Western Civilization GUIDELINES FOR THEMATIC ESSAYS (Final Essay) The goal of this essay is to look at how three different sources tell the story of the same era, event, or person. You will find 3 primary sources that cover one of the aforementioned items and compare/contrast how the story is told. The primary sources you choose have to have been created between the years 1550-present. You MAY NOT use any of the sources from our discussions. You MAY NOT use American history unless it involves its involvement with other parts of the Western world. (For example, European colonialization in North America.) 1. You will choose a topic we have covered in class: a. State building and power b. The Enlightenment c. Global Commerce d. The Enlightenment e. Revolutions f. Nationalism g. New Imperialism h. The World Wars & Interwar Years i. The world from 1945-Present 2. You will choose an event, person, or even era within these topics. For example, you may choose Marie Antoinette and see what sources are written about her. 3. You will find primary sources based on this topic. Make sure your topic is broad enough where you can have 3 sources, but not so broad that it is too big to cover. For this reason, you may want to make a list of top 3 topics you’d like to cover. 4. You will want to compare what these sources have in common. What facts and opinions do they share? For example, do all three of your sources on Marie Antoinette say she was smart but naive? Make note of this. 5. You will want to then note the differences in the sources. Does one source, for example, see her as heartless? Does another see her as a careless woman but a good mother? What are the differences? 6. Then, you will want to analyze why there may be differences and which ones might be more reliable. For this reason, you will want to research the authors as much as possible. Was the author who said she was heartless a Parisian mother who didn’t have money to feed her kids, but never actually met the queen? Was the person who said she was a good mother someone who knew her intimately? Did the Cardinal de Rohan write a source on her? (He was quite taken by Marie, so he may write a more florid account). 7. What can you conclude about the selection of sources and how history is written just by analyzing these primary sources? ESSAY COMPONENTS  Essay Title Be creative. An interesting title captures the attention of your audience and gives readers a clear idea of the subject of your essay.  Introduction to Subject Here’s where good research pays off. This may seem counter-intuitive, but please use one secondary source to describe the basics of your topic. The introduction should be brief, but it should also give the following details: • • • Give the who, what, where, when, how, and why of the topic which you are studying Identify your sources: Give the titles, authors, and date of publication Identify your thesis: Yes, even though you are analyzing sources, you still want a thesis. It should be something you observed, analyzed, or discovered while looking at these source. o Improper thesis: I am going to tell you about 3 sources on Marie Antoinette o Proper thesis: Marie Antoinette was a controversial figure whose biographies tend to be written very passionately about her: some of her biographers want to save her name while others want to tarnish it.  References This is an alphabetized list of references that contributed to your sketch. Please divide the list into two categories (primary sources and secondary sources) and use the MLA, APA, of Chicago style reference style.  Credits Here’s where you take credit for your essay. Please use this format: “Prepared by: Firstname Lastname.” • MLA, APA, and Chicago require cover pages with your name on front. Please ignore this. I am requiring you place your name on back. • Subsequently, if you use MLA, you are typically required to use your last name as a header. Please do not do this, either. Make your header a shortened version of your title. Formatting: • • 1-inch margins, 12-sized font, Times New Roman o (Points will be deducted if these specifications are not met) 4-5 pages • Include both in-text citations AND a reference page: one without the other is plagiarism and you may receive the fullest penalty depending on the situation RESEARCH SUPPORT: • If you make an appointment with the Writing Center AT LEAST one week before the due date and go to you appointment, you will get a 2-day extension on your paper. Proof is required of appointment made and completed. • If you use a text from the library OR the library’s online database, you will receive 5 points extra credit. Proof is require of use beyond reference page citation. (Easiest way is to just bring me the article or show me your ticket from the circulation desk. RESEARCH: Choose one of the primary source websites to find your source: www.eyewitnesstohistory.com http://www.historians.org/teaching/aahe/kelly/pew/Science.htm http://primary-sources.eui.eu/ http://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Main_Page https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/coldwar.htm http://millercenter.org/academic/dgs/primaryresources/cold_war http://guides.lib.washington.edu/content.php?pid=90255&sid=687755 http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/ MILESTONES: