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Lloyd's Register Date Entry Template, 1764

Lloyd's Register 1810 data set from which to ask and answer questions

Graph Sample for Lloyd's Register, 1810, assignment

Slave Bibliography, for Genuine Paper Research

Course Description

The objective of this course is to teach you to conceive and produce history as professional historians do. By course end, you will be able to ask effective questions of historical sources (textual, visual and statistical), answer those questions through systematic research, and convince your readers by persuasive writing that you are right. That’s the course in a nutshell. At this point I do not expect you to create a publishable, original piece of historical writing, only to learn the tools necessary to do so. However, it is entirely possible that you will discover and write historical truths nobody has yet considered.

Like all creative processes, thinking, research and writing are not so much taught as they are learned by practice. Expect to do a great deal of it. This is a rigorous course, the core course for all history majors and minors, and I expect a commitment from students to devote more than the average time and effort. As you are aware, a 3 credit class means 3 hours in class each week and 9 hours of homework (3 hours per credit)—if you are an average student. History 200 generally requires more of students than the average university course, so don’t be surprised if it takes more to excel. If you do not master the skills taught in this course, you will be at a disadvantage in all of your future history courses.

 

Required Books

Conrad, Robert E. Children of God's Fire: A Documentary History of Brazilian Slavery. Penn State Press, 1994. ISBN 0-271-01321-4

Tosh, John. The Pursuit of History. Longman Publishers, 2006, 4^th ed. ISBN 1-405-82351-8 [3^rd edition also satisfactory.]

Williams, Joseph. Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace. Longman Publishers, 2003. ISBN 0-321-11252-0

Turabian, Kate. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers. University of Chicago Press, 1996. 6^th ed. ISBN 0226-81627-3, or latest.

 

No-Excuse, Late Paper Policy: All assignments are due at the beginning of class. Late papers will be accepted only 1 day late, until 4pm, with a 5% penalty. No excuse will change the penalty, so don=t offer one. Many students find that getting behind in this course is a hole nearly impossible to get out of, so the late policy is there to help you keep up, not to punish you.

            Plagiarism will result in course failure with the possibility of further penalties from the university. All work must be your own and original to this course. Turning in work written for a previous class, self-plagiarism, has the same penalties.

 

ASSIGNMENTS

1. Journal, 2%. Due last day of class. Keep a journal amounting to 35 typewritten pages (18 spring/summer term) single spaced, 1" margins all around. If handwritten, 70 (8.5x11) pages (35 spring/summer). Date your entries and number the pages. This is to be a personal record which I will only skim quickly in order to count it. I will not read it. Make an effort to stretch your writing skills. Anything less than the required pages receives no credit. This must be your writing, done since class has begun. The cutting and pasting of emails, letters, or other things cannot be counted. You can distribute the writing over the term any way you like. It should be a daily, or at least weekly, journal entry.

 

2. Mock Paper, Brazilian Slavery (Conrad Sources), 25%. From the collection of primary source materials provided (Conrad), answer one of the following 5 thesis questions.

  1. Disregarding open rebellion (that is attacking the master) how did slaves resist their masters?

  2. Was life for urban slaves different from those who worked on the great plantations?  How, or how not?

  3. In Brazil, free blacks and mulattos made up a large portion of the population. What was their status in society? Where did they fit in and how were they perceived by whites and/or slaves?

  4. Without violence or its threat, slavery cannot be maintained. What common forms did violence take, (not all violence was physical) and what impact might it have had on slaves and on Brazilian society?

  5. What did slaves do to cope with the harshness of their lives?  In what did they find hope, solace, escape, acceptance, freedom from fear, etc.?

            These questions are a bit general, intentionally, and I want you to narrow them as you delve into your research. For example, with question 1, don’t attempt to identify every form of resistance. Narrow the question: “How [effectively] did slaves use _____ as a form of resistance?” for example. Your sole purpose is to answer your question to the best of your ability based just on the sources provided by Conrad and your own creative intelligence. Exact format: 6-8 pages, Courier New font, 11pt, 1 inch margins. This is not a research paper. This is history that you are creating from primary sources. Potentially, you will come to conclusions no historian has before considered, and the answer, your thesis, should be entirely your own. Introduce your thesis, then argue for its truthfulness based on the evidence provided in the sources only. In this mock paper, do not look to other publications for evidence or background; don't even waste your time reading the source introductions. Cite your sources in footnotes according to Turabian.

            In research, you must use some system for collecting and organizing the information (e.g. note cards, digital cards, etc.) and turn these in with the assignment sorted by subject. As we'll explain, your system must contain bibliographic information and be sortable by subject. The breakdown: argument, 40%; notes, 30%; format, 30%. I will judge the paper not so much on writing quality, as that comes later in the course, as on whether or not I think you prove your point and use evidence soundly to do so. Above all, be careful not to assert things that the evidence will not support; but above even that, don’t be afraid to make bold claims, if you think the sources support them.

