Guidelines for the Essay Assignment: Read: A Well Regulated Militia: The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America by Saul Cornell Answer the following questions from the book:
1. Explain idea of gun ownership as a civic obligation.
2. Which rebellions were an important part of the militia debate and why? (Choose ONE of the following rebellions to focus on: Shay’s, Whiskey, OR Fries’)
3. Explain position of both the Federalists and Anti-Federalists on gun control AND standing armies.
4. How and why did the gun culture change in the United States in the early decades of the 19th century? Explain the first gun control movement and its results.
5. How did slavery and abolition contribute to the ongoing gun control debates in the early 19th century?
Writing the paper:
1. In the upper left hand corner, include your name, class time, and date. This should be single spaced.
2. Include a title, centered on the page. (DO NOT include a title page)
3. Use 12 point font, left alignment for the main body of your text. The body should be double-spaced.
4. You MUST include an introduction, no more than one page, and a thesis statement. Here, you want to introduce the topic, you can use information from the book itself or your textbook. You can also use outside sources, but the sources MUST be from academic journals. To find these journal articles, utilize the HCC library webpage. Two good search engines to find articles are: Academic Search Complete and JSTOR. DO NOT USE NON-ACADEMIC SOURCES. This means no Wikipedia or similar websites. You MUST cite your work.
5. You MUST include a conclusion.
6. Your paper must be at least 5 full pages.
7. Use quotations sparingly, you should have no more than 4 in your paper. Each quotation MUST be cited.
8. Even if you do not use quotations, you MUST CITE YOUR WORK. At the very LEAST one citation per paragraph. You can use either MLA style OR Chicago style for your citations.
9. You MUST have a Works Cited page.
10. Check your work for spelling and grammar errors. This will count for 10% of the overall grade.
11. Do your own work!
12. To turn in the paper:
a. Save your paper to your computer or a flash drive. Please have your last name in the title.
b. Click on the link titled “A Well Regulated Militia Paper”
c. Click on “Submissions”
d. Follow the links to upload your paper
e. You may be prompted to register through Turnitin.com
