dissertation topics on slavery

Slavery Research Paper Topics

Explore the rich history of slavery through our comprehensive guide on slavery research paper topics . This page is designed for history students seeking in-depth insights into various aspects of slavery, including ancient, medieval, Islamic, and modern periods. We present an extensive list of slavery research paper topics categorized into 10 sections, each comprising 10 thought-provoking topics. Additionally, our article on slavery delves into the historical context, impact, and legacies of slavery, offering students a broad perspective for their research endeavors. Furthermore, we provide valuable tips on selecting and crafting compelling research paper topics on slavery, empowering students to develop well-structured and impactful papers. To support students in their academic journey, iResearchNet offers specialized writing services, featuring expert degree-holding writers, in-depth research, and customized solutions. Embrace the opportunity to excel in your history studies!

100 Slavery Research Paper Topics

In the annals of history, few topics have been as impactful and poignant as the institution of slavery. From ancient civilizations to modern societies, slavery has left an indelible mark on humanity, shaping economies, societies, and cultures throughout the ages. For students of history, delving into the complexities of slavery through research papers offers a unique opportunity to explore this dark chapter of human history and its enduring legacies. In this comprehensive section, we present a curated list of slavery research paper topics, meticulously organized into 10 categories, each encompassing 10 diverse and thought-provoking subjects. Our aim is to provide students with a wide array of historical themes and perspectives, covering ancient slavery, medieval slavery, Islamic slavery, slavery in the United States, modern slavery, slavery and human rights, slavery and economics, slavery and social movements, slavery and cultural impact, and slavery and historical memory. As we embark on this journey, we seek to foster a deeper understanding of the complex dynamics of slavery and its profound implications on the past, present, and future.

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• The Role of Slavery in Ancient Civilizations: A Comparative Study
• Slavery in Ancient Greece: Social and Economic Impact
• Roman Slavery: From Captives to Household Servants
• Slavery in Ancient Egypt: Labor and Society
• Slavery in Mesopotamia: Legal Framework and Rights of Enslaved Individuals
• Slavery in Ancient China: Patterns of Enslavement and Liberation
• The Status of Slaves in Pre-Colonial Africa: A Case Study
• Slavery in the Indus Valley Civilization: Evidence and Interpretations
• The Treatment of Slaves in the Aztec Empire: Perspectives and Challenges
• Slavery in the Mayan Civilization: Myths and Reality
• Serfdom and Slavery in Medieval Europe: A Comparative Analysis
• Slave Trade in the Byzantine Empire: Routes and Impact
• Slavery in the Islamic Caliphates: Legal and Social Dimensions
• The Role of Slavery in Feudal Japan: Samurai and Peasants
• Slavery in Medieval China: Institutions and Reforms
• The Slave Trade in Medieval Africa: Regional Variations and Consequences
• Enslavement in the Viking Age: Raiding and Slave Markets
• Slavery in the Middle Ages: Church, State, and Social Norms
• The Experience of Slaves in Medieval Persia: Stories and Perspectives
• Slave Revolts and Resistance in the Medieval World: Causes and Outcomes
• Islamic Slavery and the Trans-Saharan Trade: Connections and Implications
• The Role of Slavery in the Ottoman Empire: Administration and Abolition
• Slavery in the Mamluk Sultanate: Military and Economic Contributions
• The Treatment of Slaves in Medieval Islamic Society: Rights and Restrictions
• Female Slaves in the Islamic World: Roles and Perceptions
• Slavery in Medieval India: Influence of Islamic and Hindu Traditions
• The African Slave Trade in the Indian Ocean: Trade Routes and Networks
• Slavery and Conversion to Islam: Examining the Impact on Enslaved Individuals
• The Experience of African Slaves in the Arab World: Cultural Identity and Resistance
• Slavery in the Maldives: Local Practices and Global Influences
• Slavery in the Southern Colonies: Labor Systems and Plantation Life
• The Experience of Enslaved Individuals in the Northern States: Urban vs. Rural
• Slave Trade and the Middle Passage: Trauma and Survival
• The Role of Free Blacks in the Antebellum South: Rights and Restrictions
• The Underground Railroad in the United States: Networks and Abolitionist Activity
• Slavery and Indigenous Peoples: Interactions and Conflicts
• The Economic Impact of Slavery on the United States: Cotton, Tobacco, and Beyond
• Slavery and the US Constitution: Legal Framework and Political Debates
• Slavery and the American Legal System: Court Cases and Precedents
• The Legacy of Slavery in US Society: Racial Inequality and Systemic Racism
• Slavery in the United States: From Colonial Times to the Civil War
• The Abolitionist Movement in the United States: Key Figures and Campaigns
• The Underground Railroad: Escaping Slavery and Freedom Seekers
• Slavery and the American Civil War: Causes, Consequences, and Legacies
• Slavery in Latin America: Plantations, Labor Systems, and Resistance
• The British Abolition of the Slave Trade: Policy and Impact
• The Transatlantic Slave Trade: Origins, Scale, and Aftermath
• Slavery in the Caribbean: Plantation Economies and Cultural Heritage
• The Impact of Slavery on African Societies: Continuity and Change
• Modern-Day Slavery: Human Trafficking and Forced Labor in the 21st Century
• Slavery and International Law: From Condemnation to Enforcement
• The Role of Slavery in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Slavery Reparations: Historical Injustices and Contemporary Debates
• The Legacies of Slavery: Intergenerational Trauma and Healing
• The Fight for Abolition: Social Movements and Civil Rights Activism
• Slavery in Modern Literature: Representation and Cultural Memory
• The Impact of Slavery on Identity and Belonging: Descendants of Enslaved Individuals
• Modern Slavery and Global Supply Chains: Corporate Responsibility and Accountability
• The Role of Museums and Memorials in Preserving Slavery’s History
• Slavery and Memory Studies: Commemoration and Remembrance
• The Economics of Slavery: Plantations, Labor, and Capital Accumulation
• The Impact of Slavery on Economic Development: Case Studies and Perspectives
• Slavery and Trade Routes: The Triangular Trade and Its Consequences
• Slavery and Industrialization: Labor Systems and Technological Advances
• Slavery and Urbanization: The Role of Enslaved Individuals in Building Cities
• The Economic Justifications for Slavery: Historical Debates and Perspectives
• Slavery and Wealth Inequality: Historical and Contemporary Patterns
• Slavery and Globalization: Connections and Disparities
• The Role of Slave Labor in Building Infrastructures: Roads, Canals, and Railways
• Slavery and Economic Migration: The Movement of Enslaved Individuals
• Slave Revolts and Rebellions: Causes, Strategies, and Outcomes
• Abolitionist Literature: Narratives of Freedom and Empowerment
• The Role of Religion in the Abolitionist Movement: Faith and Advocacy
• The Underground Railroad and Its Impact on African American Communities
• Slavery and Women’s Rights: Intersectionality and Activism
• The Role of Free African Americans in the Abolitionist Movement
• Slave Songs and Music: Expressions of Resistance and Identity
• Slave Codes and Laws: The Legal Framework of Enslavement
• Slavery and Education: Restrictions, Access, and Agency
• The Role of International Diplomacy in Abolitionist Efforts
• Slavery in Art and Literature: Representations and Interpretations
• The Influence of African Cultures on Slave Communities
• Slavery and Memory in Visual Culture: Museums, Monuments, and Memorials
• The Impact of Slave Narratives on Cultural Awareness and Empathy
• Slavery in Folklore and Oral Traditions: Stories of Survival and Resilience
• Slavery and Music: Contributions of Enslaved Africans to American Music
• The Legacy of Slavery in Language and Linguistics: Words and Expressions
• Slavery and Food: Culinary Traditions and Adaptations
• The Representation of Slavery in Films and Media: Stereotypes and Revisionist Narratives
• Slavery’s Influence on Fashion and Clothing: Textiles and Identity
• The Politics of Memory: Commemorating and Memorializing Slavery
• Slavery and Public History: Interpretation and Controversies
• The Role of Confederate Monuments in Shaping Historical Narratives
• Slavery and Heritage Tourism: Ethics and Responsibilities
• The Memory of Slavery in African American Communities: Cultural Expressions
• The Debate over Confederate Symbols and Names: Renaming and Removals
• Slavery and Education: Teaching Difficult Histories in Schools
• The Role of Historical Reenactments in Representing Slavery
• Slavery in Family Histories: Genealogy and Ancestral Connections
• The Future of Slavery Studies: Research Directions and Challenges

This comprehensive list of slavery research paper topics serves as a gateway for students to explore the multifaceted dimensions of slavery across different epochs and societies. From ancient civilizations to the present day, slavery has been a pervasive and deeply troubling institution that has shaped human history in profound ways. By examining these carefully selected topics, students can gain a deeper appreciation for the historical, social, economic, and cultural complexities surrounding slavery. Moreover, delving into these research paper ideas opens avenues for critical thinking, fostering empathy, and raising awareness about the enduring legacy of slavery in contemporary society. As we engage with these slavery research paper topics, it is crucial to approach them with sensitivity and a commitment to shedding light on the human experience, even in the darkest chapters of history.

