Introduction to Historical Methods

My topic is focused on when and why Hitler decided to exterminate the Jews. When exactly did he make the decisions… was it before or after he served time in prison, and what motivated him to make the decision of extermination. As I go through Mein Kampf, I am finding that I am going to need to split my research into 3 different areas because the book is 700 pages long. I am going to break  down the research  into the following 3 areas: Hitler’s youth, major influences in his life (books, political figures), and his political motives for Germany he created while he was in prison. What did Hitler do doing his youth? I want look into the ideological/intellectual history of how he grew up and what his family life was like. What major influences played a role in Hitler’s early youth? Were there specific books or political figures he looked up to that would have influenced his decision about the Jews later on? Was his decision about the Jews made during his youth or while he was in prison, forming his plan for the future of Germany?

My thesis for my project is when exactly and why did Hitler decide to exterrminate the Jews. Currently, I am going through Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf.  I want to find out what motivated Hitler to make such horrible decisions about the Holocaust, whether it was influenced by his early childhood, or whether there was a specific event in his life that changed his mindset. I am still thinking about how I am going to sift through Mein Kampf, because it is almost a 700 page book. I also want to look at some of the speeches Hitler made in the 1920s, because they will show how Hitler’s thinking was during that time before he became Chancellor/dictator of Germany. I am also looking into Hitler’s top military officials, to see whether or not they were a part of the decision about the Jews, or if it was actually proposed by Hitler, and Hitler alone. The reading is dense for the project, but it is moving along nicely.

Narrowing down my ideas and questions for our research paper has not come easy for me, however I feel that I have narrowed my questions down to a point where I can make it a 6-8 page paper. First, I would like to examine What role the United States played in the overthrow of Allende? Using primary and secondary documents, to examine what covert strategies the Nixon Administration and CIA deployed at the time. In answering this question I hope to reveal allies that U.S. aided, the choice of a coup leader, and the actual act itself. After the analysis my next question, I hope to answer is, What is the legacy of U.S. foreign policy after its participation in the coup d’etat in Chile? Was it good, bad, or ugly?  I feel that these questions should be more than enough to allow me to expand my ideas and use my sources properly. Also, as for my title which I have also used as the heading for this document comes from a quote used by Henry Kissenger, to describe the U.S. policy in Chile at the time. Let me know what you think of it and anything else, as I am always open to suggestions. Thanks, and good luck to everyone.

Bennett

I started out with a topic on the Cuban Missile Crisis. Obviously, this is a very broad topic. I wanted to look at how the crisis was being reported on by the New York Times, and how this differed from what the leaders were discussing behind the scenes. Was the crisis being portrayed differently than what was actually happening? Were the leaders made to look like they were in more control than they actually were? However, this is still a very broad topic. I decided that I’m going to specifically look at Kennedy’s motivations for implementing a naval blockade on Cuba. Then I can look at published articles and determine if the reasoning behind Kennedy’s decision was understood, or misunderstood. Did the paper report the public having a positive or negative reaction to the blockade? What were the reasons behind these reactions? Narrowing my topic to the motivations of the blockade, I only have to analyze the cabinet meetings that took place before October 23, 1962. I could also analyze how a specific person present in the meetings, such as Robert McNamara or Robert Kennedy, influenced the president’s decision making.

The topic of my paper is the construction of a characterization of LSD in the counterculture by the popular media, as seen in “The LSD Story” episode of Dragnet in Jan. 1967. I’ve been having a hard time trying to figure out how much more narrow I could make this topic. I’m not sure I could write 6-8 pages on it, but probably the aspect of this characterization best suited for in-depth analysis is the class issue. While I have been watching LSD PSAs and scare videos, the most significant theme is the idea of a wealthy, white teenager who had been “carefully raised” being devastatingly and permanently corrupted by the drug. What fears and anxieties were at work in the conception of this image? And whose fears and anxieties?

