Essays for a history class, whether on the high school or the college level, can require a specific skill set. Usually, you have to work with both primary and secondary sources, you have to provide evidence for all of your claims, you have to provide historical context, and you have to abide by history writing conventions. Whether you’re tackling your first history class in college, or you’re working on a serious history paper for the first time in high school, don’t let this overwhelm you. But before you can do any of those things, you have to set yourself up for success with a strong thesis statement.
So… do you have a strong thesis statement? Here are five questions you might want to ask yourself to check whether you’ve nailed this step.
Let’s use the following prompt example. Imagine you have the following assignment in a high school U.S. history class: “The Jacksonian Era of American politics has sometimes been called the ‘Age of the Common Man.’ Do you think this is an earned characterization? In 3-4 pages, make an argument as to why or why not using the primary sources provided.” (Imagine that the primary sources provided might allow you to argue either side of the question.)
1. Is your thesis statement making a historical argument? In other words, does it have a “how” or “why” element?
If your thesis simply announces the topic of the paper or restates the assignment, it’s time to revise it.
For this prompt, a weak thesis might read: “The Jacksonian Era embodied the ‘Age of the Common Man’” or “The Jacksonian Era did not embody the ‘Age of the Common Man.’” All that does is restate the prompt with a yes or no answer without providing a “how” or “why” that would transform it into a real argument.
2. Does your thesis statement require you to defend it? In other words, could a reasonable person disagree with it?
Your thesis should not be an obvious or irrefutable statement. While it can/should be complex and should be backed up by plenty of evidence in your essay, it should not be impossible to debate.
For this prompt, a weak thesis might read: “While some historians argue that President Andrew Jackson successfully ushered in a new era of the ‘Common Man’ with his populist politics and expansion of the electorate, others point to workers’ poor quality of life during this time to refute that idea.” While factually accurate, this sentence is no more than a recitation of facts with which no one can reasonably argue.
3. Is your thesis statement historically specific? In other words, does it function within a specific who, where, and when?
In order to be historically sound, your thesis statement needs to avoid generalizing language or claims that lie outside of the time period, region, and people to which the evidence used in the paper applies.
For this prompt, a weak thesis might read: “Since the days of America’s founding, politicians have wrestled with the question of the ‘common man.’ But Andrew Jackson took up that question unlike anyone who preceded or succeeded him.” Not only does this thesis statement make factually inaccurate generalizations and lack a real argument, it avoids answering the prompt by traipsing outside the assigned time period.
4. Is your thesis statement focused and relatively narrow? In other words, can you reasonably expect yourself to defend it in the page limit allotted?
Think of it this way: Your thesis is your promise to the reader. So you can’t make a thesis so broad that you won’t be able to adequately back it up with evidence within the space allotted; that would mean you had broken your promise to the reader. It’s important to use precise language and stake out right away the limits of your argument.
For this prompt, a weak thesis might read: “Andrew Jackson’s presidency ushered in an era of social, economic, and political growth and relative well-being for poor white men in the United States.” The language of “social, economic, and political growth and relative well-being” is far too broad and imprecise to conceivably defend in a 3-4 page paper.
5. Does your thesis have a “so what”? In other words, does it hint at why a reader might care to read your essay?
Not only is your thesis your promise to the reader, it’s also your attempt to compel your reader to read your essay in the first place. For this reason, it should have historical significance. Why is what you’re arguing important?
For this prompt, a weak thesis might read: “During the Jacksonian era, Andrew Jackson himself served as an inspirational story of rising up to power from poverty, as participation in elections vastly expanded from 1824 to 1840 to include poor white citizens.” This thesis includes two interesting and relevant facts, but stops short of actually answering the prompt or providing a “so what.” Rather than answering a key historical question—in this case, the one imposed by the prompt (Did the Jacksonian era earn the title of the ‘Age of the Common Man’?)—it points at subclaims related to it without drawing out their overall significance.
There are many different ways to approach the original prompt, but a couple examples of a strong thesis might be:
1. The Jacksonian period rightfully claims the title of “Age of the Common Man” since it vastly expanded the white male population’s participation in the political process. The period’s lack of concrete economic improvement for that segment of the population is outweighed by the fact that it set a precedent for egalitarian representation of “the common man” by politicians that were far more representative of the will of the white population of the U.S. than before.OR
2. The Jacksonian era created a frenzy of patriotism, which ultimately served only to mask the real problems of economic instability and poor quality of life of white workers, and thus adversely affected ordinary white male U.S. citizens. In this way, Jackson’s presidency did not earn the title of “Age of the Common Man.”As you can see from the two examples, there is no one right answer here—there are infinitely many ways in which a strong thesis statement might come together, on this topic or any other. Use the checklist and have confidence in your ideas!
(Source: This checklist is inspired by UCLA’s Department of History writing guide, which can be found here.)
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