Slavery: Exploring the History, Impact, and Legacies

Slavery stands as a harrowing chapter in human history, marked by its profound impact on societies, economies, and the lives of countless individuals. This article delves into the complex and troubling history of slavery, tracing its origins, evolution, and far-reaching consequences on both local and global scales. Additionally, it sheds light on the enduring legacies of slavery, as its shadows continue to cast a long and influential reach into the modern world. By examining the historical context of slavery and its multifaceted impact, we can better understand the challenges faced by enslaved people and the enduring repercussions felt across generations and continents.

The Origins of Slavery: Tracing the Roots

The history of slavery can be traced back to ancient civilizations, where individuals were subjected to forced labor and bondage. Exploring the origins of slavery illuminates the early forms of human exploitation and the development of slave systems in various societies, from Mesopotamia and Egypt to Greece and Rome. Understanding the earliest manifestations of slavery helps contextualize its transformation over time and its role in shaping societies.

Slavery in Medieval Times: Continuity and Change

As the world transitioned into the medieval period, the institution of slavery adapted and persisted. This topic examines the continuity of slavery in medieval Europe, Africa, and Asia, and delves into the changes and variations that occurred during this era. The rise of serfdom, indentured servitude, and chattel slavery all played significant roles in shaping the medieval world’s social, economic, and political landscape.

Islamic Slavery: Unraveling the Narrative

Islamic history also saw the presence of slavery, with a diverse range of experiences and practices within the Islamic world. This section explores the nuances of Islamic slavery, challenging misconceptions and providing a more nuanced understanding of its historical context. The discussion encompasses the role of slavery in Islamic societies, the treatment of enslaved people, and the Quranic teachings related to slavery.

Transatlantic Slave Trade: A Dark Era

One of the most infamous chapters in slavery’s history is the transatlantic slave trade, which forcibly transported millions of Africans to the Americas. This topic delves into the grim reality of the slave trade, analyzing its economic, social, and humanitarian ramifications. The harrowing journey of enslaved Africans, the brutal conditions of the Middle Passage, and the impacts on African societies are essential aspects of this exploration.

Slavery and Abolition Movements: Struggle for Freedom

The fight against slavery was met with resistance from enslaved individuals and abolition movements worldwide. This section examines the courageous efforts of abolitionists, enslaved rebels, and humanitarian activists in challenging the institution of slavery. The works of prominent figures such as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, William Wilberforce, and Sojourner Truth are exemplars of the determination to end slavery.

Impact on Culture and Identity

Slavery profoundly influenced the cultural fabric and identities of both enslaved and enslaving societies. This topic investigates how cultural expressions, traditions, and identities were shaped by the institution of slavery, leaving indelible marks on the collective consciousness. From African cultural retentions in the Americas to the enduring legacy of slavery in shaping national identities, this section delves into the power of culture in preserving and challenging the past.

Slavery’s Economic Legacy: Prosperity Built on Exploitation

The economic impact of slavery cannot be underestimated, as it fueled the growth of industries and economies in different regions. This section delves into the economic repercussions of slavery, exploring its role in the accumulation of wealth and its lasting influence on global trade. The exploitative labor practices that underpinned the economies of plantation-based societies and their connection to contemporary economic systems are crucial aspects of this examination.

The Long Road to Emancipation: Legacies of Struggle

Even after the abolition of slavery, the legacy of oppression persisted through segregation, Jim Crow laws, and systemic racism. This topic examines the legacies of slavery’s aftermath and the ongoing struggles for equality and justice. The Civil Rights Movement in the United States and similar movements worldwide demonstrate the enduring efforts to dismantle the structures of racism and discrimination.

Slavery in the US: A Tumultuous History

Focusing on the United States, this category explores the unique history of slavery in the nation. From its early colonial beginnings to the Civil War and beyond, the United States grappled with the profound impact of slavery on its development. Examining slave narratives, the Underground Railroad, and the Emancipation Proclamation, this section highlights the complexities of slavery’s legacy in the US.

Slavery in the Modern World: Contemporary Forms of Exploitation

Despite its historical abolition, slavery has not been eradicated entirely. Modern slavery, including human trafficking and forced labor, continues to affect millions worldwide. This section sheds light on the modern manifestations of slavery and the challenges of combating this global issue. The examination includes efforts by international organizations, governments, and NGOs to address this ongoing human rights violation.

By examining these critical aspects of slavery, we can gain a deeper appreciation for the history, impact, and enduring legacies of this tragic institution. Through rigorous research and compassionate inquiry, we aim to honor the experiences of those who suffered under slavery while striving to create a more just and equitable world for all.

How to Choose Slavery Research Paper Topics

Choosing slavery research paper topics requires thoughtful consideration and a deep understanding of the historical, social, and cultural complexities surrounding this dark period in human history. While the topic selection process can be challenging, it is essential to find a subject that not only interests you but also allows for a comprehensive exploration of the issues related to slavery. Here are ten tips to guide you in selecting the most compelling slavery research paper topics:

• Conduct Preliminary Research : Before settling on a specific topic, conduct preliminary research to familiarize yourself with various aspects of slavery. Read books, scholarly articles, and historical accounts to gain insight into different angles and perspectives. This will help you identify gaps in the existing literature and potential areas for further exploration.
• Define Your Scope : Given the vastness of the subject, it is crucial to define the scope of your research paper. Consider the time period, geographic location, and specific themes you want to delve into. Whether you choose to focus on a particular region, a specific era, or a comparative analysis of different slave systems, defining your scope will provide clarity and direction.
• Explore Different Perspectives : Slavery has left an indelible mark on various societies and individuals. Consider exploring different perspectives, such as the experiences of enslaved individuals, the role of slaveholders, the impact on economies, and the cultural and social repercussions. This multi-faceted approach will enrich your research and foster a comprehensive understanding of the subject.
• Select a Specific Theme or Question : Rather than opting for a broad topic, narrow down your focus by selecting a specific theme or research question. For instance, you could investigate the resistance strategies employed by enslaved people, the economic motivations behind the transatlantic slave trade, or the role of women in slave societies. A focused approach will allow for in-depth analysis and a more cohesive research paper.
• Consult with Your Instructor or Advisor : If you are struggling to choose a research paper topic, don’t hesitate to seek guidance from your instructor or academic advisor. They can offer valuable insights, suggest potential slavery research paper topics, and provide feedback on the feasibility of your ideas.
• Consider Understudied Topics : Exploring less-discussed or understudied topics can be a rewarding endeavor. Look for aspects of slavery that have not received as much scholarly attention and consider shedding light on these lesser-known areas. This can contribute to the broader understanding of the subject and make your research paper stand out.
• Use Primary Sources : Incorporating primary sources in your research can add depth and authenticity to your paper. Letters, diaries, interviews, and official documents from the time of slavery provide firsthand accounts and perspectives, enriching your analysis and providing a more nuanced understanding of historical events.
• Stay Ethical and Sensible : Slavery is a highly sensitive and traumatic subject. When choosing a research paper topic, ensure that you approach it with sensitivity and respect for the individuals who suffered under this institution. Avoid trivializing the experiences of enslaved people or using offensive language in your research.
• Consider Comparative Studies : Comparing the experiences of enslaved people in different regions or exploring how slavery intersected with other historical events can yield fascinating insights. Comparative studies can highlight similarities and differences, providing a broader context for understanding the complexities of slavery.
• Follow Your Passion : Ultimately, choose a slavery research paper topic that genuinely interests you. A passionate approach to your research will drive your motivation, commitment, and enthusiasm throughout the writing process. Embrace a topic that ignites your curiosity and allows you to make a meaningful contribution to the field of historical research.