 

3. Thesis Question Exercise (Conrad Sources), 15%. From Conrad's slave collection, which you have now read, develop 5 of your own thesis questions based on what caught your imagination, rather than what caught mine. They should not be reformulations of my questions, but entirely new. Create your questions carefully. Avoid the pitfalls we will describe in class: too broad, too obvious, preposterous, un-provable, unanswerable, assumes to much, etc. Place your question at the top of the page, and then leave me an inch of space to comment just below. Then, in what remains of the page (double space), hazard some possible answers (theses) to the question (this can be pure speculation), and tell what kinds of sources might answer it? Make sure you ask only one question per page, not a handful of related questions. Each question should have all the information from which I can clearly judge its intent and scope. I will judge the question alone, with no reference to your following comments. I also want you to rank your questions from best to worst, in your opinion. Place your best questions first. Your questions will be judged on whether or not they meet the criteria of good research questions, and on their creativity.

 

4. Quantitative History: Lloyd's Register Assignment, 10%. This short paper is based on quantitative data which will be distributed. Your paper should begin by answering the three following questions: 1. What was England's busiest port?  2. What was the average age of ships built in Brazil, and what is the sample size from which you calculated that average?  3. Of the vessels built in Portugal, what percentage have both ship and captain names that are English in form rather than Portuguese?

Now, ask your own questions that the data can answer. Ask 5 thesis questions (e.g., which nations were London's major trading partners?), and then, beneath each, ask a narrower, sub-question that you must answer (e.g., what was the total number of ships trading between London and Spain?). Rank the 5 pairs of questions from best to worst, in your opinion. Ideally, you should come up with dozens of questions, and submit your best 5 pairs. There is no need for the one-page speculation as in the previous assignment.

Lastly, create a table or graph that derives in part from one of your sets of questions (e.g., it might show the total number of ships trading between London and a handful of ports or nations.) Make it conform to Turabian in style. This assignment tests your ability to ask questions and manipulate data, and will be graded on the quality of the questions and the accuracy of your answers.

 

5. Prospectus, 15%. In preparation for writing your Genuine Paper on Slavery (assign. 7), write a short prospectus (proposal) consisting of the following. Your thesis question, stated first and stated succinctly. This may change with research, but I want a question to start. Second, briefly tell me what you want to do, in one paragraph, and what you think may be your thesis. This is also likely to change with research, but its good to start with an assertion that can be changed than to start without any idea of your destination in mind. Then provide me a bibliography of everything you have looked at and everything you plan to look at. This too may change, but it marks out the first stops on your research plan. The bibliography should consist of at least (ideally you want many more) 5 books (including 3 monographs,) 5 journal articles, 1 Ph.D. dissertation or Master’s thesis, 4 different primary sources (or 1 large collection) to which you have access (in print, in our library, through inter-library loan, or online from a reputable source), which may include published documentary collections, archival sources and collections, statistical sources, diaries, memoirs, government records, newspapers, magazines, oral histories, and etc.  List all entries under their relevant headings (books, articles, dissertations, primary sources) and format them per Turabian. This assignment will be graded on the feasibility of the topic you choose, the quality of the question, and how convincing a case you make for the project’s potential success.

 

6. Book Raid, (pass / fail), Choose one recent (last 20 years) monograph (that is a book written by a professional historian on a narrow topic, from an academic press, fully foot- or end-noted, that is not a general survey or a textbook) from the bibliography in your prospectus. This assignment will help you quickly determine the value and purpose of secondary sources related to your chosen topic. You should have already selected a general topic, and ideally a research question before raiding the book. Once you have chosen the book, examine it in less than 2 hours. Answer these questions: What was the author’s purpose in writing the book, what claims does she make, and how does she position herself in the historiography of her topic. In two hours, you should know whether this book is worth reading at greater length, or not worth your time. Focus your two hours on the table of contents, the acknowledgements, the preface/introduction, the conclusion, and the bibliography or bibliographical essay. (All of these key sections will not be found in every book.) Do not read the book in its entirety. Write a brief, single-spaced, 1 page description answering the above questions. This assignment is pass/fail.

 

7. Genuine Paper on Slavery, 30%. This paper will be based on primary sources, like the mock paper, but must also be informed by historiography, that is the work of other historians on the same or similar topic. Format exactly like the mock paper, only this one should be 8-10 pages long. This paper can be done on the same or a similar topic to the one you chose for the mock paper, or can be entirely new. You can rely heavily on Conrad, if you like, but are also encouraged to find other primary sources, published or online. You may stay in Brazil, or do a topic on slavery in other parts of the world, or, often most helpful, is to compare Brazil’s case with that of the U.S. where the sources are abundant and in English.

 

The Benchmark Exam, 3%. This will be a short exam on the most basic things you should have learned in the course. It will be given on the last day of class and will take you less than half an hour, although you can take the entire class time if you like. This is not to be stressed over, and is only a small part of your grade, but is tells me if you learned what I think are History 200’s basic skills and contents.

Course Schedule