The purpose of the Final Project is allow you to select one focus area of early American History and allow you to explore it more fully. This Project is also designed to be a project that pulls on your practice during the term of developing historical arguments and presenting them supported by points and evidence. Here you will be developing your own original historical argument and presenting it to the classroom audience.
I have designed this project to take five hours of research time and ten hours of project creation time. You may begin this project as early in the term as you wish, although the course design is for it to be your primary focus in the last four weeks of the term, including Finals Week.
For all of the topic choices below, you are empowered to stop researching after five hours. Be aware that for books listed, very often there are audiobook versions available if you prefer that method of learning. Take notes as you go so you can remember what you learned.
To further explore the experiences of Native Americans in North America in the 1600s, 1700s and 1800s, spend at least five hours on the following:
Watch documentary on Native responses around the War of 1812, We Shall Remain: Tecumseh's Vision,
Watch documentary on the Cherokee response to American threats to their homeland in Southeastern North America, We Shall Remain: Trail of Tears
episodes focused on Native Americans in the podcast Ben Franklin's World.
To further explore this topic, you may listen to five hours' worth of episodes from Ben Franklin's World. Focus on topics about everyday life and avoid episodes on wars or diplomacy or native topics. Examples:
Episode 9 - How the Dutch Brought Us Santa,
Episode 292 - Craft in Early America,
Episode 287, Elections in Early America,
Episode 278, Polygamy in Early American History,
Episode 275, Pets in Early America,
Episode 266, Education in Early America.
To further explore this topic, you may explore one or more of the following for five hours:
Read the book Never Caught
Read a first-hand account of a slaves' experiences, The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano
Explore a web essay on slavery in the 18th century from the Newberry Library in Chicago: Olaudah Equiano and the Eighteenth-Century Debate over Africa and the Slave Trade.
Read a biography of the most famous African American of the 1700s, Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage
Read a fascinating account of a Caribbean slave revolt, Tacky's Revolt, (may listen to podcast episode on the book in Ben Franklin's World podcast and then read some of the book yourself).
Experience a web exhibit on Tacky's Revolt at Slave Revolt in Jamaica, 1760-1761: A Cartographic Narrative.
Listen to one of the first four episodes of the podcast The History of American Slavery, published by Slate.
To further explore this topic, you will spend at least five hours exploring one or more of these sources:
podcast episodes focused on women from the Ben Franklin's World,
scholarly article on abortion in colonial America, entitled Taking the Trade: Abortion and Gender Relations in an Eighteenth-Century New England Village,
information on the case of colonial abortion which is the focus of the above Taking the Trade article.
documentary of the changing life of a woman living during the Revolution and the early nation, Martha Ballard, entitled A Midwife's Tale,
documentary of one Connecticut women's challenges during the American Revolution, which highlights the situation of many other women, called Mary Silliman's War,
read (or listen to audiobook of) Jill Lepore's book comparing the lives of Ben Franklin and his sister Jane: Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin.
To further explore this topic, explore one or more of the following sources:
watch the HBO 2008 series John Adams available on HBO and Amazon,
watch episodes of Liberty! The American Revolution documentary series from the Chemeketa Library,
examine documents from the American Revolution from the Library of Congress,
study the history and context of the Declaration of Independence at the National Archives,
read a first-hand account of the war from Continental Army soldier Joseph Plumb Martin, A Narrative of a Revolutionary War Soldier,
listen to podcast episodes on the American Revolution from Ben Franklin's World,
explore the interactive online activities of the Museum of the American Revolution,
explore an animate Revolutionary battlefield map,
documentary of one Connecticut women's challenges during the American Revolution, which highlights the situation of many other women, called Mary Silliman's War,
To further explore this topic, you will spend at least five hours
watch the musical Hamilton on Disney Plus,
listen to the soundtrack of the Hamilton musical,
read (or listen to) the book on which the musical was loosely based, Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton.
explore the web exhibit Alexander Hamilton and the Founding of the United States at the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.,
read a Smithsonian Magazine article about the Caribbean beginnings of Alexander Hamilton, "Walk in the Footsteps of Alexander Hamilton on this Tiny Caribbean Island."
To further explore the life of the most famous American of the 1700s, spend at least five hours on the following:
watch the 2022 Ken Burns PBS documentary entitled Ben Franklin. Available online with an Oregon Public Broadcasting membership and on Amazon Video,
read his The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (available for free online and in audiobook format),
listen to one of the many episodes focused on Ben Franklin in the podcast Ben Franklin's World,
read (or listen to) Jill Lepore's book comparing the lives of Ben Franklin and his sister Jane: Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin.