Essays and Research Papers on U.S. History (1800s)

A twelve page paper which looks at Lee’s background and military career, and the way in which his strategies and tactics prolonged the Civil War whilst not allowing him to achieve a final victory over the Union forces despite his use of offensive tactics designed to compensate for the numerical and strategic advantages held by ...

A five page paper which looks at the case of the Arizona Orphan Abduction, in terms of the various social and economic factors which influenced both the original placement of the children and the court’s decision to remove them from the Mexican adoptive parents, taking into account the behaviour of the nuns, the citizens of ...

A 6 page paper. The questions addressed are: what was the purpose of the civil war and what does one of President Lincoln's statements say about Lincoln. The statement was: "I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me." The writer provides a brief explanation of why the war ...

7 pages. This is an interesting paper on military intelligence during the Gettysburg Campaign. The paper includes the roles of spies, army scouts, guides, couriers, deserters, telegraphers, and even aerial balloonists. Additional topics are the use of cavalry by both the North and the South. The well-known spy Henry T. Harrison ...

A 6 page paper which examines the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, whose compassion and strong leadership made him an effective teacher and student of life’s lessons. Bibliography lists 6 sources.

A five page paper which looks at the way in which Adams had a positive influence on the American government in terms of the Florida Purchase and the Monroe Doctrine, and his individual and perceptive attitude to the relationship between European colonialism and the formation of the USA. Bibliography lists 2 sources

An 8 page paper which presents an examination of soldiers of the Revolution such as Joseph Plumb Martin, and working people during early American times. The working people addressed are women, African Americans, and journeymen. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

A 10 page paper which examines the roles of the Union and Confederate spies in the Civil War. Bibliography lists 12 sources.

A 4 page research paper that examines some of the factors that led up to the Texas revolt against Mexican rule. The writer differentiates between the Texan Revolution and the Mexican War. Bibliography lists 6 sources.

A seven page paper which looks at the network known as the Underground Railroad, which was instrumental in assisting plantation slaves to escape the North and Canada in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and at some of the prominent figures who contributed to the development and maintenance of the Railroad. Bibliography lists 6 sources

A 5 page paper which provides an historical overview of the world’s oldest national park. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

With the British colonization of the “New World” a brand new sociological experiment began. This experiment involved the mixing of peoples from different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds in an environment where there were no hard and fast rules as to how these people should interrelate. While the colonists in the “New World” ...

A 5 page discussion of the battle of Chickamauga. The author of this paper presents the thesis that mass and maneuver, coupled with leadership, determined the outcome of this battle. An overview of critical troop movement, accomplishments, and failures is used to support this thesis. Bibliography lists 6 sources.

A 5 page observation that while the United States, Italy, and Germany, would of first appearance appear to share little in terms of their nationalistic views and their overall relationship with the rest of the world; there were in fact many similarities between their nationalistic views and efforts at territorial expansion. The manner ...

A 5 page paper which examines the significance of the official U.S. role in the war, presenting two authors’ interpretations, which disagree about this role. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

An 8 page paper which first discusses "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" as it involves the patriarchal system of slavery, and then discusses antebellum reform as it is presented in Ronald G. Walters "American Reformers." No additional sources cited.

An 8 page discussion of the evolution in military recruitment techniques which can be observed from the Civil War to the present. Concentrating on recruitment posters, the author contends recruiting techniques evolved from the simplistic to the complex both in terms of the image rendition and in terms of the suggestion the images were ...

A paper which looks at the Lewis and Clark expedition of the early nineteenth century and the reasons why it has become a part of American cultural mythology. Bibliography lists 7 sources.

Reconstruction was a time of new beginnings for the people of this country. It included successes as well as failures. This 5 page paper explores the social ramifications of the reconstruction era, the causes for the great expansion of industrialization that followed reconstruction and the economic causes for the stock market crash of 1929 that resulted in the Great ...

A 6 page paper. Today, as in the 1850s and 1860s, there is a division of opinions among historians regarding the Civil War. One group believes the war was unavoidable due to the number of issues and conflicting interests between the states in the 1850s. Another group believes the war never should have happened, the ...

A 5 page research paper that discusses how the American Civil War almost started in Florida in January, 1861, instead of at Fort Sumter, SC, in April of that year. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

6 pages in length. The Civil War is reflected as setting the precedent of many "firsts" for wartime activity, not the least of which has to do with significant improvements to naval warfare. Prior to this time, naval technology was primitive at best and downright ineffective at worst. When iron-sided ships were introduced ...

A 5 page paper which discusses how the Civil War utilized weapons and methods of transportation that proved it to be a modern war. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

This paper examines the life of Wyatt Earp in Tombstone, Arizona, including the infamous shootout at OK Corral. The paper attempts to separate myth from truth and present it factually. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

6 pages. After the death of one of America's favorite Presidents we saw the end of the Civil War and Reconstruction. If Abraham Lincoln had lived perhaps Reconstruction would have turned out differently. This paper will give an example of what could have been had Lincoln been the President of the United States ...