Thursday, April 6th 2017 (Thursday): Choose a topic and place it on Google Docs Thursday, April 13th 2017 (Thursday): Give me the reference line of 2 primary sources. Friday, April 21st (Friday): Final paper due by 11:59PM via Safe Assign CECIL JOHN RHOADES Great Imperialist, Monster, or Man of His Time Rhoades 1 “Rhodes was the ultimate imperialist, he believed, above all else, in the glory of the British Empire and the superiority of the Englishman and British Rule, and saw it as his God given task to expand the Empire, not only for the good of that Empire, but, as he believed, for the good of all peoples over whom she would rule” ("Cecil John Rhodes."). According to Rhodes, “Africa is still lying ready for us it is our duty to take it” (Rhodes). This essay takes a look “Confession of Faith by Cecil Rhodes 1877.” by Cecil Rhodes, two letters Olive Schreiner to Havelock Ellis, 19 March 1890 and Olive Schreiner to John X. Merriman, 3 April 1897, by Olive Schreiner and The Memoirs of Paul Kruger, by Paul Kruger in 1902. Cecil John Rhodes was a living legend of British Imperialism, whom he himself convince it was his duty and destiny to spread the British Empire at all cost, where others had a respect for Rhodes it changed as his actions merited a dire rethinking. Cecil Rhodes is very clear with how the world should be and how one should go about making it that way. “It is our duty to seize every opportunity of acquiring more territory and we should keep this one idea steadily before our eyes that more territory simply means more of the Anglo-Saxon race more of the best the most human, most honourable race the world possesses” (Rhodes). Paul Kruger, president of Transvaal, is introduced to how Rhodes does business from his first interaction with Rhodes. In the early 1880’s Rhodes and Kruger meet as Rhodes wants to recruit Kruger into his dream of the African super colony for the British. Kruger recalled Rhodes saying, ““We must work together. I know the Republic wants a seaport: you must have Delagoa Bay.” Kruger replied: “How can we work together there? The harbor belongs to the Portuguese, and they won’t hand it over.” “Then we must simply take it,” said Rhodes” (Kruger 193). Kruger bristles at this and wants no part and Rhodes ends all attempts at further recruitment. Olive Schreiner on the other hand is quite taken by the perception of Rhodes. “I am Rhoades 2 going to meet Cecil Rhodes the only great man & man of genius S. Africa possesses” (Schreiner, 1890, 34-35). Cecil Rhodes fully believes that Africa and anywhere else must come under British rule by right of birth. “I contend that we are the finest race in the world and that the more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race. Just fancy those parts that are at present inhabited by the most despicable specimens of human beings what an alteration there would be if they were brought under Anglo-Saxon influence, look again at the extra employment a new country added to our dominions gives” (Rhodes). Rhodes slaughtered the people of Africa to further his desires. “With the permission to engage in defensive action from the British Government Rhodes joined Jameson in Matabeleland and his group of mercenary soldiers struck a quick and fatal blow at the Ndebele. Rhodes’ mercenaries were in possession of the latest in munitions technology, carrying with them into the veld maxim guns, which, like machine guns, could fire rapid rounds. The Ndebele Impis were helpless in the face of this brutal killing technology and were slaughtered in their thousands” ("Cecil John Rhodes."). Paul Kruger had no disillusion on who or what Rhodes was. Kruger stated, “Cecil Rhodes is the man who bore by far the most prominent part in the disaster that struck the country. In spite of the high eulogiums passed upon him by his friends, he was one of the most unscrupulous characters that have ever existed. The Jesuitical maxim that “the end justifies the means” formed his only political creed” (Kruger 192). Olive Schreiner no longer held her idealistic view of Rhodes and realized what he was all about. “But after all - the old sorrow comes back again. We fight Rhodes because he means so much of oppression, injustice, & moral degradation to South Africa” (Schreiner, 1897, 58-60). Cecil Rhodes was hell bent to make his vision a reality and in his mind is what’s best for the world as a whole. He will not be persuaded otherwise that the best person is a British person, Rhoades 3 so with his fanatic tendencies is not the best to rely upon. Rhodes states, “Fancy Australia discovered and colonised under the French flag, what would it mean merely several millions of English unborn that at present exist we learn from the past and to form our future. We learn from having lost to cling to what we possess. We know the size of the world we know the total extent” (Rhodes). Rhodes has totally bought into not only are Anglo-Saxon the premium race but must also be British or you are held at a disadvantage. With regards to Paul Kruger and his The Memoirs of Paul Kruger, have to take a step back because it is a self-biography and really try to see is this the truth or is this how you want others to see you. When you write about yourself it is too easy to make you look good. In his opening Kruger states that his parents