1. Thesis Machine
APUSH
by Brittany Berriz

2. Comparison

3. Step 1: Identify Targeted Skill
Identify which of the historical reasoning skills the prompt is asking you to address: Comparison, Causation, Change and Continuity over Time.
Sample Prompt: Analyze the extent to which the New England and Chesapeake colonies differed.
Targeted Skill: Comparison

4. Step 2: Identify the Debatable Issue
With history, you want to “live in the grey.” In other words, you want to recognize that historians identify and weigh the relative significance of multiple causes, contexts, comparisons, and changes.
In order to take a specific and defensible stance on the prompt, you will need to identify what issues historians might debate about the question at hand before you can determine where you stand on the issue.

5. Debatable Issues: Comparison
Comparison prompts will often ask you to identify both similarities and differences. As such, the debatable issue is:
Whether the similarities or differences are more significant
Example
Prompt: Analyze the extent to which the New England and Chesapeake colonies differed.
Debatable Issue: Were the similarities or differences between the models of colonization more significant?

6. Step 3: Identify Your Position
Use our Evidence/Idea Protocol to brainstorm what you know about the topic (your evidence) and to formulate an argument around your evidence (ideas).
Do not skip this step!!! The best arguments will be grounded in evidence. If you brainstorm first, you will be working from a position of strength as your essay will be crafted around the evidence you have identified rather than trying to make evidence fit a predetermined argument.

7. Step 3: Identify Your Position
Brainstorm what you know about the topic in order to arrive at a position.
Evidence Ideas
What you know about the topic Similarities:
Differences:

8. Step 4: State Your Position
Once you have identified the debatable issue and brainstormed what you know about the prompt, it is time to take a stance on the issue in the form of a declarative statement.
Examples:
Prompt: Analyze the extent to which the New England and Chesapeake colonies differed.
The similarities between the New England and Chesapeake colonies were more significant than the differences.
The differences between the New England and Chesapeake colonies were more significant than the similarities.

9. Step 5: Provide Rationale for your Stance
Review your evidence/idea list and identify the the primary reason(s) for taking the stance you took. Once you have identified which reasons are the most persuasive and provide you with the best evidentiary support for your argument, add your rationale to your position using “because”
______position______ + _______rationale_______
Examples:
The similarities between the New England and Chesapeake colonies were more significant than the differences because their shared belief in representative government and economic reliance on Britain provided a unified basis for their eventual rebellion.
The differences between the New England and Chesapeake colonies were more significant than the similarities because the different environments and motivations for settling led to fundamental differences in economic and labor structures, and thus eventually to a civil war between the regions.

10. Step 6 : Qualify your Position
Qualify your thesis by addressing both similarities and differences. If your position is that the differences are more significant, you will address the similarities in your qualification. This is where you “live in the grey” by acknowledging that there are both similarities and differences, long and short term causes/effects, and both changes and continuities over time.
Add this to your rough thesis using “Although” or “While”
Qualification + Position + Rationale
Example:
Although their shared belief in representative government and their mutual economic reliance on Britain provided a unified basis for their eventual rebellion, the differences between the New England and Chesapeake colonies were more significant than the similarities because the different environments and motivations for settling led to fundamental differences in economic and labor structures, and thus eventually to a civil war between the regions.

11. Step 7: Polish your Thesis
Refine your thesis by taking out excessive words
You don’t want your thesis to be too long, so try to condense your arguments, counter arguments, and rationale to the most important points.
If possible, refine your thesis by removing “because”
Instead of stating your position verbatim and using “because” to connect them, combine your position and rationale so that the significance is implied.
Example:
Although their shared belief in representative government and their mutual economic reliance on Britain provided a unified basis for the New England and Chesapeake colonies to rebel, the different environments and motivations for settling led to fundamental differences in economic and labor structures, and thus eventually to a civil war between the regions.

