Ethics and Civics Historical Analysis (Signature Essay)

Ethics and Civics Historical Analysis
(Signature Essay)
DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS ASSIGNMENT UNTIL AFTER YOU HAVE COMPLETED UNIT 3 LESSON 1
PROMPT
During the mid-18th Century, English colonists appealed to the metropole for redress of various
grievances. In this essay, I want you to consider the ethics and civics of the elite members of colonial
society seeking change (later known to us as the Patriots). Who were these Patriots? What methods
did they use to further their goals through civic engagement? What ethical considerations did they
consider in seeking redress of their grievances? How did they fail in the creation of the first American
government under the Articles of Confederation? Did the second government under the Constitution
address their grievances or did they simply remove the imperial government and placed themselves in
that position?
Note 1: Successful responses will consider a broad range of evidence in support of arguments. Take a
few moments to consider how you would respond by making a list of both “ethics” and “civics” related
to the colonists and their grievances. Be sure to have a mixture of big/broad ideas and specific/detailed
evidence in your argument.
If you are confused about the definitions of “ethics” or “civics” go back and look at previous “ethical
discussions” that were participation choices in previous units – you need not have participated to read
through the conversation. If you are still confused, contact your coach.
Note 2: We DO NOT want summaries. Summaries will not earn a high grade. “A papers” utilize rule of
three analysis (including strong rule of three thesis statements in the introduction and each paragraph
of the body), specific and detailed historical facts as evidence, analysis instead of summary, consider
change over time and historical geography (as necessary in response to the prompt), and properly cite
both primary and secondary sources.
Note 3: Required length is 2-3 pages (introduction, 3 paragraphs of the body, conclusion).
Requirements
 Must be in Rule of Three format with a introduction and strong thesis statement, 3 paragraphs of
the body (each with their own thesis statement – one for each of the three key points of your overall
thesis), and conclusion. So, a minimum of 5 paragraphs. (2-3 pages)
 This is a fact-based essay; you must provide specific and detailed evidence for your hypotheses.
 You must utilize a minimum of three primary sources from the assigned materials (primary sources
posted in the course module OR found under the primary source section of each chapter in
American Yawp only; you may not utilize sources linked to in the reference section of American
Yawp) as evidence in your essay
 You must utilize a minimum of three secondary sources from the assigned materials as evidence in
your essay
 You may only use materials assigned in this course for your essay (we have vetted all the materials
utilized in this course, other materials may not be appropriate or accurate). If you use outside
sources your grade will be docked.
 DO NOT QUOTE sources, paraphrase in your own words and cite
 You must consider ethics/ethical decision making in this essay
 Don’t forget about historical geography, where something takes place matters and it may be
important to your argument.
 You must use Turabian citation style in this essay; all citations must be footnote style citations (no
parenthetical cites allowed, no endnotes/works cited at the end, you need footnotes). Be sure to
review how to properly cite a primary source that may be contained in another work and be sure to
use page numbers where possible.
 12 pt type, 1-inch margins, double-spaced
REMINDER: Turabian/Chicago footnote citations are required for this essay. You will lose points if you
use parenthetical cites or other citation styles. You must provide a specific page number or other
location (chapter, section, etc.) where possible in your footnotes.
How the Assignment is Graded
The following factors are considered when we grade:
RULE OF THREE THESES – Do you have a well thought out and clear overall thesis in your introduction?
Do you have a thesis statement for each of your three paragraphs of the body? Do the paragraphs of the
body follow the overall thesis statement?
EVIDENCE – You must have solid evidence for each point you raise in the thesis. Evidence is not simply a
statement, there must be an explanation of how that evidence supports the thesis statement.
Example: If you were writing a paragraph on the causes of the Cold War, you might use the Baruch Plan
as an example. Simply writing “the Baruch Plan was a cause of the Cold War” in your paragraph would
not be enough and would not be analytical. However, the following sentences do provide a good
analysis of this piece of evidence:
“One cause of the Cold War was the failure of the United States and the Soviet Union to agree upon a
plan for nuclear disarmament after World War II. The Baruch Plan, presented by the US, would maintain
the American atomic weapon advantage for the foreseeable future. This played into Stalin’s suspicions

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