History Turning Points
General Overview: Select an event, incident, a legislative action, or related marked historical moment in the years up until the American Civil War (Pre-Columbian Era to 1865), that marks an important transition in American History. This historical event can lead to a social, economic, or political transition that shaped the country’s history. Additionally, you will conclude this research project with a supposition of how history might have been shaped had this event never occurred or of another possible outcome could have been possible.
Examples: The effect of the Salem Witchcraft Trials on the colonial religious goals of Massachusetts; The post-French & Indian War colonial taxation policies of the British government; The failure of the indentured servitude system to provide an ample labor source in the pre-Revolutionary American South; The passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act & its relationship the impending crisis that becomes the American Civil War.
Research Objectives & Questions to be Discussed in Your Essay: (Incorporate these questions in the writing of your essay.)
· Why did you select this event?
· What were both the short- and long-term effects of this historical event?
· Who all were impacted/affected by this historical event?
· How was history changed by this event?
· If you were to imagine a different outcome or reaction to your event, what do you suppose might have been a different outcome in the short- and long-term?
