I need to come up with a topic for this class and usually I can, but since this is a summer course I need to come up with something after only a week of class. I need to do something to fulfill my US History requirement so I was thinking of writing about how the American Revolution and its ideals impacted subsequent revolutions in Latin America. I also thought about doing it on Manumission in the American Revolution (not sure where to go with this or how to make it more precise) or the evolution of the abolitionisit cause from the end of the Revolution to the onset of the Civil War (same case). I know these are kind of vague and I'm sorry, but I just wanted to get some ideas that may spark something or help me narrow my topic. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
How old are you? What kind of research have you done before? And how long is this supposed to be?
The topics you suggested sound like they could be books, so you're right, you probably will need to narrow it down. One good way to start is to search the big topic, and then find one specific person or event connected with it, especially not something that's the most famous. So for example, if you search US manumission, you might find that at some point a state changed its laws to make it easier or harder, and then that law might be a good research topic.
Another great option: ask your school librarian if you have access to a database of US historical newspaper articles, and then search the topic in there. Immediate, easy to use primary sources.
It sounds like you have some interesting broad ideas, and as u/TheApiary mentioned you need to narrow it down either thematically, chronologically, or geographically.
Beyond that, being a condensed summer course I highly suggest you stick with an area of study that you are familiar with (which sounds like Central America). I'll warn you off of the evolution of abolitionism, simply because its such a complex topic to tackle without a firm grasp on the literature.
An area that may be worth looking into is how the American Revolution effected British colonists who held land in the Caribbean. If you can identify one good collection, you can easily do 10-15 pages.