I wrote this paper nd got a 65.. just need a little help correcting it using the professor’s feedback
Topic
Historians have long debated the relationship between the United States and the concept of “empire.” The US was both born out of a rejection of empire and has also operated as an empire at moments in its history. But historians disagree about how to define “empire” and about which periods of US history should properly be understood as imperial. Some focus on the late 19th century as an exceptional moment in which the US pursued empire, while others point to longer continuities in US empire-building both within and beyond North America. Which interpretation do you find more persuasive, and why? Which provides the best framework for understanding the US’s relationship to the concept of “empire?” Which historian’s analysis do you find most useful? What are the implications of your choice for our understanding of American history? Support your argument with evidence from primary sources.
Sources
Please stick to the assigned readings and discussions for this assignment. However, your paper should still have a strong and original argument and as little summary of the class material as possible.
You will definitely want to use Samuel Bemis’s secondary sources since they are modeling the kinds of analyses of the US Empire that your essay should propose.
Beyond that, you must use at least three primary sources in your paper. Primary sources, as you know, are documents that have come down to us from the period we are studying. You can find primary sources in the Documentary Companion to the American YawpLinks to an external site.. You will want to choose primary sources that you can interpret so that they support the argument you are making. You should quote the relevant passages of your primary sources, but more importantly, you should explain why, in your mind, the quoted source supports your larger point.
To be clear, you may not use sources that are not on the syllabus for this paper. You must stick to the assigned readings, with no outside sources, and especially no websites. I put this restriction on you for a very specific reason: I want to see how well you can articulate in writing the ideas we discuss in class. I am not assessing your research skills, so I ask you not to do any outside research. Sources from outside the syllabus will not be counted for credit.
Citations and Style
Your paper should be written in a standard academic format using a scholarly tone, with Chicago-style footnote citations and a complete bibliography. Neither the notes nor the bibliography count towards the page limits.