I will be writing a twenty page research paper on a topic of American history which took place in the period of 1789-1877, but I am having trouble picking a topic that is both interesting and something one could develop an arguable thesis around. There would also have to be a good deal of primary sources on the topic which are easily accessible. Finding a topic/event that has a good deal of primary sources pertaining to it available but is also something I could develop an arguable idea on is my chief concern.
Are there any topics that fit that bill you might recommend I look into? Thanks so much for your help.
What interests you generally?
I come from a family of railroaders and I've always had a special place in my heart for the history of railroads in America. You could describe the technology, what working conditions were like for engineers and line builders, how it changed peoples' lives (travel, vacation, goods and food available), how it affected the Civil War.
There are a thousand different things you could write about, all fairly well documented during this time. If you could narrow down maybe what kinds of things you find interesting it would make it much easier to give suggestions of good topics. Obviously the Civil War dominates any discussion of the mid to late 18th century but there are many precipitating events which have lineages stretching back. If you're looking to write about something that covers the whole time period the interpretation and mobilization of the constitution both politically and judicially is extremely interesting. You have the Constitution of the United States as a more or less virgin document in 1789 but by 1877 significant changes have been made, especially after the Civil War during the reconstruction period. If your interest is more military the War of 1812 and the Mexican American War both provide interesting alternatives to the Civil War. While interesting, the Civil War, from a military standpoint, is pretty well settled in that there are hundreds of books discussing the battles and there is little left to say unless you want to focus more specifically on a unit that participated which could be quite interesting. The War of 1812 and the Mexican American War both featured generals who would later go on to be president and factored tremendously into the expansion of the United States. Technology as well is fascinating during this time, the development of the steam engine and the railroads as well as the canal systems and riverboats all worked to change how people moved through the country and how easy it was to travel. Military and industrial technology is also pretty fascinating during this time.
As others have said, there are thousands of ways you could go with this. If you let users know your general interests, they can be much more helpful.
I'd be entertained by a research paper on the voyage of the CSS Shenandoah. It was a Confederate warship that made a global voyage in search of Northern vessels during the Civil War. Oddly, the Shenandoah stopped at the Micronesian island I study and destroyed a few American whaleships there, which I suppose means that it was the site of a U.S. Civil War battle. If that's not interesting, I don't know what is.
Reconstruction era, Civil War and antebellum periods have loads of primary sources.
You could do The Trail of Tears also
Louisiana Purchase/Manifest Destiny