HIST17A:� American History to 1877

Winter 2006:� Laura Robinson

Instructions for Autobiography Paper

Due Mar.24th at noon

This paper is worth 15% of your final grade.� Late papers will be marked down by 5% for each business day they are late, starting at 12:01 p.m. Mar. 24^th.

Choose one of the following identities and write a five to eight page essay (double-spaced and word-processed) describing that person�s life in the first person�in other words, as if you were that person. �All characters must live to be at least 70 years old.� You may tell their story in either journal or memoir form.� ��

� Man born in Africa in 1620, taken in bondage to Virginia in 1625

� Quaker man born in Philadelphia in 1760

� Native American woman born in Connecticut in 1650

� Native American man born near the Ohio River in 1780

� Man born in 1780 to an Irish father and a French mother in New York City

� Woman of mixed Native American-Spanish ancestry born in Texas in 1800

� African American man born in Boston in 1750

� African American woman born in Georgia in 1800

Be sure to describe not only major personal milestones, such as marriage, first job or birth of a child, but also the major developments and events your character would have lived through and their impact on his or her life and thinking.� Use your knowledge of American history and your imagination to construct an interesting and eventful life for your character!

It is not required that you conduct research beyond the material presented in class, but if you research your character�s life beyond class lecture or the two textbooks, you are responsible for citing your sources accordingly, using the MLA format outlined at� http://www.foothill.edu/ol/bibliography-use.pdf.�

Your grade will be based on the depth and thoroughness of your understanding of American history and culture in the relevant time period and on your ability to explain how historical events and processes might affect an (imaginary) ordinary person.�

Please, no binders or fancy fonts!