Outline is attached file. No preference on which essay topic chosen; whatever is easiest for the writer.
HIS 108
The Diligent
The Paper:
At the height of the slave trade, the 16th to 19th century, more than 40,000 slave ships plied the waters of the Atlantic, bringing human cargo from Africa to the Americas and the Caribbean. One such vessel was The Diligent, whose First Lieutenant Robert Durand left behind a journal capturing the daily life on the vessel. Using the recollections captured in the journal as a starting point, the historian Robert Harms reconstructed the complex business of the slave trade.
Using ideas from The Diligent choose ONE of the following topics to write on:
1. Create and support an argument for the economic viability of the slave trade during the period of time covered by this particular voyage.
2. Analyze the arguments for both the continuation of slavery and for its abolition.
3. Using examples from the text analyze the triangular trade. Some questions to consider (not exhaustive): Why was it successful? If any one part were missing would it have continued to work? Why trade with Africa in the first place?
Nuts and Bolts of Paper: Only papers submitted through the course BlackBoard site will be accepted. Papers must be a minimum of 1500 words long, please do not exceed 1800 words. They should be double-spaced, using standard margins, and Times New Roman Font, size 12, or its equivalent. Correct spelling and the proper use of the English language is required. I will be grading you on content, spelling and grammar. This is a scholarly paper, so do NOT use slang, contractions, or first person. At the top of your paper, include your name and an accurate word count, failure to do so will result in a FULL LETTER GRADE deduction. Your paper must be named in the following manner: Last Name_First Name.doc Failure to do so will result in a FULL LETTER GRADE penalty.
Papers will only be accepted up to one week after their due date. After that time a score of 0 will be assigned. There will be a FULL LETTER GRADE penalty for each day that the paper is late. If it is not submitted to BlackBoard at the start of class it is late. You may ONLY use the document source book or the equivalent e-source book. You may NOT use the internet to help write this paper. Using the internet will result in a grade of 0.