Essay writing

Higher essay hones your ability at EVALUATING AND ASSESSING

historical evidence

EVALUATION ASSESSMENT

2 types of essay question1. Isolated factor question (Evaluation)e.g. To what extent was Racism the main reason for changing attitudes towards immigration in the USA during the 1920’s?

In this question you have to compare the factors in relation to the question and give evidence to support your statements in order to come to a balanced conclusion. Sometimes they start with a quote but it is the same question:‘Simply part of the post-war desire to isolate America from the outside world.’ How far does this explain changing attitudes towards immigration in the USA during the 1920’s?

2. Making a judgement (Assessment) e.g. How effective were the increased powers of the federal government, as adopted in the New Deal, in solving the social and economic problems of the 1930s?

In this question you have to show you understand the topic and present evidence on both sides and come to a balanced conclusion.

How do I tell the difference?

• Unfortunately it is not as simples as looking at the sentence stem: – To what extent, How effective etc

You need to understand the question Looking at the following questions in your groups, can you tell the difference?

To what extent was racism the main reason for changing attitudes towards immigration in the

1920s? • Intro: Context of 1920s – used the ‘melting pot’, ‘American

Dream’ phrase to describe the high influx of immigrants in two waves. Describes the shift from ‘open door’ to regulation. Identifies other factors than Racism - establishes a line of argument.

• Main body: Social fears, Political fears, Isolationism after WWI, Economic fears, Anti-Immigration attitudes before 1920s already in existence.

• Conclusion: Evaluate if racism was the main reason or whether any of the other factors are more of a main reason. Answer the question!

General class feedback:

• Most wrote a better introduction than conclusion

• Most got their marks mainly from KU • Few managed to argue effectively• Structure was very effective in some essays

but clumsy and muddled in others.

How can we improve the introduction?

In the 1920s America was a ‘melting pot’: a multi-ethnic and multi-national society due to the high influx of immigrants from around the world in the 19th and 20th century who sought the ‘American Dream’. America adopted an ‘Open Door Policy’ which allowed around 35million immigrants between 1850 and 1914 to escape religious and political persecution and find their fortune in America. By 1921 the Emergency Immigration Law Act had been passed which used a quota system to limit immigration from certain countries. This shift was caused by a number of reasons. Racism was evidently a driving force in influencing hostile attitudes to immigration but social fears of the impact they had on society and urban crime rates, economic fears about the pressure on the job market, political fears that Socialists would subvert democracy and also the government policy of isolationism all contributed to changing attitudes. In addition, xenophobic attitudes to immigration legislation was not new in the 1920s. Racism and prejudice was already prevalent in American society.

How can we improve our paragraphs?• ARGUMENT – signpost it in the first sentence. Make a Point and Explain it.

Give an Example. Then link it back to your question (this is your argument)

New immigrants from Eastern Europe in the 1920’s were met with hostility by the first wave of immigrants who had arrived from Scandanavia, Germany and Britain in the 1820s. The ‘Old Immigrants’ were instrumental in forming racist attitudes. They felt that the ‘New’ immigrants were inferior and that their cultural differences threatened the traditional values of America. Historian M A Jones, argues that the numbers was not as much a concern as the changing nature of Immigrants. Pseudo-scientific racism was evident in popular newspapers, such as Kenneth Roberts in the Saturday Evening Post who urged stricter Immigration laws against Polish Jews because they were “human parasites”. He further argued that Immigration had to be restricted as it would create a race of inferior people like the “good for nothing mongrels of Central America and South-Eastern Europe”. He clearly showed prejudice towards certain races and these views were common among intellectuals and ordinary people living in America to justify stricter Immigration laws in the 1920s. However, Immigration laws by this point were arguably already racist in principle well before the 1920s.

The next paragraph would then link back to the previous paragraph as well as the question.

Stricter Immigration laws based on racist views were evident as far back as 1884 therefore hostile attitudes were not new in the 1920s. A more selective approach was evident through calls to exclude certain races of Immigrants to California and the west coast of America and entrance obstacles were put in place. In 1884, the formation of the Immigration Restriction League campaigned for a ‘Literacy test’ as a way of sifting out the “lesser breeds” that they claimed were swamping America…….THEN LINK TO QUESTION AND ARGUMENT

However, it could be argued that changing attitudes towards Immigration was less to do with racism and more to do with social fears. Middle class Americans feared that competition for jobs was increased by the influx of largely unskilled and illiterate immigrants of all races. This consequently affected living conditions in the cities……… EXAMPLE THEN LINK TO QUESTION AND ARGUMENT

In conclusion, while racism was a major reason for more hostile attitudes towards Immigration in the 1920s it was by no means the only/most important factor. On the one hand, racist views of the WASPs were widespread in society and explicit in newspapers and media. These views definitely contributed to the calls and acceptance of Stricter Immigration laws in the 1920s. However/On the other hand racism was already apparent in society and legislation prior to the 1920s so cannot be the main reason. Arguably social fears over job competition and rising crime in ghetto areas where immigrants lived created fear in America that immigration degenerated society and increased levels of urban poverty. In addition, political fears of communism was rife after WWI and a very real fear of the government at this time which instigated their tightening of immigration laws. Overall, social and political factors were the main reason why attitudes to Immigration changed in the 1920s as immigrants became associated with all of the wrongs of society, while racism was evidently a feature of America before period and certainly helped to justify the need for stricter immigration. The uncertainty and mistrust of these new immigrants caused the passing of the Emergency Immigration Act of 1921.

New essay question:

• Due 23rd September 2013

• How far can it be argued that the activities of the Ku Klux Klan was the most important obstacle to the achievement of Civil Rights for black people up to 1941?

Booklet p 20-30