First Writing Assignment for AMH 2041

Students must write a research paper--using both primary and secondary sources--that deals with the following debate on slavery and the Atlantic slave trade: One of the major debates among historians about the Atlantic slave trade focuses on the issue of why Europeans enslaved Africans during an extensive period spanning the mid- 15th to the early 19th century. In other words, was the motive for Europeans purely economic as historian Eric Williams argued in his work, Capitalism and Slavery (1944) or was the motive based more on a cultural or ideological explanation (racism)?In the 1950s and 1960s, historians Carl Degler and Winthrop Jordan both supported the contention that racism, and not economics, was at the root cause of the slave-trade. More recently, In The Rise of African Slavery in America (2000), David Eltis posited thatEuropeans did not enslave other Europeans (that would have been cheaper and easier) because of an underlying commitment to individual rights. He further argues thatAfricans were seen as sufficiently different;they were the Other both physically and culturally and thus their enslavement could be rationalized. Simply put,was European motivation for the slave trade more about Profits or Racism? Or is there some other explanation? Make sure you have a thesis (a general argument) and provide examples and details from crediblesources to support your answer.

The First Draft (for Peer Review in class) is due onThursday,July 14th. You must have a completed hard copy of the writing assignment (not just an outline or a page or two) with citations and a bibliography. The Final Draft is due on Tuesday, July 19th. Before 11:59 pm July 19th, you will upload your final draft to turnitin.com (where it will be checked for plagiarism and graded). Late papers will be penalized by one grade per day. This paper is worth 20% of the course grade. The length of the paper should be 5-6 pages (approximately 1500-1700 words not including citations). The paper must be typed in Times New Roman 12-point font and double-spaced. For background information refer to Chapter 3 and 12 in Henretta. You must provide at least 4 outside sources (besides the Equiano narrative and Henretta), one of which must be a primary source. All sources must be correctly cited using the Chicago Manual of Style.You must also provide a separate Bibliography at the end of your paper. You should refer to www.dianahacker.com/student.html . The Chicago style is clearly explained and a model paper (with correct citations and bibliography) is provided as well.