12. Master Step: Connect your Qualification and Position
One you have mastered the format, the final step is to try and link your qualification and position together so that the relationship between them is clear to your reader.
Another way of thinking about this: you want to make clear for your reader why you have assigned greater significance to your position. Does one cause rely on the other? Does one effect last longer or have a greater impact in terms of who is affected by it? Is there a difference of degree between changes and continuities? Do things share the same end goal but different ways of achieving that goal?
Example:
Although their shared belief in representative government and their mutual economic reliance on Britain provided a unified basis for rebellion, the fundamental differences in economics and labor systems that resulted from different environments and motivations for colonizing ultimately led to a war that fractured the tenuous union that had been achieved.

13. Thesis Machine Overview
1. Identify the Historical Thinking Skill (Causation, Comparison, Context, Change and Continuity)
2. Identify the Debatable Issue – What can be debated about the prompt?
3. Identify your Position – Brainstorm to determine where you stand on the issue
4. State your Position – Take a clear and defensible position on the prompt
5. Provide Rationale – Provide the most compelling reasons for the position that you took
6. Qualify Position – Consider the various complexities of causation, context, historical change, and comparison
7. Polish -- Take out pronouns or excessive words.
Qualification
(Counter-argument or condition)
Position
(Your argument)
Rationale
(Reasons)
Although ______________________, _____________(your stance)__________________________ because ______________________________.

14. Change and Continuity

15. Step 1: Identify Targeted Skill
Identify which of the historical reasoning skills the prompt is asking you to address: Comparison, Causation, Change and Continuity over Time.
Sample Prompt: Analyze the extent to which the identity of American colonists shifted in the period between 1607 – 1776.
Targeted Skill: Change and Continuity

16. Step 2: Identify the Debatable Issue
As with comparison prompts, change and continuity prompts will require you to address both. As such, the debatable issue is:
Whether the changes or continuities were more significant
Example
Prompt: Analyze the extent to which the identity of American colonists shifted in the period between 1607 – 1776.
Debatable Issue: Were the changes or continuities in the identity of American colonists more significant during the period between 1607 –

17. Step 3: Identify Your Position
Use our Evidence/Idea Protocol to brainstorm what you know about the topic (your evidence) and to formulate an argument around your evidence (ideas).
Do not skip this step!!! The best arguments will be grounded in evidence. If you brainstorm first, you will be working from a position of strength as your essay will be crafted around the evidence you have identified rather than trying to make evidence fit a predetermined argument.

18. Step 3: Identify Your Position
Brainstorm what you know about the topic in order to arrive at a position.
Evidence Ideas
What you know about the topic Changes
Continuities

19. Step 4: State Your Position
Once you have identified the debatable issue and brainstormed what you know about the prompt, it is time to take a stance on the issue in the form of a declarative statement.
Examples:
Prompt: Analyze the extent to which the identity of American colonists shifted in the period between 1607 – 1776.
Possible Positions:
The changes in the identity of the colonists during the period between 1607 – were more significant than the continuities.
The continuities in the identity of the colonists during the period between – 1776 were more significant than the changes.

20. Step 5: Provide Rationale for your Stance
Review your evidence/idea list and identify the the primary reason(s) for taking the stance you took. Once you have identified which reasons are the most persuasive and provide you with the best evidentiary support for your argument, add your rationale to your position using “because
______position______ + _______rationale_______
Examples:
The changes in the identity of the colonists during the period between 1607 – were more significant than the continuities because the growing sense of “American- ness” generated by the Great Awakening and the French and Indian War provided a basis for unification and rebellion.
The continuities in the identity of the colonists during the period between 1607 and were more significant than the changes because it was their belief in their Englishness and its accompanying rights that led the colonists to rebel.

21. Step 6 : Qualify your Position
Qualify your thesis by addressing both changes and continuities. If your position is that the changes are more significant, you will address the continuities in your qualification. This is where you “live in the grey” by acknowledging that there are both similarities and differences, long and short term causes/effects, and both changes and continuities over time.
Add this to your rough thesis using “Although” or “While”
Qualification + Position + Rationale
Example:
Although England’s North American colonists increasingly developed an “American” identify following the First Great Awakening and the French and Indian War, the continuities in their identity during the period between 1607 and 1776 were more significant because it was their belief in their Englishness and its accompanying rights that led the colonists to rebel.