In conclusion, selecting a research paper topic on slavery requires careful consideration of various factors, including scope, perspective, and sensitivity. By conducting thorough research and defining a focused theme or question, you can explore the depths of this complex historical period and contribute to a deeper understanding of the enduring legacies of slavery. Remember to seek guidance from your instructor, utilize primary sources, and stay passionate in your pursuit of knowledge. With these tips, you can embark on a compelling research journey that sheds light on the history, impact, and ongoing relevance of slavery in our world.

How to Write a Slavery Research Paper

Writing a slavery research paper requires careful planning, extensive research, and a thoughtful approach to address the complex historical, social, and cultural dimensions of this topic. Here are ten essential tips to guide you through the process of writing an engaging and well-structured slavery research paper:

• Develop a Strong Thesis Statement : A compelling thesis statement is the foundation of your research paper. It should present a clear argument or claim that you will explore and support throughout your paper. Your thesis statement should be specific, concise, and indicative of the main focus of your research.
• Conduct In-Depth Research : Thoroughly research your chosen topic using both primary and secondary sources. Primary sources include historical documents, letters, diaries, interviews, and other firsthand accounts from the time of slavery. Secondary sources encompass scholarly books, articles, and analyses that provide context and interpretations of historical events.
• Organize Your Research : Organize your research material systematically to facilitate a coherent and logical structure for your paper. Create an outline that outlines the main sections and arguments you plan to cover. This will help you maintain a clear flow of ideas throughout your research paper.
• Provide Historical Context : Begin your research paper by providing essential historical context. Explain the background of slavery, its origins, evolution, and global impact. Offer insights into the economic, social, and political forces that influenced the growth and sustenance of slavery in different regions.
• Explore Various Perspectives : Dive into the multifaceted perspectives related to slavery. Consider the experiences of enslaved individuals, slaveholders, abolitionists, and the broader society. By exploring diverse viewpoints, you can present a well-rounded analysis of the complex issues surrounding slavery.
• Analyze Primary Sources Critically : When using primary sources, analyze them critically to identify biases, gaps, and limitations. Interrogate the perspectives of the authors and the context in which the sources were created. Critical analysis of primary sources strengthens the authenticity and credibility of your research paper.
• Utilize Comparative Analysis : Consider adopting a comparative approach to enrich your research. Compare and contrast different forms of slavery in various regions or analyze the impact of slavery on different social groups. Comparative analysis enhances the depth of your research and offers valuable insights.
• Address the Legacy of Slavery : Acknowledge the ongoing implications of slavery in the modern world. Examine how slavery has shaped contemporary social, economic, and political structures. Addressing the legacy of slavery demonstrates the relevance of this historical topic in today’s society.
• Cite Sources Properly : Ensure that you cite all your sources properly and adhere to the required citation style (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago). Accurate citation gives credit to the original authors, validates your research, and helps avoid plagiarism.
• Revise and Edit Thoroughly : The final step is to revise and edit your research paper thoroughly. Review the content for coherence, clarity, and logical flow of ideas. Check for grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors. Consider seeking feedback from peers or instructors to gain different perspectives on your work.

In conclusion, writing a slavery research paper demands meticulous research, critical analysis, and careful consideration of the historical context and its impact on contemporary society. By developing a strong thesis statement, organizing your research, and exploring various perspectives, you can create an engaging and comprehensive research paper on this crucial aspect of human history. Remember to acknowledge the ongoing legacy of slavery and cite your sources accurately. With dedication and attention to detail, you can produce a research paper that sheds light on the complexities of slavery and its enduring significance.

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• Expert Degree-Holding Writers : Our team of writers consists of highly qualified experts with advanced degrees in history and related fields. They possess a deep understanding of slavery’s historical significance, allowing them to produce well-informed and authoritative research papers.
• Custom Written Works : We recognize that each research paper is unique, and we tailor our writing services to meet your specific requirements. Our writers craft custom-written papers from scratch, ensuring originality and authenticity in every document.
• In-Depth Research : Research is the foundation of any historical study, and our writers go the extra mile to conduct in-depth research using reputable sources, both primary and secondary. This comprehensive approach ensures the inclusion of valuable insights and evidence in your research paper.
• Custom Formatting : Formatting a research paper in the appropriate citation style can be challenging. Rest assured, our writers are well-versed in various formatting styles, including APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian, and Harvard. Your paper will adhere to the required guidelines and be formatted professionally.
• Top Quality : Quality is our utmost priority. We maintain rigorous standards throughout the writing process, ensuring that your research paper reflects academic excellence and meticulous attention to detail.
• Customized Solutions : Whether you need assistance with topic selection, research, or the entire writing process, our services are tailored to meet your specific needs. You have the freedom to choose the level of support that suits your requirements best.
• Flexible Pricing : We understand the financial constraints faced by students. Our pricing structure is designed to be flexible and affordable, ensuring that you receive excellent value for your investment.
• Short Deadlines : If you are facing tight deadlines, worry not. Our writers are skilled at working efficiently and can deliver high-quality research papers within short timeframes.
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HIST 2320 - African American History from Slavery to Freedom

• Getting to Know Your Topic

From Research Question to Thesis Statement

• Finding Books
• Finding Scholarly Journal Articles
• Finding Primary Sources
• Citation Help

Want to Browse Books for Inspiration?

Not sure what you want to investigate yet? Browsing the shelves can be a good way to find that first spark of inspiration. Below are the general history call numbers to get you started. However keep in mind that history can be a highly interdisciplinary subject, so once you get started with the research process don't worry if your work takes you away from these numbers.

If this is your first time using the Library of Congress call numbers don't hesitate to ask a librarian for help. 

C - Auxiliary Sciences of History

D - World History and History of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, etc.

E - History of the Americas

F - History of the Americas

• What is a Research Question
• Put your Question to the Test
• What is a Thesis Statement
• Tips for Writing/Drafting Thesis Statements

A research question is the question around which you center your research. It should be:

• clear : it provides enough specifics that your audience can easily understand its purpose without needing additional explanation.
• focused : it is narrow enough that it can be answered thoroughly in the space the writing task allows.
• concise : it is expressed in the fewest possible words.
• complex : it is not answerable with a simple “yes” or “no,” but rather requires synthesis and analysis of ideas and sources.
• arguable : its potential answers are open to debate rather than accepted facts.

You should ask a question about an issue that you are genuinely curious and/or passionate about.

Unsure about your question? Put it to the test using these seven questions. 

• Does my question allow for many possible answers? Is it flexible and open-ended?
• Is it testable? Do I know what kind of evidence would allow an answer?
• Can I break big “why” questions into empirically resolvable pieces?
• Is the question clear and precise? Do I use vocabulary that is vague or needs definition?
• Have I made the premises explicit?
• Is it of a scale suitable to the length of the assignment?
• Can I explain why the answer matters?

If your question didn't do so well, remember to talk to your professor before starting over. They can help enhance your question for historical exploration. 

The thesis statement is one or two sentences that states the main idea of a writing assignment and helps control the ideas within the paper.  It is not merely a topic but rather   identifies the topic to be discussed, as well as the purpose of the paper itself.

A thesis statement:

• tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
• is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper.
• directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel.
• makes a claim that others might dispute.
• is usually a single sentence near the beginning of your paper (most often, at the end of the first paragraph) that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.

Know the topic . The topic should be something you know or can learn about. It is difficult to write a thesis statement, let alone a paper, on a topic that you know nothing about. Reflecting on personal experience and/or researching will help you know more information about your topic.

