General Instructions:
We’ll be watching a documentary on the life and times of “founding father” Thomas Jefferson plus the film 1776, a classic musical from the early 1970s that chronicles the events surrounding the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. As the author of this instrument of separation from Britain, Jefferson’s work figures prominently in the history and folklore of the American Revolution, and in this movie
required sources:
* 1772, 1972 film
* You have two options for the Thomas Jefferson documentary:
* History Channel’s Jefferson documentary from 2010, available to watch at Goleman Library on DVD, on reserve at the front desk (Call Number: DVD Reserves E 331.J44 2010). If you have a History Channel Vault subscription, it streams there online. Includes captions.
* For the purposes of citation, the documentary information is presented here: History Channel doc
* Ken Burns’ Thomas Jefferson documentary from 1997, includes captions:
https://digital-films-com.sjdc.idm.oclc.org/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=41072
* You have two options for the Erie Canal documentary:
The Modern Marvels Erie Canal episode, available to watch at Goleman Library on DVD, on reserve at the front desk (Call Number: DVD Reserves F127.E5 E5 2006). If you have a cable package that offers History Channel, you can access this show for free at History.com. Includes captions.
How the Erie Canal Transformed AmericaLinks to an external presented by It’s History on Youtube. Has captions. link:
this is the class book but i don’t think you’ll be able to find it anywhere:
Edwards et al. America’s History, Concise Vol. 1, 10th edition, Bedford-St. Martin’s/MacMillan. ISBN# 9781319277222
Prompt:
In this paper, it’s your job to compare the musical film 1776 – which is an adaptation of history, not a documentary – with an assigned documentary (you choose one of two; see link above). How accurate is 1776? How does it approach historical subject matter differently than the documentary? What type of analysis and information were the historians featured in the documentary able to provide that the 1776 filmmakers could not? What events/facts/ideas are commonly considered key when it comes to telling the story of the Fourth of July and the signing of the Declaration of Independence? Do these video presentations cover those key things? Pay special attention to Jefferson’s role, and the philosophies that undergirded his Declaration and the discussions surrounding independence.
Sourcing:
Use one of two assigned Jefferson documentaries, the assigned 1776 film, your textbook, our assigned primary sources, and at least two “outside” sources (i.e., not assigned by me for this course – this is the ONLY assignment in the class that allows for outside research/information) to help you demonstrate how accurate both the documentary (both of the approved docs are good ones) and 1776 seem to be.
You must use a minimum of seven sources total (including the videos). Please see the following Announcement about selecting and getting approval for your outside sources:
Remember, for your 2+ “outside” sources (this is in addition to the 5+ you select from sources assigned for class), I highly recommend you use either primary source documents from the period/associated with key people who were present and involved in 1776 and/or scholarly books and articles from more recent times. If your outside sources are not more informative than the textbook, they’re not worth using.
Papers MUST be typed, double-spaced, and 1200 words or longer. Use 1” margins and a standard 12 point font. Do not use title pages or headers on any pages except the first one.
You may use any standard citation model you wish, but be consistent! MLA is the easiest.
No AI. No team assignments. No plagiarism.