22. Step 7: Polish your Thesis
Refine your thesis by taking out excessive words
You don’t want your thesis to be too long, so try to condense your arguments, counter arguments, and rationale to the most important points.
If possible, refine your thesis by removing “because”
Instead of stating your position verbatim and using “because” to connect them, combine your position and rationale so that the significance is implied.
Example:
Although England’s North American colonists increasingly developed an “American” identify following the First Great Awakening and the French and Indian War, it was the colonists’ continued belief in their Englishness and the rights that accompanied that status that led them to rebel.

23. Master Step: Connect your Qualification and Position
One you have mastered the format, the final step is to try and link your qualification and position together so that the relationship between them is clear to your reader.
Another way of thinking about this: you want to make clear for your reader why you have assigned greater significance to your position. Does one cause rely on the other? Does one effect last longer or have a greater impact in terms of who is affected by it? Is there a difference of degree between changes and continuities? Do things share the same end goal but different ways of achieving that goal?
Example:
Although England’s North American colonists increasingly developed an “American” identify following the First Great Awakening and the French and Indian War, it was not their belief in their American-ness, but rather their continued belief in their Englishness and the rights that accompanied that status, that ultimately led them to rebel.

24. Thesis Machine Overview
1. Identify the Historical Thinking Skill (Causation, Comparison, Context, Change and Continuity)
2. Identify the Debatable Issue – What can be debated about the prompt?
3. Identify your Position – Brainstorm to determine where you stand on the issue
4. State your Position – Take a clear and defensible position on the prompt
5. Provide Rationale – Provide the most compelling reasons for the position that you took
6. Qualify Position – Consider the various complexities of causation, context, historical change, and comparison
7. Polish -- Take out pronouns or excessive words.
Qualification
(Counter-argument or condition)
Position
(Your argument)
Rationale
(Reasons)
Although ______________________, _____________(your stance)__________________________ because ______________________________.

25. Causation

26. Step 1: Identify Targeted Skill
Identify which of the historical reasoning skills the prompt is asking you to address: Comparison, Causation, Change and Continuity over Time.
Sample Prompt: Analyze the extent to which indentured servitude led to Bacon’s Rebellion.
Targeted Skill: Causation

27. Step 2: Identify the Debatable Issues
Causation prompts will require you to identify multiple causes/effects of an event and to weigh the relative significance of each. There are two primary ways to do this:
Long term vs. Short Term Causes/Effects (Which were more significant?)
Political vs. Social vs. Economic Causes/Effects (Which were more significant?)
Example:
Prompt: Analyze the extent to which indentured servitude led to Bacon’s Rebellion.
Were the long term or short term causes of Bacon’s Rebellion more significant?
Were the political , social, or economic causes of Bacon’s Rebellion more significant?

28. Step 3: Identify Your Position
Use our Evidence/Idea Protocol to brainstorm what you know about the topic (your evidence) and to formulate an argument around your evidence (ideas).
Do not skip this step!!! The best arguments will be grounded in evidence. If you brainstorm first, you will be working from a position of strength as your essay will be crafted around the evidence you have identified rather than trying to make evidence fit a predetermined argument.

29. Step 3: Identify Your Position
Brainstorm what you know about the topic in order to arrive at a position.
Evidence Ideas
What you know about the topic Long Term Causes/Effects
Short Term Causes/Effects or
Social Causes/Effects
Political Causes/Effects
Economic Causes/Effects

30. Step 4: State Your Position
Once you have identified the debatable issue and brainstormed what you know about the prompt, it is time to take a stance on the issue in the form of a declarative statement.
Examples:
Prompt: Analyze the extent to which indentured servitude led to Bacon’s Rebellion.
Possible Positions:
The long-term causes (reliance on tobacco and indentured servitude) were more significant than the short-term cause (tension on the frontier).
The political cause (disenfranchisement of landless farmers) was more significant than the social cause (tension between planter elites and former indentured servants).