Limit your topic . Based on what you know and the required length of your final paper, limit your topic to a specific area. A broad scope will generally require a longer paper, while a narrow scope will be sufficiently proven by a shorter paper.

Brainstorm . If you are having trouble beginning your paper or writing your thesis, take a piece of paper and write down everything that comes to mind about your topic. Did you discover any new ideas or connections? Can you separate any of the things you jotted down into categories? Do you notice any themes? Think about using ideas generated during this process to shape your thesis statement and your paper.

Topic to Research Question

Every research project starts with a question. Your question will allow you to select, evaluate and interpret your sources systematically. The question you start with isn’t set in stone, but will be revisited and revised as you read and interact with the sources. 

Robert C. Williams suggests that  a research question might:

• "ask  how or why  an event happened (causation, explanation)"
• "ask what  the consequences  were of a particular event"
• "discuss  the intellectual origins  of a particular idea"
• "ask what  the cultural context  of an event was";
• "ask  whether or not an individual was responsible  for a certain act"
• "ask about  the social history  of a political event"
• "quantify  broad trends in a society  at a particular time" (52)

Source: Williams, Robert C.  The Historian's Toolbox: A Student's Guide to the Theory and Craft of History . Second ed. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2007.

Helpful Resources: 

• << Previous: Getting to Know Your Topic
• Next: Finding Books >>
• Last Updated: Mar 1, 2024 2:12 PM
• URL: https://libguides.bgsu.edu/c.php?g=1370016

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Transcending the Capitalism and Slavery Debate: Slavery and World Geographies of Accumulation

• Published: 23 August 2022
• Volume 52 , pages 677–709, ( 2023 )

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• Tâmis Parron   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1336-5247 1  

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The capitalism and slavery debate is among the most significant in world historiography. This essay suggests that its main perspectives still use nation-based approaches and employ analytical categories of classical and neoclassical economics that obscure the very notion of capital. As a result, the material relations of slavery are reduced to the problem of profitability within national or colonial contexts, an approach that depicts the nineteenth-century nexus between slavery and capitalism as a transhistorical one. Against this backdrop, this essay proposes that the rise and fall of slavery can be better understood by examining the changing material composition of capital as well as its equally changing cluster of global circuits. Based on critical value theory, it argues that industrialization consistently reshaped spatial and material relations between town and country, capital and labor, and production and consumption, engendering world geographies of accumulation that both fueled and challenged the reproduction of slave labor in the Americas.

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This literature is unfathomably large. Since my goal is to discuss conceptual assumptions in key authors, for a more comprehensive bibliographical overview I refer the reader to Connerman and Zeuske ( 2020 ).

Pro-Williams scholars were then making an analytical move that Latin American scholars had already made decades earlier, but without mentioning them probably due to the unequal exchange of knowledge within world academia (Cox 1987; Novais 1972 , 1979 ).

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Parron, T. Transcending the Capitalism and Slavery Debate: Slavery and World Geographies of Accumulation. Theor Soc 52 , 677–709 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-022-09501-4

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African american studies: theses and dissertations.

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Bibliography of theses and dissertations on African American topics completed at Berkeley.

• African American Theses and Dissertations 1907-2001. This bibliography lists 600 theses and dissertations on African American topics completed at the University of California, Berkeley. The earliest thesis, by Emmet Gerald Alexander, State Education of the Negro in the South, was completed in 1907 in the Department of Education, while the most recent date from the calendar year 2001. The African experience in the Americas is the connecting thread which links these works completed in thirty three disciplines over the past eight decades. This experience is construed in its widest sense; included therefore are studies of Blacks in the Caribbean and in Central and Latin America as well as in North America. Theses not indubitably on this subject as revealed by their titles have been examined; we have retained only titles either entirely or substantially devoted to this subject. The collection is on microfilm in News/Micro Microfilm 2030.E. The originals have been moved to NRLF.

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Find Dissertations by searching Dissertations and Theses (Dissertation Abstracts) Full Text , which includes full-text of most dissertations since 1997. It indexes over 1.5 million dissertations completed in North American (including UC) and European universities from 1861 to the present. Listings after 1980 include abstracts, and some feature 24-page excerpts. 

If the dissertation is not available in the database, check UC Library Search . Dissertations completed at other UC campuses prior to 1996 or outside the UC system must be obtained through Interlibrary Loan .

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199 Slavery Essay Topics

🏆 best essay topics on slavery, 👍 good slavery research topics & essay examples, 🔎 easy slavery research paper topics, 🎓 most interesting slavery research titles, 💡 simple slavery essay ideas, 🌶️ hot slavery ideas to write about, ❓ slavery research questions.

