Writing an Introductory Paragraph to an A.P. U.S. Essay

A.P. U.S. HistoryMrs. Civitella

The Introductory ParagraphA. Establish time and placeB. Provide background information to the time

periodC. Write a thesis statement:

1) answer the question2) clearly identify the topics of your body

paragraphs3) Underline your thesis statement

DirectionsUsing the document packet from the 1993

D.B.Q., write an introductory paragraph

I.N.T.R.O. – memorize this mnemonicIntroduce the time and place

Narrate what events preceded the time period

Tell the reader what you know (outside information!)

Restate the question

Order of your body paragraphs

Do you know the mnemonic?INTRO

Watch as I do one….What economic, social, and ethnic conditions typical of the early southern colonies were generally absent in the New England and middle colonies?

To organize this essay I ask myself…. What is the time period and place?

How should I organize this essay?

What will be the topics of each of my body paragraphs?

What will be the information in each body paragraph?

Brainstorm!

Write your introduction: think of INTRO:Introduce the time and place

Narrate what events proceeded the time periodTell the reader what you know (outside information!)Restate the question Order of your body paragraphs

Organizing the Essay

What economic, social, and ethnic conditions typical of the early southern colonies were generally absent in the New England and middle colonies?

What is the time period and place?

How should I organize this essay?

What will be the topics of each of my body paragraphs?

What will be the information in each body paragraph?

Brainstorm!

Write your introduction: think of INTRO:

Introduce the time and place

Narrate what events proceeded the time periodTell the reader what you know (outside information!)Restate the question Order of your body paragraphs

Organizing body paragraphs

Economic Social Ethnic

Southern colonies:•One crop economy

•Dominated by wealthy

• no manufactured products

New England colonies:•Small family farms

•Equality of economic opportunity

•Some manufacturing such as shipbuilding•Some commercial opportunity

Southern colonies:•Social hierarchy dominated by planter elite•Intermarried to preserve wealthy•Education only available to the wealthy

New England colonies:•Relatively equal share of land and opportunity offered to all, no real power structure•“protestant work ethic” led to hard work and thrift•Strong marriages produced many children•Education available to all towns with over 50 families, high rates of literacy

Southern colonies:•Unreliability of indentured servants by 1676 led to increased importation of African slaves

•Slaves outnumbered white population

•Most colonists were of English origin, members of the Anglican Church , conformity to Old World structure

New England colonies:•Mostly from England•Some from the Netherlands (NY)•Some Scots Irish (NH)•Separatists and non-separatists•Dissenters like Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson showed independence

EconomicSouthern colonies:• One crop economy: tobacco, rice, indigo

• Dominated by wealthy, the headright system

• no manufactured products, had to import everything

New England colonies:• Small family farms, fish, fur, lumber

• Equality of economic opportunity, planned plots

• Some manufacturing such as shipbuilding• Some commercial opportunity

Social

Southern colonies:• Social hierarchy dominated by planter elite• Intermarried to preserve wealth• Education only available to the wealthy• Indentured servants than slaves did the hard work• Almost feudal like social structure with limited mobility

New England colonies:• Relatively equal share of land and opportunity offered to

all, no real power structure• “protestant work ethic” led to hard work and thrift• Strong marriages produced many children• Education available to all towns with over 50 families, high

rates of literacy

EthnicSouthern colonies:• Unreliability of indentured servants by 1676 (Bacon’s

Rebellion) led to increased importation of African slaves

• Eventually slaves outnumbered white population, paranoia

• Most colonists were of English origin, members of the Anglican Church , conformity to Old World structure

New England colonies:• Mostly from England• Some from the Netherlands (moving into NE from NY)• Some Scots Irish (NH)• Separatists and non-separatists• Dissenters like Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson

showed independence

Information that comes before the time period that is relevant to the topic:

Background information 1607- 1775 :The Spanish Armada, 1588Competition among European powersMercantilismReligious persecutionEconomic opportunityAvailability of landDistribution of landLabor structure

I.N.T.R.O. – to write an introductionIntroduce the time and place

Narrate what events preceded the time period

Tell the reader what you know (outside information!)

Restate the question

Order of your body paragraphs

Writing my introduction I.N.T.R.O.During the colonial period 1607-1776, thousands of people

came to North America to settle in the British colonies. England had instituted mercantilist economic polices under Elizabeth I to take colonies to increase the production of export products and reduce the number of products that she needed to import. The first attempt at English settlement North America at Roanoke failed in 1585. Young men seeking fortune and adventure came to the Chesapeake colonies. Religious groups, came to the New England colonies for religious freedom. The Southern colonies were settled by those seeking economic opportunity and land which was not easily obtainable in England due to the practice of primogeniture and the strict economic structure of old world Europe. Millions of African slaves were imported to the British colonies on slave ships in what came to be called the middle passage to work in the fields of the southern agricultural plantations. By 1775, there were clear differences between the southern and New England colonies as evidenced by their economic, social, and ethnic conditions.

Let’s try one together….Which factor, religious freedom or economic betterment, describes the motivation behind the founding of the English colonies?

To organize this essay I ask myself…. What is the time period and place? How should I organize this essay?

What will be the topics of each of my body paragraphs?

What will be the information in each body paragraph?

Brainstorm!

Write your introduction: think of INTRO:Introduce the time and place

Narrate what events proceeded the time periodTell the reader what you know (outside information!)Restate the question Order of your body paragraphs

Organizing the EssayWhich factor, religious freedom or economic betterment, describes the motivation behind the founding of the English colonies?

What is the time period and place?

How should I organize this essay?

What will be the topics of each of my body paragraphs?

What will be the information in each body paragraph?

Brainstorm!

Write your introduction: think of INTRO:

Introduce the time and place

Narrate what events proceeded the time periodTell the reader what you know (outside information!)Restate the question Order of your body paragraphs

Religious freedom Economic betterment

Religious freedom Economic betterment

Plymouth, Pilgrims 1620Mass. Bay, Puritans- 1629R.I., Roger Williams, 1635CT, Hooker, 1635-1638MD, Baltimore, 1634P.A. William Penn, 1681

Virginia, Jamestown 1607Carolina, foodstuff for Sugar Islands, 1640North Carolina, 1712 “squatters”GA, “charity colony”, 1733

I.N.T.R.O. – memorize this mnemonicIntroduce the time and place

Narrate what events preceded the time period

Tell the reader what you know (outside information!)

Restate the question

Order of your body paragraphs

You try one….How did geography influence the settlement and development of northern, southern and middle colonies? What different classes of people lived in the colonies in 1763?

To organize this essay I ask myself…. What is the time period and place? How should I organize this essay?

What will be the topics of each of my body paragraphs?

What will be the information in each body paragraph?

Brainstorm!

Write your introduction: think of INTRO:Introduce the time and place

Narrate what events proceeded the time periodTell the reader what you know (outside information!)Restate the question Order of your body paragraphs

Northern Southern Middle

Geography:

Classes of people:

Geography:

Classes of people:

Geography:

Classes of people: