Discuss the role of the Indians in the wars for empire from the 1690s through the 1760s.

Overview:

• Assignment Prompt

  Discuss the role of the Indians in the wars for empire from the 1690s through the 1760s.  Were they simply pawns of the European combatants or did they have their own strategies and goals from the war?  What factors caused Indian tribes and confederations to choose one European power over another as an ally?

  You may wish to concept map or outline key issues first and then pull out your three strongest arguments to develop more fully in the essay.

• THE “RULE OF THREE”

  You will need to use an analytical writing style in this class.  The basic form of analytical writing utilizes the “Rule of Three.”  Simply, there should be at least three key points/pieces of evidence in a piece of writing introduced by a strong clear thesis.

  This is a 2-3 page essay length assignment.  Your paper should begin with an Introduction which sets the prompt in the historical context, the LAST sentence of the intro paragraph is the thesis statement which lists the (minimum of) three points (X,Y,Z) that will be more fully developed in the paper.  The first paragraph of the body (paragraph 2) would discuss key point X (this paragraph would have its own thesis as the first sentence, followed by three pieces of evidence/analysis in support), then a paragraph on Y, and finally one on Z.  An essay ends with a conclusion paragraph – which sums up the argument you made and ties X, Y, and Z together.  The conclusion is NOT the place to introduce new arguments or evidence.

  Another way of thinking about it is that an essay is comprised of three paragraphs in the body of similar composition to the one paragraph you wrote in the Reaction 1 exercise.

  So Rule of Three means three key points in a thesis, a body with three paragraphs (one for each of your key points), each paragraph has a thesis supported by three key pieces of evidence. Followed by a conclusion.

• How the Assignment is Graded

  The assignment is worth up to 100 points.  The following factors are taken into account when I grade:

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  THESIS – Do you have a well thought out and clear thesis?

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  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. You must provide a MINIMUM of THREE pieces of evidence in support of each key point of your thesis.

  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 to earn a point.  However, the following sentences would earn a point:

  “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 of the Americans’ true motivations toward the USSR.”

  You should have a minimum of three pieces of evidence in support of your thesis (each point of the thesis needs at least one piece of evidence in support).  There are three possible points here, one for each piece of evidence.

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  HISTORICAL ACCURACY, CLARITY, AND LOGIC

  Is your argument clear and does it make sense?  Is it historically accurate?  Does your evidence prove your point?

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  PROPER CITATION

  Have you properly cited? Have you used the format required in this course (modified Turabian).  You must also FOOTNOTE (see information about creating a footnote in Word given at the beginning of the course).  Parenthetical cites are NOT allowed.  No research allowed, so no outside sources.

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  GRAMMAR AND SPELLING

  Is the essay up to college standards for grammar and spelling?

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  Grade Scale:

  A = 90-100.  Exceptional in all aspects noted above

  B = 80-89.    Above average in most of the aspects noted above

  C = 70-79.    Average work

  D = 60-69.    Below average work

  F = 0-59       Unacceptable college level work

• Important notes

  All information you need to respond to the prompt is contained within the materials assigned in the 1311 course module.  I want you to react to the assigned materials.  DO NOT DO OUTSIDE RESEARCH or seek your answer on the internet.

  I also want to know what YOU think, therefore DO NOT DIRECTLY QUOTE SECONDARY SOURCE MATERIALS.  Most students use quotes as fillers, this is unacceptable in a college history course and does not reflect upon YOUR understanding of the topic at hand.  The only acceptable use of a quote is a short (phrase or sentence) quotation from a primary source document (properly identified and cited) that you immediately discuss and is part of your analysis.

  PRIMARY SOURCE = Something produced in the historical era under study

  SECONDARY SOURCE = Something produced at a later date.  A history textbook, a documentary film, etc.

Indians and the War for Empire reading