• Toni Morrison’s Novel “Beloved”: Slavery Theme
• Slavery in “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia Butler
• Slavery in “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” the Novel by Mark Twain
• “The Escape, Or: A Leap for Freedom”, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”: The Need for Social Action on Slavery
• The Theme of Slavery in Poetry
• The Machiavellianism Theory’s Application to Slavery
• Concepts of Pro-Slavery and Anti-Slavery
• “Up from Slavery” by Booker T. Washington Analysis The value of “Up from Slavery” can hardly be overestimated – this book contains answers to just about any questions of social importance, which remain fully valid even today.
• Slavery in the Novel “Satyricon” by Gaius Petronius The excellent Roman novel, Satyricon, by Gaius Petronius, offers modern readers a way to delve into the class structure in the twilight of Roman society by depicting characters from all levels.
• Economics and Slavery in Frederick Douglass’ Narrative This work discusses Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave and the author’s view on the way economics affects slavery.
• Historical and Modern-Day Slavery In this paper, the concept of modern-day and historical slavery will be compared and contrasted, exemplifying the similarities between the notions.
• Slavery and Human Rights Violation The work presents three stories from various time periods and places, but they are common in the fact that, due to greed, some people are ready to sacrifice all human qualities.
• At-Will Employment: The 21st Century Form of Slavery At-will employment is defined as such relationships between an employer and employee in which the latter could be dismissed without any warning or valid reason.
• Labor Exploitation and Slavery Employment mistreatment is associated with remorseless communal relations where a fastidious cluster is treated unjustly to profit the other revelry.
• Views on Slavery by F.Douglass and B.Washington Douglass and Washington draw the readers’ attention to the fact that their situations and descriptions of slave life are the reflections of the conditions typical for the period.
• Slavery in Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass Fredrick Douglas is one of the most famous Afro-American leaders of the XIX century. He was an abolitionist and one of the main figures of the anti-slavery movement in the USA.
• James Baldwin’s Essays on Racism and Slavery By studying Baldwin’s reflection on the nature of racism, its link to slavery, and its traces in the American community, one can understand the nature of modern racism.
• Abraham Lincoln’s Policies on Slavery in 1861-1863 Abraham Lincoln was one the most powerful presidents of the United States. The essay explains the evolution of Lincoln’s policies on slavery from July 1861 to November 1863.
• History of Slavery and Its Impacts on Society The role of the history of slavery cannot be neglected. It introduces several lessons and much information about the mistakes that have been already made and the opportunities.
• The Ideas and Perspectives of Literary Works About Slavery and Racism The essay aims to provide insights into opinions about the ideas and perspectives of literary works about slavery, racism, and the oppression of African-Americans.
• What Is More Impactful: Freedom or Slavery? In modernity, the history of slavery in the United States can primarily be contextualized as the history of abolition.
• DuBois’ and Tocqueville’s Perspective on Legacy of Slavery The plight for equal rights for racial and ethnic minorities has been one of the most long-standing issues in world history, with the history of slavery in the U.S.
• Slavery and the Compromise of 1850 The Compromise of 1850 gave the US a temporary respite but did not and could not solve the problem of slavery.
• Eric Williams: Slavery Was Not Born Out of Racism In “Capitalism and Slavery,” Williams writes: “Slavery was not born out of racism: rather, racism was the consequence of slavery”.
• Plantation Slavery in Louisiana The period of slavery in the US is one of the darkest periods in the history. The purpose of this essay is to study the stories of former slaves to get an idea of slavery in Louisiana.
• Comparison of the Slavery Systems in Ancient Rome and Ottoman This research defines how slavery was carried out in the two empires and compares and contrasts some of the activities that were involved in the practice of slavery in the two empires.
• The Slavery Debate Between 1820 and 1850 The work is aimed to provide a historical overview of the slavery debate between 1820 and 1850, which meant the conflict between North and South of the USA.
• Slavery in Africa After European Colonization Slavery existed among most modern societies, including African. Even before the European colonization and the onset of the slave trade, it was a part of the culture.
• Slavery as a Human Rights Issue The paper argues slavery in underdeveloped countries, especially Africa, continues to be a pressing and contemporary problem.
• Narrative of Henry Box Brown, Who Escaped from Slavery Henry Brown was born in Louisa County, Virginia, in 1816 and became known as Henry “Box” Brown after the box he used to escape slavery.
• Haratins: Slavery in Mauritania Yesterday and Today The article provides a detailed analysis of how the situation with slavery in Mauritania has changed over time and how things are now.
• Antebellum Period Southerners and Slavery The South relied on slavery for economic prosperity and used the wealth acquired from plantations with slaves as laborers to justify slavery and the slave trade.
• White Slave Owners and the Tyranny of Slavery in Phillis Wheatley’s Poetry Published in 1773, Wheatley had an opportunity to speak out on the tyranny she and her race faced from day today.
• Race and Slavery in the “Clotel” Novel by Brown In “Clotel,” Brown explores the aspect of race through the ravaging effects of slavery and uses a number of female characters who undergo suffering as a result of the slave trade.
• William Lloyd Garrison and Slavery in America William Lloyd Garrison made a significant contribution to the anti-slavery movement through his idealism. Garrison took both moral and practical approach to issues.
• How the White Southerners Justified Slavery White Southerners are thriving members of the society living in the Southern parts of the USA. Typical white southerners were yeomen who cultivated small portions of land.
• Slavery Experiences Depicted in Primary Documents Women were among the most vulnerable slaves who suffered from psychological and physical torture during slavery.
• Slavery in The American South: Slavery and Southern Society Many masters did not provide a comfortable life for their slaves. Black people were often exploited and sold into slavery in the American South.
• The History of African American Slavery The fact that African Americans were taken captive and brought to America as enslaved gave them an unfair start in the country.
• The Phenomenon of Slavery and Its Abolition The paper states that revolutions and amendments ensured the actualization of the abolition of slavery and created equality between the various races.
• Injustices Faced by African American People Since Slavery The paper states that African Americans experienced a great deal of racial discrimination, which diminished their confidence among whites.
• The Invention of the Cotton Gin and Its Impact on Slavery The invention of the cotton gin in the US allowed the planters to increase production, which led to a dramatic increase in the number of slaves working in the fields.
• African Kingdoms, Atlantic Slave Trade, and New World Slavery The connections between African kingdoms, the Atlantic slave trade, and the new world slavery are shown in this paper.
• The American Yawp: Poking the Slavery Epoch This paper examines the troubling history of slavery in the US and the justifications used by American elites to perpetuate racial subjugation and enslavement of Africans.
• Women’s Rights, Abolition of Slavery, and Nationalism in the US This paper examines such important events in the US history as women’s rights convention, the abolition of slavery, and nationalism development.
• Slavery and Democracy in the United States On the road to progress and enlightenment, virtually all races have resorted to such a terrible form of social development as slavery.
• The Reconstruction Amendments: Abolishing Slavery The current paper states that the Reconstruction Amendments aimed to protect rights by abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude.
• The Haitian Revolution and Slavery The Haitian Revolution is intertwined with the ideas of enslaved people’s desires for freedom, social justice, and equity.
• The Impact of Slavery on Society Slavery is a tragedy in human history due to its cruel barbarism, scale, organized nature, and denial of the victims’ essence.
• Frederick Douglass’ Illustrations Concerning Slavery Frederick Douglass provides insightful and educative illustrations concerning slavery and its severe negative impacts that suggest that it should be eradicated.
• Racial Ideology and Slavery in the United States This paper examines the concept of race and how previous racial ideologies contributed to the expansion of racial slavery in the United States.
• Westward Migration and Expansion of Slavery The Westward expansion began in 1803 with the purchase of land that doubled the territory of the United States. The Louisiana purchase sparked the interest of Americans.
• Civilizations and Their Thinkers’ Views on the Subject of Slavery Different people throughout the years had different views on slavery, and depending on their living conditions, philosophy, and ideas, their treatment of slaves changed.
• The History of Slavery Impact Analysis The history of slavery is one of the most complex and debated topics in modern research because the issue of human trafficking and enslavement is still relevant.
• Analysis of Slavery and Resistance Slavery was the most abhorrent practice in both American and world history because violated every connotation and notion of human decency, right, freedom, and justice.
• The Abolition of American Cotton Slavery The abolition of slavery became possible and necessary as America’s cotton monopoly met intense competition from India, Egypt, Brazil, and other countries.
• Civil War: The Legacy in Ending Slavery The Civil War was among the worst wars that happened in America. However, it also left a legacy that caused the ending of slavery.
• New World Slavery and Racism in Society The effects of slavery and racial ideology can be observed even after the official abolition of this policy. There is racial discrimination in labor and health care.
• The Struggle Against Slavery Was for All The paper indicates that the fight against slavery was a fight for humanity that took a long but eventually bore incredible fruits.
• Supply Chain Slavery and Exploitation Modern-day slavery is no different from the historic term due to similarities when it comes to exploitation, abuse, and entrapment of vulnerable individuals.
• The Sexual Abuse of Black Men Under American Slavery The thesis of this article is that violence has no face, race, or gender. The times of slavery left a large number of people disfigured and offended, including men.
• Slavery in the American Colonies This paper aims to discuss the institution of slavery established in the American colonies and the impact of the American revolution on slavery.
