Whether you’re a history student at university or you’re studying history at college, our history essays and resources are here to inspire you. Browse our essays and use as an example for your own work! Find more history essays here.
The international period concurrent with the Late Bronze Age (or LBA, c. 1550-1250 BC) exhibited heightened commercial and political relations between various regions in the ancient Near East, the Levant, and the Aegean. Perhaps the most revealing testaments of the contact amongst these regions, apart from the Amarna Letters, are the glyptic works of this … Read more
In this essay, dealing with opposition will be defined as fully eliminating threats, rather than merely postponing or temporarily preventing them. It will be argued that Stalin was the most successful in dealing with opposition than any other ruler during the period 1855-1964. This is due to his repressive approach in destroying potential threats to … Read more
In 2014, the people of Scotland voted in a referendum offered by the UK on whether Scotland should sever her political and economic ties with England and go her own separate way as an independent nation. National sentiment behind this referendum is not without precedent, as Scotland has borne the yoke of English subjugation in … Read more
Isabella’s dowager period followed all standards that was expected for the retirement period of a queen. Like other dowagers before her, her political role was greatly reduced, and cultural and religious benefaction became a central focus of her life and her only appearances of the royal court was at major celebrations. A dowager period tended … Read more
In the context of a ‘Mid-Tudor Crisis’, a ‘crisis’ is defined as a situation where the state is threatened to collapse. It is with this definition that Whitney Jones (1973) had first used the label of a ‘Mid-Tudor Crisis’, claiming that the combination of failures and instability in foreign policy, economy, and religious reformation had … Read more
Interpretation is an important mechanism to help us have a better understanding of a knowledge ground. Most of the time it is triggered by our senses. A simple example that I had is when I first listened to Any Song by Zico. The song appealed with such an addicting and joyful melody that made me … Read more
Introduction In World War II, American women had to fight twice as hard for their right to fight alongside men to protect their countries. Through nursing opportunities, sniper training projects, and the invention of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program, women had to overcome the boundaries of their domestic duties on the home front … Read more
No other historical perspective has influenced historiographical discourse in such contested terms. Many historians have written in the vein and spirit of Marxist belief; however, conceptual schisms have manifested between self-avowed Marxist historians who stretch the ideas of Marx, that have-fragmented the established bonds and orthodoxy of Marxist methodology. Theoretical Marxism, at-its core, is more … Read more
Thesis Statement: The accomplishments of the Civilian Conservation Corps are still seen today throughout our national parks and reservoirs. During a harsh time what could you do to crawl yourself out of The Great Depression? In this time the state of the country was shambled, broken, and full of poverty. The environment was deteriorating. Much … Read more
When you think about war, what do you think about? Missiles, poverty, the little green army men from Toy Story? In this essay, I am going to explore a different side of war–ballet. During the Cold War, more specifically the late 80’s and early 90’s, dancers from Soviet Russia began to defect to the West. … Read more
The end of the Second World War culminated in the rise of two superpowers- United States(US) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). The world was therefore divided into two ideological blocs- Eastern bloc led by the USSR and the Western bloc led by the US. This rivalry came to be known as the … Read more
How do you define a Civil War and what criteria do you have to fit to say that your country is at what? The most seen academic definition has that of two key criteria. ‘’The first says that the warring groups must be from the same country and fighting for control of the political centre, … Read more
1) One distinct feature of classical Athenian law was the use of torture as an interrogation method for gathering evidence. Specifically, that judicial torture was seen as a legitimate way to attain evidence in a criminal investigation. While today, this practice has been largely abandoned and rendered inefficient by many, what is peculiar about its … Read more
Genghis Khan is one of the greatest military leaders that have ever walk the Earth. He was born in 1162. Temujin was a boy that would help shape the world of today. His father Yesugei was the chief of the nomadic tribe. He was poisoned by another tribe, and that meant that Temujin would have … Read more
The 1970’s were full of political, cultural, and social issues. A timeline of events throughout America’s history will help shape why certain fashions were the way they were during this time period. Thus, creating a background for why the Hippies and disco lovers took on their fashions of this decade. The year of 1970, the … Read more
History essays focus more on demonstrating that you have an understanding of the issues to a set question than to finding the correct answer to the set question.
It is rather difficult to arrive at a definite answer with most historical problems. In general for each historical question there will be a body of evidence that will be relevant to it. This body of evidence typically will explain about the events and phenomena under discussion. A good answer will need to bring together all of this evidence and explain why particular items have been dismissed as having no bearing on the problem.
