Early American History

HIST139 CT/IT
Critical/Integrative Thinking Writing Assignment
Value of Assignment-At least 10% of overall grade.
Requirements: 3 ½- 4 pages
12 font, double space, cover page.
The student must integrate the following sources into their responses to the prompts below: A secondary source; one primary source (these must include letters, diaries or speeches from people who lived during the various time periods); and two images/pictures/paintings/drawings sketches etc. Sources must be cited in the text as you write as well as at the end of your document.
Must address each of the following prompts while integrating the various sources into a narrative essay.
A. Which time period in American history is most significant when defining the United States of America through the study of history? Begin to answer this question by briefly describing the overall scope of the study of American History for the time period: Before the Europeans to 1850.
Using more detail, discuss the major themes for each of the following time periods: Before the Europeans to 1750.
From 1750-1800
From 1800-1850
Which of those three time periods do you think is the most important to study for a person to gain an understanding of what defines America? Use even greater detail explaining the major themes of the time period selected to explain why you argue for that time period. Include your primary source of a letter, dairy, or speech in this section.
Search for two images/ pictures/ paintings/drawings/sketches etc. that are emblematic of your chosen time period. They should be symbolic examples of the major theme(s) of the chosen timer period. Describe the images and explain why each image is a symbolic example of that time period. Insert your images into your word document along with the explanation of why each is emblematic of the time period. Each image and explanation should be approximately one-quarter of a page.
Is your chosen time period reflected in American Society today? If so, how is your chosen time period reflected in current American society? If not, what may explain the declining influence or disappearance of the themes of that time period? Please be sure to do the following:
Below is an example of how you should use in-line citations on your essays. Of course this is from another course but I hope it helps you with the citation. Notice that direct quotes must be in between quotation marks and cited immediately following the quote. If you are paraphrasing then you need to put the citation at the end of the paragraph or before you change sources in the paragraph.In-line citation should be formatted like this
(Zophy 2009, 179). (authors last name-year if available-comma-page or pages numbers-parenthesis and period)
1. What were the major differences between the thought of Martin Luther and the ideas of the medieval Latin-Rite tradition?

I think the two main differences are that Luther believed that salvation came from the gift of faith while the Latin-Rite believed that salvation had to be earned through good works and apparently that was tied to practice of selling indulgences. He did believe in good works and that a good man naturally does good works, but he argued “faith alone, without works, justifies, frees and saves” (Zophy 2009, 173). And of course the indulgences and Luther’s “Ninety-Five These” questioning why the Pope did not use his own money to build with instead of the money of poor believers, started in motion revolt and reformation. Luther also believed in scripture over the Pope, who in his opinion was a fallible human (Luther, 1).

2. Why was Martin Luther’s insistence that only Scripture carried religious authority so significant for the Reformation period?

I think it was so significant because it had popular appeal. He believed that the scripture carried the religious authority and in the concept of “universal priesthood of all believers”, and that everyone has direct access to God (Zophy 2009, 172-73). He also rejected the sacraments that had no basis in scripture. He saw the corruption in the Church and his insistence that Scripture carried religious authority would be the best way to try and stop the power of corrupt clergy.
Bibliography
Luther, Martin. 95 Theses. Retrieved August 30, 2010 from HIST236D01fall10, Chapter 17. (This is for a primary document and is not technically a correct citation but it meets the purpose and I will accept it)
Zophy, Jonathan W. Short History of Renaissance and Europe: Dances over Fire and Water. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009.

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