Key Terms

Hard power – a coercive approach to international political relations, especially ones that involve the use of military power. The currency of hard power is violence, the threat of violence, and economic sanctions.

Soft power – ability to attract and co-opt, rather than coerce. It is the ability to shape the preferences of others through appeal and attraction. A defining feature of soft power is that it is non-coercive; the currency of soft power is culture, humanitarian outreach, political values, and foreign policies.

History Paper Prompt:

So far in this class, we have discussed the different ways in which the United States built its domestic and international empire after the Civil War. We also discussed “empire” and the differences between “hard and soft power” in the readings and for our last in-class exercise.

In an essay of 750 words or more, demonstrate that you understand the terms “hard and soft power” through the use of examples from the readings and our lectures.

What are two examples of U.S. hard power from 1865 to 1902? What are two examples of American soft power from 1865 to 1902?

How did each of these examples help expand the power of the U.S government?

Finish your essay by telling me which one – “hard or soft power” was more important to the establishment of American Empire in the late 1880s.

The only sources you are allowed to cite is our class textbooks, Give Me Liberty and Voices of Freedom, as well as the class lectures. Part of this exercise is to make sure you are familiar with all of the information from the first half of the class as we get closer to the Midterm Exam.

(Examples of power)

During the age of Jim Crow, white Southerners would attempt to influence the lives of African Americans through violence or the threat of violence. Lynching was a way for whites to assert their societal and political power against blacks through violence. This is a form of hard power.

During Reconstruction, the Radical Republicans wanted to open schools for African Americans to assimilate them into the United States after slavery and to teach them how to become responsible American citizens. Assimilation and civilizing mission are forms of soft power.

DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS:

Papers must conform to ALL conventions of formal writing. This means that your papers are expected to be doubled-spaced, 12-point font, grammatically correct, and refer back to the sources. Please include a word count on your work. Papers that are too short will be penalized. Your papers will be checked for plagiarism. Submit your document as a Microsoft Word file – or a similar word processing file. DO NOT convert the file to a PDF.

Format

For this assignment, you will write a paper of at least 750 words in response to the Prompt above. This paper is due at 11:59 PM on SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23rd, 2020. Your paper should be uploaded to Canvas where it will be checked for plagiarism using Turn-It-In. The word count minimum is mandatory. I will take off an entire letter grade for any essay under 750 words. Also, I will take off a letter grade for work that is turned in late. Plagiarism will result in a zero on the assignment and possible further disciplinary action by USF.

Answer the prompt above by identifying two examples of soft power and two examples of hard power that you have learned about in this class so far. These should be examples from American history in years ranging from 1865 to 1902. Identify the type of power and how it was significant in expanding the power of the United States.

RUBRIC: (Graded on content, essay structure, use of sources & final conclusions)

• Your essay should begin with an Introductary Paragraph that briefly summarizes the concepts of “empire” as well as “hard power” and “soft power”, and then briefly identify each of your examples.
• In the body paragraphs of the essay (3-4 paragraphs), give me details about the examples you chose. And use the class sources (Give Me Liberty, Voices of Freedom, and class lectures) to answer the questions above completely. Some of your answers may already be located in the Discussion Board answers. You must use at least one direct quote from the approved sources in each of your examples.
• The last paragraph of the paper should be your conclusion. In your conclusion, briefly summarize the examples you chose and your answers to how they increased the power of the United States. This is also where you answer whether “hard power” or “soft power” was more important in the development of American Empire.

Sources

For this assignment, I am requiring that you use the class textbooks – Eric Foner’s Give Me Liberty and Voices of Freedom – and the class lectures. Please do not use history-based websites for this paper. All of the examples you need to write this paper can be found within the two Foner books and our lectures. All lecture PowerPoint presentations, including notes for most of them, are posted on Canvas in Files. Writing this essay will also help you get ready for the Midterm Exam. I am requiring that you quote at least one source for each of your examples.

Using Quotations Within Your Sources

Below are the instructions for how to do quotations from our first writing assignment. I am not concerned with formal citations; however, you need to make some effort at showing me what part of the document you found the quote. You are free to use Chicago, MLA, or APA if you’re comfortable with those citations from your own areas of expertise. But I require that you identify the author, book or lecture topic, and page number. I have an example of each below. (Liberty = Give Me Liberty; Freedom = Voices of Freedom; To quote my lectures, use my last name “Harris” and the class lecture in which you found the quote. My lectures do not have pages numbers.)

EXAMPLES:

For quoting Give Me Liberty: Steel industrialist Andrew Carnegie contributed to the economic power of American Empire through establishing the largest steel company in the United States, but “believed that the rich had a moral obligation to promote the advancement of society.” (Foner, Liberty, 609).

For quoting Voices of Freedom: During Reconstruction, Southerners attempted to limit the gun rights of African Americans by establishing laws that made it illegal for a white person to “sell, lend, or give to any freedman, free negro, or mulatto any fire-arms” or “liquors.” (Foner, Freedom, 11).

The victory in the Spanish-American War represented the U.S. government’s “first victory against a European power and first overseas colonial occupations.” (Harris, Class 7 lecture).