• American History: Reconstruction Era, Slavery, Indian Wars This period was characterized by attempts to rectify the inequities of slavery and its political, social and economic legacy left by the American Civil War.
• Slavery in the Texas: Declaration of Causes and Address by Sam Houston The first document under review is titled “Texas Declaration of Causes”. This piece of writing represents an account of the grudge.
• African American Slavery in Case of Harriet Jacobs This paper reviews life for Harriet Jacobs and other slaves, how African Americans were treated, and how Harriet Jacobs and other slaves coped with the bondage.
• Haiti’s and Cuba’s Independence Movement and Slavery The independence movements in Latin America and the Caribbean, as can be seen from the Cuban and Haitian experiences, were mostly guided by the problem of slavery.
• Slavery and Racism: History and Linkage Slavery has changed over time; this institution in the ancient world was different from its modern forms; in particular, the Atlantic slave trade added a racial aspect to it.
• Stowe and Douglass’s Depiction of Slavery In this work, the messages of “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” and “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” will be discussed.
• History of African American Slavery Before the introduction of the slave trade, Africans who lived in West Africa had diverse and rich histories of their culture.
• Slavery Abolishment and Underlying Reasons We should understand the value of human life, and liberating slaves will permit the States to advance as a country with high ethics and solid equity.
• Slavery: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano” depicts and illustrates the author’s life and his journey from being a slave to becoming a free and independent man.
• The Role of Religion in Propping-Up Slavery The article discusses that Christianity and its principles contributed to the propping up of the slavery system.
• Slavery in Colonial America The paper discusses slavery. It is different from indentured servitude in many aspects. It was widely spread in many regions of Colonial America.
• Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy and Tsotsi The movie’s message tells the viewer that there are many children like this, and there are many of Tsotsi nowadays.
• Slavery as a Part of America’s History More than two centuries of American history were overshadowed by such a terrible phenomenon as slavery when people were divided into white and black.
• Indentured Servitude and Slavery in Virginia in the 1600s The paper indicates that indentured servitude and slavery possessed different connotations for individuals in Virginia in the 1600s.
• Hard Questions About Living in Poverty or Slavery The paper aims to find the answers to several questions, for example, how to remain human while living in the conditions of extreme poverty or slavery.
• Post-Slavery African-American Exploitation The central theme of the paper is the oppressive laws adopted in the southern states after the abolition of slavery.
• The Abolition of Slavery After the Civil War This essay covers topics directly addressing the racial problems from Reconstruction when the civil war between the North and the South pushed society to critical changes.
• Dew’s View of Slavery: Debate in the Virginia Legislature “Review of the Debate in the Virginia Legislature of 1831 and 1832” argues that the New Testament not only justifies slavery but even encourages it.
• Indentured Servitude and Slavery: Similarities and Differences The current paper aims to discuss indentured servants and slaves. They were brought from outside America to work in plantations in the colony.
• Features of Slavery in South America Slavery was crucial in creating the Southern mentality and worldview and significantly formed the social background.
• The Significant Events Leading to the End of Slavery This essay looks at some of the significant events leading to the end of slavery by reviewing David Wyatt’s opinion on how slavery died out according to history.
• Slavery and the Civil War: Reasons and Outcomes Slavery stressed the issue of freedom in America and led to effective national changes in its legislation, economy, policy, and social structure.
• Economics of Slavery and Expansion The paper discusses that the economics of slavery was greatly dependent on the expansion into the mainland United States.
• Slavery vs. Indentured Servitude The paper explains how and why slavery developed in the American colonies and describes how the practice of slavery differed between each colonial region.
• African-Americans Grievances After Slavery Abolition Discriminative social policies were intended to safeguard racial, generational interests by keeping white people away from black culture in places like Mississippi.
• From Slavery to Racism: Historical Background Racism did not spur slavery or encourage it; instead, it was used to justify a phenomenon that would exist nonetheless due to the economic situation in the world at the time.
• Slavery and Slaves in the United States of America The article analyzes the Garnet speech where he proclaimed the time for slaves to start fighting for justice and freedom for the sake of past and future generations.
• Slavery and Discrimination: The Foundations of the Problem This work explores the roots of the slavery problem and raises the question of whether discrimination would be so intense in the modern world if only white people were slaves.
• Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass: Slavery and Christianity Douglass distinguishes between the truthful and hypocritical versions of Christianity. He demonstrates how the slaveholders’ beliefs do not adhere to religious doctrine.
• Slavery Institution as a Source for Victimization In conclusion, the slavery institution as a concept was harmful not only to slaves but also to slaveholders. This practice degrades the common values.
• Gendered Aspects of Slavery in American History The US social, political, and economic development is significantly shaped by slavery among African Americans.
• History of Texas: Colonization and Slavery Texas has a rich history characterized by its unintended colonization by the Spaniards and the ultimate widespread African slavery.
• The Birth of Slavery in America Indeed, all thirteen of the original states actively practiced slavery, but the same patterns of using cheap labor differed markedly.
• To Right the Wrongs: Reparations for Slavery The former colonial powers must repair the damage caused by centuries of violence and discrimination. The total number of victims of the slave trade is difficult to estimate.
• The Role of Christianity in Slavery: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Religion is an efficient tool of persuasion. The owners used faith to control the workers and claimed to be virtuous since they prayed regularly.
• Changes in the Character of Slavery in North America Colonial North America became the first continent on which the slave system took root and developed on a colossal scale.
• Haiti: From Slavery to Emancipation The Haitian Revolution had a significant impact on the African American movements and the subsequent abolition of slavery in many countries of America.
• Douglass’s Arguments on Slavery Abolition The cotton culture became not only the basis for international trade and violence of Native Americans but also the desire for social justice.
• Impacts of Slavery on the Antebellum USA This article is about the impact of slavery on the American economy, society, and politics before the Civil War.
• Treatment of Women During Slavery in the North American Colonies Slave reproduction was considered to be good in the North American colonies, the region where the greatest slave population growth was recorded.
• Abolitionists and Early Anti-slavery Movements Abolitionism was the movement to end slavery. Black and white abolitionists in the first half of the nineteenth century waged a biracial assault against slavery.
• Geography of Slavery in Virginia One of the prime examples of slavery’s impact on the lives of human beings is the slavery patterns in Virginia in the 18th and 19th centuries.
• The History of Slavery: Its Formation and Development Historically, slavery was spread across the world, taking many forms, nowadays it is seen as a quintessence of injustice, which brought suffering to many people, and is forbidden.
• History of Slavery and Contemporary Society The study should provide comprehensive information on the influence of slavery and its history on the contemporary world and its people.
• Rise of Slavery and Slave Trade Main Reasons In the Atlantic Ocean Basin Between 1400 and 1750 The main reason for the rise of the Atlantic slave trade between 1400 and 1750 was the importance of colonies for the development of the economy of European countries.
• Southern Whites Defending Slavery Analysis This paper will attempt to explore the common moral justifications of slavery and the reasons why they appeared.
• Historical Implications of Slavery and the Role of the United States in It Throughout the 1830s and 1860s, most slaves gained freedom by escaping from their masters, which was dangerous and often resulted in them being captured.
• Fight Over Slavery of the Southern Population An increasing number of anti-slavery politicians and supporters of emancipation contributed to the paranoia among the Southern population.
• History of Slavery: Slaves and Servants in Virginia The history of slavery in Virginia traces back to the 1600s, as it was found as the colony of the English through the London Virginia Company.
• Slavery vs. Indentured Servants The main difference between slaves and indentured servants is that while slaves were not free as they were their masters’ property, indentured servants enjoyed some freedom.
• Post-Slavery Abolishment United States This paper discusses the post-Civil war period’s issues with the South, paces of industrialization and business development, and expansion to the West after slavery abolishment.
• America: A Culture Around Slavery American cultural background, reflected in the practice of sending Africans and blacks into slavery, as well as the position of women in slavery and the sale of their bodies.
• Sectionalism and Slavery in American History Sectionalism and slavery are important topics in American history. Sectionalism refers to the divide that was created between the northern and southern territories.
• Slavery Operation Institution and Its Impacts to Slaves Slavery was indeed the worst crime against humanity in that era, a lot of people suffered from mistreatment some even dying.
• Child Slavery and Sexual Trafficking Child slavery is a business, which brings milliards of dollars to its owners, a reality of our world. Many people believe that it happens somewhere far away and not in our community.
• Readings on Slavery and Racial Segregation in the US Certain themes expressed in the readings are too surprising to be true. Many years after slavery was abandoned, the black generation still suffered its consequences.
• Slavery as a Peculiar Institution When slavery was defined as a peculiar institution, it was thought to mean a distinctive aspect of the people of the US who had embraced it.
• Slavery in the South: Definite or Indefinite? This paper will try to explore what doomed slavery in the South by the eve of the Civil War. It will try to discuss whether the institution could have been maintained indefinitely.
