Students will write a 7-10 page (1750 to 2750 words) research paper on a topic of their choice associated with the U.S. Civil War or Reconstruction. The paper 1) must be typed; 2) must be double-spaced; 3) must have 1-inch margins all around, top and bottom and both sides; 4) use no larger than 12 pt. type; 5) use a minimum of 4 (FOUR) outside sources, 1 (ONE) of which must be a MONOGRAPH and 1 (ONE) of which must be an ACADEMIC JOURNAL ARTICLE. On-line articles, including Wikipedia ARE allowed as a source, but it is the students’ responsibility to ascertain if the article is a legitimate and credible source, not an unsubstantiated opinion piece; 6) THE PAPER CANNOT BE A RE-HASH OF WHAT WAS COVERED IN CLASS, OR IT WILL BE GRADED A FAILURE. IF A TOPIC IS CHOSEN THAT WAS COVERED IN CLASS, THE RESEARCH IN THE PAPER MUST BE NEW (at least 50% must be new information not discussed in class), MORE EXTENSIVE or TAKE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TACK THAN THE CLASSROOM DISCUSSION; 7) The paper must contain an ANALYSIS of the topic; 8) References, quotes, etc. MUST be correctly cited in FOOTNOTES or ENDNOTES, using the CITATION GUIDELINE SHEET AVAILABLE ON BLACKBOARD. NOTE: Parenthetical references/AP style will NOT be accepted and such citations will be marked as errors. A citation style sheet will be posted on BLACKBOARD which will contain correct citation examples which will be easy to follow. Use that Guideline for a citation template and you cannot go wrong. FAILURE TO FOLLOW THE ON-LINE CITATION GUIDELINE WILL RESULT IN A 10% REDUCTION IN GRADE.