You must have a thorough understanding of the question by identifying the exact nature of the question; what are you being asked, this will help in giving an adequate answer that is the kind of information you will need to answer the question. Historical essays do not involve simply reporting information, rather it requires you to understand the question and make a judgment on the issue. Paying keen attention to keywords in the question is also important; words such as: discuss, explain, compare, evaluate and so on.
Here we explain how to write a history essay and expand on some of the keywords that are so important to understand:
These type of questions demand a list of reasons or one big reason; each reason will have to be explained – that is, clarified, expanded upon, and illustrated.
This is to break-down something. To determine the nature and relationship of the parts of; say “how” or “why” something happened. This could be likened to “cause and effect”.
This is how true or false something is. To judge value of its character; this should be supported by explanations and evidence. Evaluate discuss merits and de-merits, it is giving an opinion regarding the value of it.
This demands the purpose of identifying similarities and differences. When the question calls for comparisons, they expect you to include differences as well. One way of going about such an essay would be to distinguish areas of similarity and differences; furthermore give a section in which you would assess the degree of similarity and reach a sub-conclusion.
Give an account of; tell about; give a word picture of.
Show the different sides of, and argue from various points of views.
Make known in detail, to make clear or plain.
This requires you to identify the function of some group or institution within some specific system. This is the functionalist approach. The subject of the question is the ‘Y’ rather than the ‘X’ element. This question requires a discussion of the system as a whole and the consideration of alternative explanations of how ‘X’ worked within it.
Involves measure of, that is, how much? For instance, Examine five spheres which cast light on the extent of Jewish influence in high medieval France: namely, their role in the commercial life of the towns, the role of Jewish banking in the agrarian economy, their influence on Christian intellectual life and so on. It has been seen that the Jews exerted a profound influence on the intellectual life of the universities but almost none on that of the established monastic orders.
In what ways should show how an event or condition relates to another. Understand what was done and what was left to be done. In this you should expect counter-arguments, did an event or condition relate to another?
Knowing how to write a history essay is not just about knowing facts and figures. It’s also about how you structure your writing so it flows.
It is usually one paragraph and its purpose is to clearly set out the problem to be discussed in the paper, define key terms that will be used, outline the structure of the argument and to clearly state the thesis. The thesis statement is the version of your argument. The thesis thus presents new information to your reader, however, for it to be a good thesis it will require you to introduce the concepts in it before presenting the thesis itself. That is the task of the introductory paragraph and that’s how the thesis fits in the introductory paragraph.
For instance, “The nature of slave rights had a dual character. On the one hand, in order to maintain the total dominance of the white master class, the law denied any rights to slaves. Publicly, the slave was merely property, and not human at all. Yet the personal records of many planters suggest that slaves often proved able to demand customary “rights” from their masters. In the privacy of the master-slave relationship, the black man did indeed have rights which the white man was bound to respect, on pain of losing his labor or subjecting himself to violence. This conflict between slaves’ lack of “public” rights and masters’ “private” acknowledgment of slaves’ rights undermined planters’ informal rule and permitted slaves a degree of freedom within an oppressive system.” The thesis is clearly structured between two concepts public and private rights which are included into the thesis. This gives the reader a clear idea of what the paper will need to argue to prove its thesis.
You need an organising scheme for your paper, which most often will be suggested by your thesis. Let’s take this thesis: “In the 1950s, American auto workers developed their identities as laborers in the home as well as the workplace.” This thesis suggests a structure: at the very least, you will have to divide things up into “home” and “workplace.” The general flow in the body is from the general to the specific. Start with general statements, such as “Federal policy towards native peoples aimed at either assimilating Indians or exterminating them.” Then move on to specific statements which support your general statement, such as “The origins of the policy of assimilation can be traced back to Puritan missionaries of the 1650s.”
The use of paragraphs is essential and must start with a topic sentence. Each paragraph should have a main point with a small argument to support the paragraph. The paragraphs of the paper must flow from one idea to the next. Arguing in the body need not be heated emotions and raised voices rather it should be intended to convince the reader through reason. One must anticipate counter-arguments which one can either: refute by proving it is false, as in, “While the federal census of 1890 seems to suggest an increase in black mortality, that census was infamous for recording specious data”. Or you may accept certain true statements which refute your argument but explain why they do not harm your arguments, as in, “It was indeed true that Latino youth were incarcerated at a rate three to four times greater than Anglo youth, yet this may suggest the iniquitous workings of the local justice system rather than a Latino propensity towards crime.”
This kind of arguing in the body will give more credibility to the paper and make it more persuasive.
This usually gives a brief explanation on your thesis, and pulls all your arguments together. The conclusion should show why the argument is important in the bigger picture of things, or suggest areas for further research. Or it could raise a bigger question.
We hope you gained a lot from reading our free ‘how to write a history essay’ guide.
