1st Quarter Project

U.S. History 1st Quarter Project
Mr. Ditzenberger

In history it is important to not only understand the main events and significant figures, but it is helpful to gain an appreciation for the lives of more ordinary people.
Your assignment this quarter is to develop an historically accurate account of life from the perspective of a somewhat ordinary character in American history. You should first create the character and then research what life would be like for him or her as they face historical events that you are aware of-their involvement in the battles of Lexington and Concord, their use of the cotton gin on their plantation, etc. You can choose the life of a Quaker in Pennsylvania, a Puritan in New England, a British soldier during Revolutionary times, the wife of a plantation owner in the South, or a slave who is destined to work in the cotton fields of South Carolina as an illiterate possession of his wealthy owner. These are just a few ideas. You must submit an idea by the 5th of September that cannot be changed without a penalty to your grade, so choose wisely. You will want to make sure that you can find adequate sources (make good use of questia, http://www.questia.com/Index.jsp) to help you make your information historically accurate.
The information you choose can be written in several forms. You may choose to write a series of letters to your Quaker family that still lives in England, record your reflections on life events in a journal/diary, compose a poem or a speech given to members of the character’s town council or church, conduct an interview for a local newspaper, draw a series of pictures and write descriptions of them, or pretend you are simply telling your stories to a grandchild or friend. You could even write a play that reflects the life of an individual in the time period (see below). These are simply ideas that serve as examples for you to consider and to give you a frame of reference so that you can develop your project in a way that fits your interests and abilities. l
The project should meet the following guidelines:

· it should be written somewhere in the context of the years 1620 to 1800

· the scene and the overall focus should be in the American colonies/American states, but it could involve some correspondence with someone outside of this area.

· it should reflect research-based knowledge of the group of people or type of person you are writing about

· it should reflect the same amount of work that a four to six page research paper would reflect-this is not an assignment that you can do well with a little work

· it should be based on at least five sources, three of which are not from the internet

· although the typical MLA style is not needed for this type of work, it should include a
bibliography/works cited page that follows MLA format


A rough draft is due on September 27th. The final draft is due October 4th. I will give general feedback on the rough draft to help guide you toward any changes that need to be made. The mechanics and structure of the project are your responsibility, although I will make time for extra help if you have specific questions and you take the initiative.

This will be 20% of your quarter grade, so please put appropriate effort into it. You will succeed beautifully if you do. I am excited to see that happen!