31. Step 5: Provide Rationale for your Stance
Review your fact/idea list and identify the the primary reason(s) for taking the stance you took. Once you have identified which reasons are the most persuasive and provide you with the best evidentiary support for your argument, add your rationale to your position using “because”
______position______ + _______rationale_______
Examples:
The long term causes of Bacon’s Rebellion were more significant than the short-term causes because it was Virginia’s long reliance on a single staple crop and indentured servitude that ultimately led to the conflict.
The political causes of Bacon’s Rebellion were more significant than the social causes because it was the disenfranchisement of landless settlers in 1676 that ultimately served as the catalyst for conflict.

32. Step 6 : Qualify your Position
Qualify your thesis by addressing both changes and continuities. If your position is that the changes are more significant, you will address the continuities in your qualification. This is where you “live in the grey” by acknowledging that there are both similarities and differences, long and short term causes/effects, and both changes and continuities over time.
Add this to your rough thesis using “Although” or “While”
Qualification + Position + Rationale
Examples:
Although armed tension between settlers and American Indians on the frontier served as the immediate cause of Bacon’s Rebellion, the long term causes were more significant because it was Virginia’s long reliance on a single staple crop and indentured servitude that ultimately led to the conflict.
Although social tension between elite planters and former indentured servants set the stage for Bacon’s Rebellion, the political causes were more significant because it was the disenfranchisement of landless settlers in 1676 is what ultimately served as the catalyst for conflict.

33. Step 7: Polish your Thesis
Refine your thesis by taking out excessive words
You don’t want your thesis to be too long, so try to condense your arguments, counter arguments, and rationale to the most important points.
If possible, refine your thesis by removing “because”
Instead of stating your position verbatim and using “because” to connect them, combine your position and rationale so that significance is implied.
Examples:
Although armed tension between settlers and American Indians on the frontier served as the immediate cause of Bacon’s Rebellion, it was Virginia’s long reliance on a single staple crop and indentured servitude that ultimately led to the conflict.
Although social tension between elite planters and former indentured servants set the stage for Bacon’s Rebellion, it the disenfranchisement of landless settlers in 1676 is what ultimately served as the catalyst for conflict.

34. Master Step: Connect your Qualification and Position
One you have mastered the format, the final step is to try and link your qualification and position together so that the relationship between them is clear to your reader.
Another way of thinking about this: you want to make clear for your reader why you have assigned greater significance to your position. Does one cause rely on the other? Does one effect last longer or have a greater impact in terms of who is affected by it? Is there a difference of degree between changes and continuities? Do things share the same end goal but different ways of achieving that goal?
Examples:
Although armed tension between settlers and American Indians on the frontier served as the immediate cause of Bacon’s Rebellion, it was Virginia’s long reliance on a single staple crop and indentured servitude that brought landless settlers to the frontier in the first place.
Although social tension between elite planters and former indentured servants set the stage for Bacon’s Rebellion, it was the disenfranchisement of landless settlers in 1676 furthered the social unrest in Virginia and ultimately brought about the conflict.

35. Thesis Machine Overview
1. Identify the Historical Thinking Skill (Causation, Comparison, Context, Change and Continuity)
2. Identify the Debatable Issue – What can be debated about the prompt?
3. Identify your Position – Brainstorm to determine where you stand on the issue
4. State your Position – Take a clear and defensible position on the prompt
5. Provide Rationale – Provide the most compelling reasons for the position that you took
6. Qualify Position – Consider the various complexities of causation, context, historical change, and comparison
7. Polish -- Take out pronouns or excessive words.
Qualification
(Counter-argument or condition)
Position
(Your argument)
Rationale
(Reasons)
Although ______________________, _____________(your stance)__________________________ because ______________________________.