I am in a sophomore university class based on African history from 1800 to present. I have to write a 10-12 page research paper on any topic of my choosing during this time period in Africa.
I have looked into topics such as genocide (Rwanda, Darfur and genocide in general), child soldiers, and the impacts of colonialism.
I am struggling to develop a strong thesis on all of the topics I have looked into, as well as finding solid sources, and was hoping to find some help here.
I am definitely open to more topic suggestions.
If you're allowed, make you focus bigger, but in a smaller geographic area. Africa's pretty big, and trying to find something 'macro' that applies to the whole continent would be daunting at best.
What about a look at whether or not the genocides or child soldiers you mention are a result of post-colonial power vacuums in one particular area or state? As an example only (I don't know if this is correct,) consider something like "The 1994 genocide in Rwanda was a direct result of Belgium's 1962 withdrawal" for a thesis. It's specific enough to keep your paper focused, but broad enough to allow for a fairly detailed overview of the topic.
The specifics of the example thesis there can be manipulated as you see fit, but a thesis like "Event X in time A and Place 1 was or was not a consequence of event Y" will let you balance big topics and small page counts.
The founding of Liberia, or other topics concerning the American Colonization Society might be interesting.