Short History essays (more than one paragraph!) There is no need to introduce your answer or restate the question. In other words, think of this as a typical essay response but leaving off the introduction and conclusion. 1. The “Geronimo” episode from the PBS documentary series We Shall Remain that we watched presented Geronimo as a complex historical figure. What makes his legacy so complicated? If you were a member of the Chiricahua band of the Apaches, how would you feel about him? Why is his story important; what does it reveal about larger issues of Manifest Destiny and Westward expansion? Be specific. 2. Was the Reconstruction Era ultimately good or bad for African-Americans in the South? Be sure to discuss the stories of the individuals we read about it When I Was a Slave in your response. Was Reconstruction good or bad for White Southerners? Be specific in your answer. 3. Why did the United States expand overseas in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries? Discuss at least two of the regions of U.S. expansion. Why did we involve ourselves in each of these regions? How did we obtain control over them? What resistance did we face? What did we hope to gain from our expansion into these specific areas and in general? 4. During both the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era (approx. from the 1880s-1920s), corporations became a more important force in the United States. Discuss the ways that the rise of large corporations and corporate power affected U.S. politics, labor, and society in general.
