Download Thesis Statements - Hopewell High School History

Thesis Statements
Thesis Statements
1. Thesis – is what you are trying to prove
to the reader.
2. Must put thesis early in the paper
3. Do NOT just restate the question as your
thesis
Question 1
Religion had a profound impact on the
colonization of British America.
To what
To
what extent
extent is
is this
this aa true
true statement
statement
Thesis
While religion was the driving force
behind the colonization of the New
England colonies, its impact decreased
as one traveled south.
Question 2
1993
Although New England and the Chesapeake region
were both settled largely by people of English origin, by
1700 the regions had evolved into two distinct societies.
Why did this difference in development occur.
Use documents AND your knowledge of the colonial
period up to 1700 to develop your answer.
Thesis
Even though the settlers of North American were
primarily English, the motives for settlement,
resources and geography allowed for the
development of two distinct societies.
Question 3
1985
“From 1781 to 1789 the Articles of Confederation
provided the United States with an effective
government.” Using the documents and your knowledge
of the period, evaluate this statement.
Thesis
While there were perceived deficiencies
with the Articles of Confederation, its
effectiveness depended upon one’s
philosophical view of the role of the
federal government.
Question 4
1990
Jacksonian Democrats viewed themselves as the
guardians of the United States Constitution, political
democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic
opportunity.
In light of the following documents and using your
knowledge of the 1820’s and 1830’s, to what extent do
you agree with the Jacksonian’ view themselves
Thesis
In an attempt to be seen as the guardians of political
democracy and economic opportunity, the Jacksonian
Democrats trampled on the Constitution and
individual liberty.
Question 5
1993
“The sectional compromises of the first half of the
nineteenth century were not in fact compromises but
rather ‘sectional sellouts’ in which the North gave in to
the insistent demands of the slave holding South.”
Assess the validity of this statement.
Thesis
When the opportunity to compromise arises the
outcome often leads both sides wanting more and
even though it appears that the North “sold out” to the
South both sides, in fact, compromised as long as
possible to prevent war.
Question 6
1980
“The decision of the Jackson administration to remove the
Cherokee Indians to lands west of the Mississippi River in the
1830’s was more of a reformulation of the national policy that had
been in effect since the 1790’s than a change in that policy.”
Assess the validity of this generalization with reference to the
moral, political, constitutional, and practical concerns that shaped
national Indian Policy between 1789 and the mid-1830’s.
Thesis
Question 7
1981
“How and why did the lives an status of Northern middleclass women change between 1776 and 1876?
Thesis
Question 8
1987
By the 1850’s the Constitution, originally framed as an
instrument of national unity, had become a source of
sectional discord and tension and ultimately contributed
to the failure of the union it had created.”
Using the documents and your knowledge of the period
1850-1861, assess the validity of the this statement.
Thesis
Question 9
America’s war with Mexico has been labeled, both then
and since, an unprovoked and unjustifiable war of
aggression and territorial aggrandizement. Using the
following documents as well as your knowledge of the
diplomatic history of the years from 1836 to 1846,
evaluate this assertion.
Thesis
Question 10
“The Civil War had started to preserve the Union, but for
the majority in the North it had become a war to create a
more perfect Union.”
Assess the validity of this statement.
Thesis
Question 11
“The debate over the relationship between the states
and the federal government and over the principles of
interposition and nullification began with the struggle to
ratify the Constitution and continued to the end of the
Civil War.”
Evaluate this statement using the documents and your
knowledge of constitutional history from 1789 to 1865.
Thesis
Question 12
2005B
•In the early nineteenth century, Americans
sought to resolve their political disputes through
compromise, yet by 1860 this no longer seemed
possible. Analyze the reason for this change.
•Use the documents and your knowledge of the
period 1820-1860 to construct your response. .
Thesis
Question 13
2002
•"Reform movements in the United States sought
to expand democratic ideals." Assess the validity
of this statement with specific references to the
years 1825 to 1850.
•Use the following documents and your
knowledge of the period 1825-1850 in
constructing your response. .
Thesis
Question 14
2004
•In what ways did the French and Indian War
(1754-1763) alter the political, economic and
ideological relations between Britain and its
American colonies?
•Use the documents and your knowledge of the
period 1740-1766 in constructing your response.
Thesis