History research essay

HISTORY RESEARCH PAPER

You must write a research essay of 2,500–3,000 words (min 8 double-spaced typed pages in length, not including title page, bibliography, and footnotes or endnotes; maximum length 10 pages) on one of the topics from the list on the next page. The topics are broadly defined, so you should feel free to narrow them down to suit your own interest in the topic you choose

You should use at least six sources. You can use sources from the required course readings, but not the modules/lectures themselves. Moreover, your paper’s sources much include at least three outside sources (including recommended readings and those listed in the course bibliography. Five percent (5%) will be deducted from your paper mark (out of 100) for each source you do not use. You must make meaningful and substantial use of each of your sources. Sources that have obviously been included merely to pad the bibliography will not count toward the minimum requirement.

It is important that your essay follows the proper format and style. Elements of style and readability will be given much greater weight in the grading of the research essay than test. Before proceeding, you should read the “Essay Writing Guidelines for History Essays” in this course outline. As the guidelines state, citations must follow Chicago style (for more information than is provided in the guidelines, see the Chicago Manual of Style).

Use only scholarly articles and books (e.g. those published by academic/university presses; those with well-documented/footnoted sources, etc.). Begin with the useful bibliographies found on the course’s blackboard site and in Thompson and Randall’s Ambivalent Allies. You may include in your sources any of the course material that covers your topic

The electronic database called America: History and Life will likely be the most useful bibliographical guide for recent articles in Canada-U.S. history. JSTOR (which contains older material) and the Canadian Periodical Index (CPI) might also be helpful. Some of the journal articles listed in these searchable databases may be available online; others can be found in the library (note: if using the CPI, you can use articles from journals, such as the Canadian Historical Review, but do not use articles from popular magazines, such as Maclean’s, or newspapers).

Many of the articles cited in the above bibliographies are available as online versions, which you can access on {edited} Library website (Opens new window) either from home or at the Library.

Do not use Internet websites to write your papers (esp. Wikipedia and other online encyclopedias). In addition, do not use general textbooks (e.g. Illustrated History of Canada, Origins: Canadian History before Confederation, or A History of the Canadian Peoples), encyclopedias, or dictionaries

You may write an essay on any of the topics below, following the guidelines in the Course Outline as to length, number of required sources, type of sources acceptable, etc. Remember that this is a history course on Canada and the United States, so for general topics (e.g. the Second World War, Vietnam) you are required to focus on aspects of the topic that concern both countries and/or relations between them. You may choose to narrow (or even expand) your topic, where appropriate.

TOPICS:

1. Acid rain

2. Alaska Boundary Dispute

3. American investment in Canada

4. Annexation movements in Canada and the US

5. Anti-Americanism

6. Anti-Asian racism and legislation in Canada and the United States

7. Anti-Ballistic Missile defence

8. Arctic sovereignty

9. Auto pact

10. Borderlands

11. Canada and the American Revolution

12. Canada and the War on Terrorism

13. Canada and US Prohibition

14. Canada as a middle power

15. Canada-US Tourism

16. Canada, the US, and the Gulf War

17. Civil War (1861-1865) and Canada

18. Confederation and the United States

19. Council of Canadians

20. Cross-border migration

21. Cuba

22. Cultural exemption (Article 2005 of NAFTA)

23. Cultural mosaic/melting pot

24. Cultural protection and promotion policies

25. Deregulation in Canada and the United States

26. “Diplomacy of Constraint” in the Cold War’s hot wars

27. Economic nationalism

28. First Nations

29. First World War and Canada-US relations

30. Fisheries disputes

31. Foreign Investment Review Agency (FIRA)

32. Franco-Americans

33. Free Trade Agreement (FTA)

34. Functional Principle

35. Great Lakes borderlands

36. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreements

37. Impact of 11 September 2001 on Canada-US relations

38. Impact of mass culture

39. Impact of the Cold War on Canada-US relations

40. International Joint Commission

41. Japanese Removal and Internment

42. Loyalists

43. Lynchpin theory of Canada in the Atlantic Triangle

44. Magazine industry and “split-run” magazines

45. Maine-New Brunswick Boundary

46. Manifest Destiny

47. Massey Commission

48. National Energy Program (NEP)

49. National Missile Defense (NMD)

50. National Policy and the branch plant economy

51. New Deal America, No Deal Canada

52. New Democratic Party and the United States

53. Nixon Shokku and Nixon Doctrine

54. North American Air Defence Agreement (NORAD)

55. North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

56. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

57. Oregon Boundary Dispute

58. Pacific seal disputes

59. Petro-Canada

60. Political Culture

61. Quebec sovereignty and the united states

62. Quiet diplomacy

63. Rebellions of 1837 in Canada-US relations

64. Reciprocity agreement (1911)

65. Reciprocity Treaty (1854)

66. Ronald Reagan and Brian Mulroney

67. Second World War

68. Soft power

69. Softwood Lumber disputes

70. “special relationship”

71. St. Lawrence Seaway

72. The “Undefended border”: myth or reality

73. The role of Canada-US Joint Commissions/boards in overall relations

74. Third Option

75. Trade relations in the 1930s

76. Treaty of Ghent (1814)

77. Treaty of Washington (1871)

78. Trudeau’s foreign policies and the US

79. Vietnam

80. War of 1812

81. War resisters