• The North and South of America and a Slavery Revealition of the sub-regional diffrences between the North and the South due to the opposing points of view as to abolishment of slavery.
• The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and Slavery Abolishment Slave trade carried out mostly in the 17th-18th centuries encompassed the capturing, selling, and purchase of people for the sole purpose of forced labor.
• International Child Trafficking: The Modern Slavery The modern-day slavery represented by the millions of children who cross borders as sex slaves should turn the blot into a wound.
• Slavery and the House Divided: Dred Scott Case Dred Scott case was argued twice and the last term argument brought about differences of opinion among the members of the court.
• Slavery and Literacy. The Triumph of a Poor Slave Olaudah Equiano begins his story by telling readers how he was being kidnapped by the members of rivaling tribe in his native Africa while still a child and turned into a slave.
• Major Slavery Events Between 1850-1860 The essay describes the crucial historical events that caused the complete slavery abolition that took place between 1850 and 1860.
• Transnational Labour, Slavery, and Revolt Nowadays The theory of class conflict paints history as a never-ending series of struggles between different classes in order to achieve political and economic dominance.
• Slavery in Hispaniola and Mexico This paper analyzes the history of slavery in Hispaniola and Mexico, its evolution, abolition, and similar malpractices encountered in the region today.
• Slavery and Its Religious and Moral Aspects The letter by Foster included in “The Brotherhood of Thieves” and the work “Slavery and the Bible” by an unknown author discuss the religious and moral aspects of slavery.
• Slavery and Its Impact on Modern Social Relations Slavery used to be a part of the history of many countries. This paper aims at investigating the history of slavery and its influence on modern social relations.
• Impact of Slavery on Modern Society Slavery casts a dark shadow on the history of the United States, and knowing about the devastating impact it had on generations of people is fundamental.
• Transformations in Slavery and Effects of Slavery on Society In order to provide an adequate periodization of slavery, it is critical to distinguish between incidental and systematic slavery.
• Slavery Concepts in Africa Slavery existed in Africa in the form of servitude long before Europeans landed on the continent and commercialized the practice.
• Slavery vs. Indentured Servitude in North America The first Europeans settled in North America began to buy Africans in order to provide farm labor. Such individuals or plantation owners treated them as servants.
• Slavery Impact on Modern American Society Slavery casts a dark shadow on the history of the US, and knowing about the devastating impact is fundamental. The paper investigates the impact of slavery on modern society.
• Slavery in Africa and British American Colonies In the middle of the seventeenth century, the British American colonies were strongly connected to and ruled by the motherland.
• Slavery Practices of Africans vs. Europeans Even though slavery had existed among African peoples prior to the European slave trade, its conditions were significantly different when comparing these two regions.
• Slavery in African vs. European Countries In historical time, slavery in Africa had various forms which sometimes did not correspond to the concept of slavery adopted in the rest of the world.
• History: Transnational Labor, Slavery, and Revolt Slavery is a tragedy and one of the darkest pages of human history. At present, slavery is officially prohibited in all countries of the world.
• Modern Slavery: Consequences and Countermeasures The relevance of the problem of slavery is statistically confirmed, and certain measures and interventions can help society to stop this danger.
• Slavery in “The Satyricon” Novel by Petronius The excellent Roman novel, Satyricon, by Gaius Petronius, is a suitable platform, from which the subject of slavery gets a different approach.
• The Impact of Slavery Slavery had a massive impact upon the development of the United States of America and on the transformation of the African-American ethnic group into the way it currently is.
• Colonialism and Slavery in American History This essay discusses reasons for colonization by the European countries and compares the slave experience in the upper South and the lower South.
• Slavery and Civil War: American History American history is defined by slavery. The founding fathers of America, in the 17th and 18th century, grew the economy through slave labor.
• How Frederick Douglass Escaped Slavery? When Douglas managed to escape from slavery and safely landed in New York, he felt that he had come to a completely new world. He compares a day in New York to a year in slavery.
• The Issue of Slavery and the State’s Rights This paper seeks to find out whether the issue of slavery and the state’s rights were important in the secession process and the role of the northern abolition movement.
• The History of Slavery and Its Impacts This paper argues that a majority of the stated discriminatory issues that are witnessed in contemporary society are the effects of slavery.
• The Impact of Slavery on the Development of the USA In this paper, the researcher analyzes the history of slavery in order to identify the impact it had on the development of the US. Slavery is an alien concept to the modern citizens of the USA.
• Thomas Jefferson and the Concept of Slavery Jefferson stated that Native Americans were unspoiled by the sins of the developed world despite advocating for their extinction.
• The Slavery Question: Destiny and Sectional Discord The nation was split into those who believed that the slavery question had been successfully resolved and those who saw its threat to American society.
• Development of the Northern Slavery System in America In one form or another slavery had been existing in any part of the world. There is hardly a nation that has managed to avoid this terrible form of a social development.
• Slavery Impact on the United States’ Development Slavery is an alien concept to the modern citizens of the United States of America. Since late 19th century, this undemocratic institution has been abolished in the US.
• The History of Slavery: Impacts on Contemporary Society Slavery is one of the most harmful concepts devised by humans. This paper will provide an overview of the history of slavery, as well as the effects it has on the modern society.
• Slavery’s Impact on Contemporary Society This study reveals that the history of slavery influences the politics of the United States, the identity of African-Americans, and the education system.
• Slavery in Different Periods of American History The paper investigates the history of slavery in the United State by analyzing E. Berenson’s textbook, Cabet’s voyage to Icaria, and K. Marx ‘The American Civil War’.
• Modern Slavery, Human Trafficking and Poverty Be it through the sexual enslavement of girls or trafficking of males for forced labor, slavery has had a tremendous impact on modern society.
• Modern Slavery, Its Consequences and Countermeasures The relevance of the problem of slavery is statistically confirmed, and certain measures and interventions can help society to stop this danger.
• Contemporary Slavery: Sex Trafficking Sex trafficking is an outlawed business practised by several countries around the globe. Sex trafficking immensely contributes to both local and international migrations.
• History of Slavery and Its Impacts The concept of slavery in the contemporary society has undergone a gradual transformation. Modern forms of slavery include forced labor, child exploitation, sexual abuse, and human trafficking.
• The History of Slavery and Contemporary Society Slavery is one of the most harmful concepts devised by humans. This paper will provide an overview of the history of slavery, as well as the effects it has on modern society.
• History of Slavery and Its Impact on Contemporary Society Slavery is the period that cannot be forgotten, and the relations that were developed between people during the slavery period influenced the way of how people treat each other today.
• Human Trafficking as a Modern-Day Slavery Problem The paper discusses the anti-trafficking measures of international organizations, such as UN, UNICEF, and UNESCO. The laws enacted by these organizations are further mentioned.
• History of Slavery and Its Impact on the Society Slavery emerged together with the rise of the first civilization as the most primitive form of relationships between different members of the ancient society.
• Slavery in Women’s and Men’s Narratives H. Jacobs’ “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” tells one of the perverted cases of sexual harassment. F. Douglas wanted to shoot down some pro-slavery arguments.
• Slavery in the American Society Slavery is one of the historical events that characterize the American society since many people lost their lives in trying to prevent it while others decided to shift to other places.
• Slavery Emancipation in Cuba, Haiti, and Brazil Slavery was viewed as both an infringement of human rights in addition to the existence of forced labor. Numerous differences existed in the manner in which slaves were treated across the globe.
• Defending Slavery: Termination of Slavery and Slave Trade in South America The United States amended its constitution in 1865 in an attempt to abolish the slave trade. However, the amendment only led to a decline in slavery.
• Documentary: Slavery and the Making of America by Betty Wood Slavery and the making of America (2013) is an interesting documentary which tells different stories. Thus, it depicts the way people became slaves and the way they were sold and resold.
• Human Trafficking – Modern-Day Slavery Modern-day slavery is one of the outcomes of globalization; it affects millions of people and brings immense revenue to the criminals.
• When Did Slavery Start in History?
• Who First Started Slavery in Africa?
• Did Racism Precede Slavery?
• Did Slavery Create More Benefits or Problems for the Nation?
• Did Southerners Favor Slavery?
• Who Ended Slavery?
• Who Abolished Slavery First?
• Did Thomas Jefferson Want to End Slavery?
• When Did Slavery End in Africa?
• What Country Still Has Slavery?
• What Were the Main Causes of Slavery?
• Have Historians Over Emphasised the Slavery Issue as a Cause of the Civil War?
• Is Slavery Still Legal in Texas?
• How African Americans Were Treated During the Slavery Period?
• Why Did the North Not Support Slavery?
• How Did Slavery Start the Civil War?
• How Did African American Slavery Help Shape America?
• How Did African American Women Deal With and Survive Slavery?
• Is Slavery Legal in Canada?
• What Explains Slavery Was Milder in the North?
• How Does the Legacy of Slavery Continue to Impact Both Blacks and Whites?
• What Were Abraham Lincoln’s Feelings About Slavery?
• What Contributed to the Spread of Slavery in the Southern American Colonies Between 1607 and 1775?
• What Are Edmund Morgan’s Thesis and Argument About Slavery?
• What Is a Modern Day Example of Slavery?
• Where Is Slavery Most Common Today?
• Does Slavery Still Exist in Today’s World?
• What Are the Characteristics of Slavery in New York?
• Is Slavery Illegal in the World?
• What Created the Differences Between the North and South Concerning Slavery?

