Greetings all, I am a currently a double major as an undergrad in History and English. To prevent the need to write two separate thesis papers I have gotten approval to write a longer thesis paper that can satisfy both departmental requirements. I became very interested in the fear of new science and technology when reading colonial literature from the outbreak of smallpox in Massachusetts during the American Revolution (fear of inoculations) and especially after reading Shelley's Frankenstein.
I already got signed off from the English department about this topic, however I am struggling to find the "historical controversy" which exists to write about. Is there something that historians still debate, or a controversy which exists within this context which I can further research? If not I have to decide if I like this topic enough to write a separate thesis for History, or it's back to the drawing board to find a different topic that can encompass both fields. Thanks!
however I am struggling to find the "historical controversy" which exists to write about. Is there something that historians still debate, or a controversy which exists within this context which I can further research?
Finding this out is kind of thing is the exact purpose of you writing this paper. You need to do your own reading and research to see what you can come up with.
You might want to start here:
Without knowing the topic specifically, I can promise you that there will be a range of attitudes regarding science and the specific issue of smallpox vaccination. There is also likely to be some attempts by historians to analyze what primary sources have to say about this. It is always a legitimate historical exercise to "field check" the conclusions of others by looking at their primary sources but also by exploring other sources. Were their conclusions accurate? Do primary sources they didn't consider (or even the ones they did consider) support what they observed? Did they seem to have prejudices that affected their conclusions? Were they exclusively looking at attitudes of aristocratic/well-educated people as opposed to that of the average farmer or dock worker?
It is rare to be able to work a virgin field that hasn't been plowed. Decades ago when I discovered someone else had conducted the research I had been pursuing for a year, my mentor said, simply, "Take it further." His advice still stands.
Maybe start with the history of smallpox?
So in the era of the American revolution there was no such thing as inoculations, they only had Variolation. The act of taking scabs or puss from an infected individual and giving it to an non-infected individual via a series of scratches. In hopes they would contract a less severe version and not catch the full-blown disease. This was the norm through-out the entire period of the revolution.
An example of how Variolation affected the war as in 1776 Americans were unable to take Quebec from the British forces due to a small pox outbreak. While American forces weren't variolated and didn't have enough healthy soldiers to complete the campaign. By 1777 George Washington had all of his soldiers variolated before starting new military operations.
I hope this helps some!! Start with Wiki articles and then track back through the sources. I find these two articles well researched and written
Is there an historical era that particularly interests you? Science fiction has shown itself to often be better at contemplating the implications of new technology, than non-fiction writers. You could study the cold war era writings about the spectre of nuclear war, along with the historical nuclear arms race.
Controversy in history is easy to find, you just need to be aware as to which types of topics cause it. I think you already do though. How you might link that to your English is another story.
Honestly though, I would advise you write two papers. Two good papers will take you longer than one good paper, but it seems unlikely your attempt to satisfy both angles is going to be particularly effective.