“The U.S. Expands its Reach, 1890s to the 1920s”
Analysis of one primary source from Schaller’s ch. 19 and one major film theme from our film
“To Conquer or Redeem: Manifest Destiny,” Acts I and III
You’ve read all of your required readings from Schaller, American Horizons, chapter 19-20, our
primary sources at the end of chapter, and are our articles listed on our syllabus:
Your primary sources- read all and focus your analysis on one of the following:
*19.1 Visual Document: Mary Elizabeth Lamb, “Awake United States” Sheet Music and
Lyrics (1898)
*19.2 Andrew Carnegie, Excerpt, “Distant Possessions” (1898) and Albert Beveridge,
Excerpt, “The March of the Flag” (1898)
*19.3 Visual Document: Untitled Clifford Berryman Cartoon (on Philippines) (1899)
*19.4 Richmond Planet and Wisconsin Weekly Advocate, Excerpts from Letters from
African American Soldiers in the Philippines” (1899; 1900)
*“The Roosevelt Corollary,” 1904 (primary source in Canvas)
*“The Platt Amendment,”1901 (primary source in Canvas)
These are very important required readings (in addition to our text) that provide important historical
context and are important for your analysis of your primary sources and film:
*Contreras, U.S. Policy Toward Latin America Since the end of the Nineteenth Century, pp. 1-21 (in
Canvas),
*Contreras, The Monroe Doctrine, up to p. 4 (in Canvas)
*Schaller’s “Global Passages” pp. 760-761: “Fordlandia: Small Town America in the Amazon”
You’ve also seen and taken notes on your very important films in Canvas, these also provide
important historical context:
Now, for your two-part discussion board essay: after having carefully read all of the primary sources,
choose ONE primary source from those listed above as well as ONE major theme from film “To
Conquer or Redeem: Manifest Destiny,” Acts I and III to analyze. You will be placing the primary
source and the film into historical context, addressing the following questions about each primary
source as well as discussing the importance of each primary source, as well as making connections to
the rest of our readings and films on this topic. (each part of the essay is just as important and equally
weighted)
Essay directions, Part I (Deep analysis of a primary source):
Write a well-developed and well-supported essay in which you analyze the importance of that
primary source you chose (you’re carefully reading all of them and focusing your analysis on those
listed above), and discuss the multiple ways that that document is important for the study of the
United States and its relationship to the world during the latter part of the 19th century and the
first decades of the 20th century.
First, provide us the historical context necessary to understand our primary sourcesituate
it historically, telling us what is going on in the United States and abroad at the time the
document is written. (Use our Schaller chapters, our articles and our films). Show that you’re making
connections to our readings and the films that you’re viewing and taking notes on. Providing historical
context is absolutely essential to this essay.
Next, tell us all about that primary source and everything that document tells us about
that historic moment it deals with. Show complexity (including the political cartoons)
History 109 Professor Contreras
Page 2 of 3
*Address all of the questions in the “Working with Sources” section in our text following
each document. What are some of the strengths of this document? What are some limitations?
What assumptions does it make? Does it have biases and/or peddle in stereotypes, for example?
If so, explain that.
Lastly, discuss all of the ways that that primary source is important for our
understanding of the United States and its relationship to the world during the latter part of the
19th century and the early part of the 20th century (up to the 1920s).
[About three well developed paragraphs with specific examples for this part of the essay]