What is a good and interesting topic for a ten page research paper for a high school american history class?

Question

I have to write a ten page research papaer about any topic in US history, a US Unsolved mystery, about someone, or pretty much anything else, but i do not know what to write about becasue there are so many things to choose from. help please!

Answer 1

See, I was right. Whatever topic you choose, remember to add specific details! Make an outline. First page for introduction, last page to restate and summarize. If you use four major points ( two pages each) you're finished. Since there is so much "history" you will need to narrow the subject. I think you will have a strong paper if you narrow the topic and add plenty of supporting information. Just choose any topic that you can find information and chances are you will learn to appreciate the subject after investing your time and effort.

Answer 2

Did Leif Ericsson beat Columbus to America? Did Pocahontas really save John Smith? Was Amelia Earhart a spy? Who killed JFK?
What was the meaning of CROATAN, the puzzling letters carved on the fort at the Lost Colony of Roanoke?
Do reports from the Mexican side of the legendary battle suggest that Davy Crockett did not die at the Alamo?
What prompted Confederate Army mastermind Robert E. Lee to order the suicidal Pickett's Charge?
What did nuclear engineers discover while examining the wreckage of the Maine?
What dramatic revelations emerged from the FBI and KGB files on Julius and Ethel Rosenberg?
Is there evidence that the battle at the Gulf of Tonkin—a key factor in America's escalation of the Vietnam War—may never have taken place?

More ideas? Okay here are a few more, may be some repeats, oh well.

Who killed JFK? Was Lincoln's assassination a Confederate plot? What did Ronald Reagan really know about the Iran-Contra arms deal? Did Lee Harvey Oswald act alone? Who killed activist Malcolm X? Was Amelia Earhart a spy? Was O.J. Simpson guilty?

Answer 3

Ignore all these people who are telling you to write critically about US history (especially Micheal B-he doesn't understand that at that point in US history America did not try to get involved in other countries business, it's called the "good neighbor policy" and FDR was trying to keep the US out of war and not send millions of US boys to die). There's a time and place for that but it's too hard for a high school research paper because it turns into an argumentative, don't make more work for yourself.

The American Revolution is interesting, especially the patriot groups in New England/Boston area. There's a good book called "The Midnight Ride" about this, it centers around the story of Paul Rivere.

Answer 4

How about the 1948 presidential election. It is a pretty interesting story. Look up Hubert Humphrey's speech at the democratic convention. It is short -- but incredibly moving. The consequesces are that the party decided to put civil rights on the party platform. This upset Southern democrats, who walked out of the convention & started the Diciecrat party -- putting up their own canddate.

Because of the rebellion in the South, it looked like Republicans would take the White House -- this led to the famous picture of Truman holding up a newspaper that falsely declared Dewey the winner.

It was an interesting election.

Answer 5

If you like music, do a paper on how jazz started - it is uniquely American - then it became big band and swing and then branched off into rockabilly and then... it covers lots of time so you can literally do a page a decade, and several styles so mentioning concurrent events, music styles, artists, impact, pubilc reception of the music, etc. and with 5 styles you go 2 pages each and bang - 10 pages flies by.

Answer 6

Write about how FDR knew of the conditions in Europe during the Holocaust and did nothing (or at least very little) to help them.

Answer 7

How about how the US government has screwed over native Americans from the beginning to this very day.

There's a book that's titled something like "A hundred years of betrayal" or something.

Answer 8

Why don't you write about why GM bought the rail roads in California and destroyed them? and why all the passenger rail system became infamous. You can write about it because this is one of the reason why america is so dependant on oil.

Answer 9

You should write about the US in WWII, like about Pearl harbor and stuff. I'm sure you could write a lot about that.

Answer 10

the great depression. there are a lot of people who lived through it that you can interview and use as sources.