were against slavery and because of this, “But they refused to continue to live under such unjust masters” (Kruger 4). Was this really the case or could his parents no longer make ends meet at the Cape Colony and were forced to head elsewhere. One sounds really just and very forward thinking for the 1830’s in South Africa. Looking at other sources of the time though most of what Kruger says can be substantiated. Rhodes “often disagreed with the Transvaal government's policies and felt he could use his money and his power to overthrow the Boer government and install a British colonial government supporting mine-owners' interests in its place. In 1895, Rhodes precipitated his own spectacular fall from power when he supported an attack on the Transvaal under the leadership of his old friend, Leander Jameson. It was a complete failure and Rhodes had to resign as Prime Minister of the Cape and head of the British South Africa Company in January 1896” ("Cecil John Rhodes."). This downfall for Rhodes was directly against Kruger in which he recalls the incident in great detail in The Memoirs of Paul Kruger pages 228-243. Though you might again call in doubt how easy he decided to be to the peoples of Johannesburg that rebelled against Transvaal. He stated that troops going to root out the rebels in Johannesburg called out to Rhoades 4 him saying, ““President, we have come to greet you, and at the same time to inform you that, when we have captured Jameson, we intend to march straight on to Johannesburg and to shoot down that den with all the rebels in it. They have provoked us long enough.” I replied: “No, brother, you must not speak like that. Remember, there are thousands of innocent and loyal people at Johannesburg, and the others have been for the most part misled. We must not be vengeful; what would be the result of such a step”” (Kruger 240)? Again this comes off as very forgiving for someone who had a revolt against his rule in 1895. Olive Schreiner’s letters give off a more sincere look at what was happening at the time. These are just letters to the people she knew, she wasn’t trying to make an ideal realized and she wasn’t writing a memoir and thinking about how the world would see her. Olive’s observation about that state of the British Empire is most telling. “But if he (Rhodes) passed away tomorrow there still remains the terrible fact that something in our society has formed the matrix which has fed, nourished, & built up such a man! It is the far future of Africa during the next twenty-five or fifty years which depresses me” Schreiner, 1897, 60-64). Olive realizes that Rhodes is not the only problem, that the way the British are so into Imperialism it leads to the monster that Rhodes had become, allowed him to flourish and they praised him for what he did. Rhodes was practically Hitler before Hitler. Though Hitler doesn’t have a statue and a scholarship in his name. In fact I could see them being great friends if they could get over one being a Brit and one being only Austrian. History is written in the perspective that best suits those in power at the time. It is only with time and diligence that one can try and gain a true sense of what went on. You must also take into account where you are. Reading about Cecil Rhodes in England is most likely different then reading about him in South Africa. For these events to happen so recently allows us to find different viewpoints. Had the events happened 500 years ago how many different sources could you find or be allowed to find that had not been destroyed. Looking over these sources I think Rhoades 5 that now day England wouldn’t want too many people reading Rhodes will. That there was a time in your history that a white supremacist was lauded and held up as an example merely a 120 years ago needs to be smoothed over. However with the existence of the memoirs and letters they cannot control the story of Rhodes and it allows for a more legitimate history to be written. I say more legitimate because unless you were there you cannot be for sure what happened 100 percent. As I think of when this paper is due, December 7th, the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, look in a Japanese history book and what will you actually see about that event. History will always be changed to better fit what the country wants history to say. Rhoades 6 References "Cecil John Rhodes." South African History Online. South African History Online, 1 Oct. 2011. Web. 05 Dec. 2016. Olive Schreiner to Havelock Ellis, 19 March 1890, Harry Ransom Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Olive Schreiner Letters Project transcription. Accessed December 5, 2016. https://www.oliveschreiner.org/vre?view=collections&colid=18&letterid=300 Olive Schreiner to John X. Merriman, 3 April 1897, NLSA Cape Town, Special Collections, Olive Schreiner Letters Project transcription. Accessed November 21, 2016. https://www.oliveschreiner.org/vre?view=collections&colid=51&letterid=9 Kruger, Paul. The Memoirs of Paul Kruger. Toronto 1902. Archive.org. Accessed December 5, 2016 https://archive.org/details/memoirsofpaulkru00kruguoft Rhodes, Cecil. “Confession of Faith by Cecil Rhodes 1877.” pages.uoregon.edu. Accessed November 21, 2016. http://pages.uoregon.edu/kimball/Rhodes-Confession.htm Prepared by: Name here