history. However, textbooks have to cover a lot of ground and, as a result, sometimes fail to go into much detail about specific topics. HIST5 is no different.
For this assignment, you will read the six primary sources I’ve provided at the end of this handout. (Note: “Primary sources” are old letters, diaries, government documents, etc., that provide historians with the information to write about the past.) All of these primary sources deal with the American West in the middle to late 1800s. After you finish reading them, compare the information you find in them with what is presented in Chapter 18 of the textbook.
The following are some questions you might want to ask yourself: what have you learned from reading the primary sources that you wouldn’t otherwise know today if you had read only the textbook? What advantages do you see primary sources providing students in their efforts to learn about the past? On the other hand, when it comes to studying the American West, is there also an advantage to reading a textbook, as opposed to reading only primary sources? If so, what is that advantage?
Be specific as you write your paper. You should use specific examples from all six primary sources and the textbook. Use direct quotes from both, but each quote should not be longer than four lines. Please be aware that I do not want to get a paper from you that is simply one quote after another. In your paper, you should not just throw the quotes into your paper without doing anything with them. Analyze the quotes. In other words, tell me what you think the authors meant when they wrote those words.
Paper length: Your paper should be at least 900 words long. This equates to about three pages, but word count, instead of page count, should be your guide for paper length. Note: There will be a points deduction if the 900-word minimum is not met! Whatever percentage of the 900 words is missing will be the percentage of the grade that will be deducted in points.
Paper format: Your paper should be double spaced in 12 point Times New Roman type with one inch margins. Do not insert extra lines between paragraphs. Your paper should have a header for your name and a footer for the page numbers. There will be a ten point deduction for incorrect formatting!
Citations: You do not need a Works Cited page. You will be telling me where you got your information in the essay itself. [Example: In Chief Red Cloud’s Speech, Red Cloud states, “Our ponies were taken away from us under the promise that they would be replaced by oxen and large horses; it was long before we saw any, and then we got very few.”] When you quote from the textbook, please provide the page number at the end of the quote. [Example: According to Kevin M. Schultz in HIST5, “The second central institution of black life in the South of the late 1800s was the church” (342).]

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