1. Questions – how to identify the HTS and what you need to argue
Evaluate the extent to which the Seven Years’ War ( ) marked a turning point in American relations with Great Britain, analyzing what changed and what stayed the same from the period before the war to the period after it.
The French and Indian War ( ) altered the relationship between Britain and its North American colonies. Assess this change with regard to TWO of the following in the time period between 1763 and 1775: land acquisition, politics, economics
Evaluate the extent to which the US Constitution changed the Articles of Confederation but still continued to adhere to American political principles.
Analyze the extent to which the American Revolution represented a radical alteration in American political ideas and institutions. Confine your answer to the period 1775 to 1786.

2. Abbreviations BAC = What came Before, what came After, what Changed
TWE = To What Extent?
CCOT = Continuity and Change Over Time
WC = word choice
AWK = awkward wording
PREP = don’t end a sentence in a preposition
Cliché = “it spread like wildfire,” “they had their work cut out for them”
T/S = Need a (better) topic sentence
Graf = Paragraph
[circled word] = Spelling or grammar error
[underlined letter] = capitalize
TIME = Stay within the given time parameters
USC = US Constitution
AoC = Articles of Confederation
AP = Address the Prompt
[slashed letter] = lowercase
B/S = Be specific
NQ = Not quite
NC = No contractions
PASS = Passive voice, change to active
CYN = Check your notes
STS = Set the stage (in introduction)
Fluffy = These words aren’t driving your essay, they’re just taking up space
? = What’s happening here?/You lost me/How does this make sense?

3. CCOT from before to after the F & I war
Judge how much the F and I war was a turning point in relations between Britain and its colonies by analyzing the relative amount factors changed and remained the same.
i.e. The continuance after 1763 of American ideals of freedom, self-government and free markets conflicted with the significant changes imposed by the British after 1763 of the ending of salutary neglect, imposition of taxes without representation and emplacement of restrictions on colonial justice. Therefore, the end of the French and Indian War marked a significant turning point in the relationship between Britain and its colonies.

4. CCOT – due to F & I War between 1763-1775
2. Judge how much the French and Indian War ( ) changed the relationship between Britain and its North American colonies regarding land acquisition, politics, and/or economics between 1763 and The F&I War significantly changed the relationship between Britain and America politically and economically due to the ending of salutary neglect, passage of taxes without representation and the enforcement of the Proclamation of 1763, even as Americans still took pride in being British.

5. CCOT related to the Constitution relative to the A of C
3. Judge how much the US Constitution changed the Articles of Confederation but still continued to connect to American political principles. The US Constitution maintained the principles of popular sovereignty, federalism and limited government even as very significant changes were made to the regime regarding centralization of power, taxes and popular representation.

6. CCOT caused by the Am. Rev regarding ideas and institutions from 1775-1786
4. Explain how much radical change occurred during and immediately following the American Revolution relative to American political ideas and institutions. Confine your answer to the period 1775 to The American Revolution represented very little change in political ideas and institutions as local representative government, personal liberties and a loose weak central government were maintained throughout the crisis, even as some specific institutions were altered.

7. Developing arguments Go beyond stating facts.
Don’t go outside the question parameters (if there are any)
Concentrate throughout the body on supporting the thesis
Use the facts with persuasive language to support the thesis explicitly.
i.e. By 1775 each colony had its own elected representative body, from the MA General Court to the VA House of Burgesses. To address the crisis of the American Revolution, the Colonial assemblies continued an already existing idea borrowed from the Stamp Act, Albany, and the First Continental Congresses to unite the colonies for a common cause. The creation of the Second Continental Congress, that later morphed with little substantive change into the Confederation Congress, was merely a continuation of an American ideal of a loose confederation of states, and not a radical change in political institutions.
Going outside the parameters may only occur in obvious synthesis that is used to augment the already prepared arguments
Synthesis: keep it in U.S. History