Signature Essay Prompt

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 those 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 take into account in seeking redress of their grievances? Did the new United States (under either the Articles or Constitution) address their grievances?

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 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.

• 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 Blackboard 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• DO NOT QUOTE sources, paraphrase in your own words and cite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