My research is going pretty well but there are so many resources available that it can sometimes get overwhelming. I am studying family life in the civil war, particularly the role of women. I’ve got a great primary source, a diary from a woman in the south between the years of 1860-1865. It’s also a really helpful source because her son, who collected and published the diary, has taken the time to researched the events his mother wrote about and added footnotes where there was an error. One thing I’ve had some trouble with is trying to focus my research. I’ve noticed that I’ll find a really interesting book about women who fought in the war and then another book on a woman who lost 2 children while at home and while they are both good sources, I definitely can’t cover both topics in a 6-8 research paper. Still, I think I have a lot available to me, especially with the bibliography that Professor McClurken gave me from his book. I think this will be a fun paper to research.

Hey, everyone just posting how my project is going. As you may know by now, I am researching the role the United States played in the overthrow of President Allende. My primary sources are pretty interesting. Most of them are classified documents coming from the White House, State Department, Department of Defense, CIA, and Treasury. Most of the documents are pretty interesting, but I have to go through and decide which ones I am going to use for my paper. Here is one of the places where I found these documents. http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAE…

another place where i have found alot of these documents is a book called the Pinochet file written by Kornbluh, Peter it is very interesting. Most of my troubles are stem from my topic is very broad… I need to find a concise question to answer in my paper. I think this is a great subject but Im really too ambitious with my thinking. Im still trying to narrow it down.
Bennett

For my History 299 research project I will be examining the tactical style of General Robert E. Lee, comparing his actions in his first campaign at Cheat Mountain to his famous defeat at Gettysburg. In both battles, Lee was blind to terrain and Union whereabouts, relying on information from sources outside the Confederate Army. Lee, in both battles, chose complicated, simultaneous attack plans, both failing in similar ways. My research thus far has led me to an overwhelming wealth of information on Gettysburg, as it is one of the most famous battles in American history. Cheat Mountain, however, was not a major battle and did not result in any significant gains or losses so it does not take center stage in the eyes of many historians. A great secondary source on Cheat Mountain is The Glories of War, by Professor Charles Poland. Though it is a secondary source, it is a great starting point that provides detailed information on the tactics and outcomes of the battle. My most significant primary sources are the personal letters of Robert E. Lee, complied by his son in the book Recollections and Letters of General Lee. These provide valuable insight into the mindset of the General, shedding light onto why he made the choices he did.

For My History 299 Research Proposal, I am focusing on the Battle of the Meuse-Argonne during the Franco-American Offensive of 1918.  More specifically, I am going to be examining how this battle effected the American Infantrymen involved by answering the question, “How was the Battle of the Meuse-Argonne perceived by the American troops, as seen through their eyes in their remembrances and morale reports?”

In order to do this, I plan on utilizing several primary sources, but mainly using three:

A collection of six letters (February 4 – July 10, 1918) written by Private H. N. Brown, 147^th Field Artillery, 32^ndDivision that can be used as a pre-battle reference

A 1919 account by William Benjamin West, a 37^th Division truck driver, which is titled The Fight for the Argonne

A 1920 copy of the Michelin Illustrated Guides to the Battlefields (1914-1918): Verdun and the Battles for its Possessionthat contains the written notes and accounts of a American soldier who was on and off the front lines in the Verdun/Fleury section from about October 28-November 11, 1918

These three sources give me a before, during, and after window into the minds of three unique American soldiers who were all present in the same sector of the Front, which, when combined with data from unit history morale reports and secondary sources such as Robert H. Ferrell’s America’s Deadliest Battle and the American section of Osprey Publishing’s War on the Western Front,should provide a solid research platform for me to work with.

The research that I have so far conducted for my paper has given me excellent results in sources that can better establish my thesis. The recent class discussion which turned me onto the Proquest page on the library site has been a tremendous help.This site aided my work in finding primary source accounts from the media (namely the New York Times and Washington Post) during the events in July of 1863 in New York and helped me to establish the editorial standpoints in the paper in relation to the draft. Now, with a large chunk of my research largely taken care of, I am more at ease about developing my paper. But I do have one question for anyone that may know it, has anyone found the New York Tribune archives dating back to the 1860’s? I still have been unable to locate them and it would be a huge addition to my research if I knew where to look. Can anyone help?

Thanks for listening!