1. Thesis Help and stuff.

2. Funnel Intro and Thesis Help
Step One: Establish time and place.
Step Two: Provide specific background information for the prompt. By succeeding on steps one and two you will establish context for the entire essay and thus earn those points on the rubric.
Step Three: Write a thesis statement. Rely on these four elements as a guide to a good thesis.
Your thesis may be more than one sentence. Do this if a one sentence thesis is too long, awkward, or unwieldy.
Answer the question directly and completely!
Clearly identify the categories of your arguments (a.k.a. a mapping thesis).
Do not simply restate the question.

3. The Prompt: Analyze the causes and consequences of American Westward migration from 1862-1896.
Thesis Example One: American westward migration from 1862 to 1896 was spurred by the Homestead Act, railroads, and mining, and this resulted in issues for farmers and Native Americans.
Thesis Example Two: Westward migration from 1862 to 1896 was mainly the product of the Homestead Act of 1962 and the expanded railroads, which in turn led to the removal of Native American tribes and farmers getting mad at the government.

4. Document Analysis
When you analyze documents, you need to explicitly state which of the four criteria above you are utilizing.

5. The 14th Amendment guaranteed blacks equal rights and protection under the law. While in theory this Amendment seemed like it would make significant change in the South, in practice the 14th Amendment did not make much of a change. The reason for this was the lack of enforcement this Amendment received in the South. Just because some piece of paper said the whites had to treat blacks equally, didn’t mean that whites would actually do that. The “separate but equal” decision in Plessy vs Ferguson is a good example of this.
In his speech in Congress, Senator John Sherman (Doc 1) discusses how the Bill of Rights should be applied to all federal citizens. His idea of country first and to have everyone be equal and having citizenship rights is an important part of his speech. His point of view was a Northern slant because he was promoting how the Republican North was dealing with the Reconstruction through the 14th Amendment. While this idea sounds solid in his speech, he fails to mention how this idea would be implemented and enforced. Because of this the 14th Amendment failed to bring significant change to the South.

6. Historical Evidence
This one is easy. Show me that you know the history. Your supporting arguments should highlight your historical knowledge.
It’s ok to base your supporting arguments on the same historical topics evident in the documents
You just need to add to it with what you know about the topic.

7. What did I see that needed improvement in your D.B.Q.’s
Thesis issues
Document Analysis
Historical Evidence