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StudyCorgi . "199 Slavery Essay Topics." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/slavery-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2021. "199 Slavery Essay Topics." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/slavery-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Slavery were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on January 9, 2024 .

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A List Of Impressive Dissertation Topic Ideas About Slavery

The topic of slavery by itself is too general for a dissertation paper. It must be narrowed down in order to cover it in detail. There must also be a unique perspective, so the dissertation actually adds to the current body of knowledge instead of being a repeat of another paper. In order to get good ideas for your topic, you may need to do a lot of reading as well as browsing through lists of dissertation topic ideas. Remember as you browse through these lists, not to take one of the ideas as-is without adding your own personal slant to it.

• Investigating the chain of events that led early colonists to start using Africans for slave labor, what stands out as the tipping point and why?
• Was slavery connected with the law in Nova Scotia? What are seen as the inappropriate attitudes towards African peoples?
• Debt slavery in Ancient China versus classical in Ancient Greece.
• What external social pressures led to the instigation of slavery versus the internal social issues that led to its abolition?
• How does economic and educational status of a people serve as predictors of the practice of taking slaves?
• Was it truly eliminated? Did the end of the civil war mark the end of it in all its forms?
• What role did the mutiny on the Amistad play in American law and diplomacy?
• Would the telling of the history be any different if recorded by the African people rather than their slave masters?
• What influence did and pro-abolitionist writers have on the outcome of the civil war and the dissolution of slavery in the United States?

As well as browsing lists for dissertation ideas for your topic, you can also go through history books and catalogued journals of people who have written their memoirs about slavery over the centuries. History books are usually only from one point of view, so researching some original manuscripts may also be of benefit to try and find an original idea.

The practice of taking slaves for labor has existed in different forms throughout the centuries. When searching for your ideas, consider famous slaves from long ago such as 6th century BC. Aesop from ancient Greece who wrote Aesop’s fables; Spartacus, a gladiator slave from 100 BC or Saint Patrick who was taken to Ireland into slavery in the 400s AD.

Encyclopedia Virginia, Virginia Humanities

A Dissertation on Slavery: With a Proposal for the Gradual Abolition of It, In the State of Virginia (1796)

A Dissertation on Slavery: With a Proposal for the Gradual Abolition of It, In the State of Virginia (1796), is an essay by St. George Tucker . When he submitted it to the General Assembly in 1796, Tucker was a law professor at the College of William and Mary and a judge on the bench of the General Court. In A Dissertation on Slavery , he discusses the history of slavery, the Virginia slave code, and the morality of slaveholding, and presents a plan for ending slavery. He wrestles with the tensions between the natural rights philosophy of the American Revolution (1775–1783) and the continued existence of slavery. Tucker’s attempt to resolve this tension had little immediate effect—the House of Delegates tabled his proposal and Tucker believed that many of the assembly’s members refused even to read it—but it did point to a society that somewhat resembled late nineteenth and early twentieth century Virginia. In his essay, Tucker proposed that enslaved African Americans be freed, but, for various reasons, should not enjoy the full rights and privileges of citizenship. Some historians have since pointed out that this circumstance actually came to pass, if not in precisely the manner that Tucker had prescribed.

Tucker was born and raised in Bermuda, where half the population was enslaved. He moved to Virginia in 1772, around age nineteen, to attend the College of William and Mary and study law under the direction of George Wythe , one of the colony’s foremost legal minds. (Wythe had also tutored Thomas Jefferson in the law .) During the American Revolution, Tucker brought salt and gunpowder from Bermuda for the troops and served in the Virginia militia. He set up a legal practice in Petersburg after the war and was appointed to the General Court in 1788. In 1790, he took up Wythe’s law professorship while maintaining his position on the bench.

Tucker began to research and write his Dissertation in 1795, and it took him more than a year to complete. He began by corresponding with Jeremy Belknap of the Massachusetts Historical Society, a clergyman and historian whom Tucker hoped could tell him how Massachusetts had managed the peaceful abolition of slavery . Belknap passed along the professor’s questions to a number of prominent correspondents. Several of them noted that the end of slavery came not with a formal decree, but with the interpretation—or in the view of one correspondent, James Winthrop, the “misconstruction”—of the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780. That document declares: “All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights, among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties.” Belknap synthesized these various responses into a report.

In replying to this report, Tucker in effect provided a draft for his Dissertation on Slavery . He included in his response a plan of abolition that he thought his fellow Virginians might accept. By proposing a slow-moving course of action, Tucker hoped that he could convince the world—as he wrote in a letter to Belknap in 1795—”that the existence of slavery in this country is no longer to be deemed a reproach to the present generation.”

Tucker begins the essay by noting the “incompatibility” of slavery with the natural rights principles of the American Revolution. He therefore finds it impossible to justify the enslavement of black people “unless we first degrade them below the rank of human beings, not only politically, but also physically and morally.” Unwilling to take this step, Tucker argues that the time had come to accept the “moral truth” of the wrongness of slavery.

This assertion of modern natural rights seems a singularly inauspicious ground from which to defend slavery, but Tucker manages to do just that. He begins with an appeal to the right of self-preservation. The “recent history of the French West Indies”—referring to the slave revolt that began in Haiti in 1791 and led to Haitian independence in 1804—indicated the disastrous results that might follow large-scale emancipation. Employing the information he acquired from his correspondence with members of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Tucker notes that mass abolition had only proven successful in those states with a low ratio of slaves to free people. According to Tucker, Virginia had too high a ratio of slaves to free people. In some parts of the state “it is probable that there are four slaves for one free white man.” He argues that under such conditions, full-scale emancipation would produce famine at best and race war at worst.

With these considerations in mind, Tucker sets forth a very complicated plan of gradual emancipation. He pitches it as a revised version of gradual emancipation plans used in several northern states. First, all females born to slaves would serve twenty-eight-year indentures, after which their employers would give them twenty dollars and two suits of clothes. Children born to those serving such indentures must “be bound to service by the overseers of the poor, until they shall attain the age of twenty-one years.” This same agency would receive 15 percent of their wages when hired out for the short term, and 10 percent of their wages if they received an apprenticeship lasting for a year or more. If the master refused to pay freedom wages upon the arrival of the twenty-eighth year, he would have to pay the court a five-dollar fee.

Tucker’s plan denied freed slaves their basic civil liberties, including the right to keep weapons, to serve on juries, to testify against or marry white people, or even to write a will. Tucker justifies this course of action in the same way he had justified the continuance of slavery: by employing natural rights arguments and by noting the dangers created by the Haitian Revolution. Tucker argues that when dealing with people entering “into a state of society,” those already in the society have a right to “admit or exclude” anyone they wish. Thus he finds it consonant with natural rights to deny freed slaves the basic rights of citizens. He argues that the “recent scenes transacted” in Haiti “are enough to make one shudder with the apprehension of realizing similar calamities in this country.” Finding it impossible to propose a plan of emancipation that does not “either encounter, or accommodate [it]self to prejudice,” Tucker proposes a course that would negotiate what he saw as an acceptable mean between the evils of slavery and a mass emancipation that would “turn loose a numerous, starving, and enraged banditti upon the innocent descendants of their former oppressors.”

By restricting the civil liberties of freed slaves, Tucker hoped that he might encourage them to leave the state. “There is an immense unsettled territory on this continent more congenial to their natural constitutions than ours,” he writes, “where they may perhaps be received upon more favourable terms than we can permit them to remain with us.” Tucker saw the right to property as a natural right, but he doubted that the slave owner had a property right to an unborn child; besides, he argues, the planter would get at least fourteen years of good labor out of every slave born on his plantation. Tucker thought that his plan would win over skeptical slave owners. He enumerates the most surprising features of it: “the number of slaves will not be diminished for forty years after it takes place; that it will even increase for thirty years; that at the distance of sixty years, there will be one-third of the number at its first commencement; that it will require above a century to complete it; and that the number of blacks under twenty-eight, and consequently bound to service, in the families they are born in, will always be at least as great, as the present number of slaves.”

Contemporary Reception

Tucker, who published his 106-page essay in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, submitted a copy to the General Assembly in 1796. The House of Delegates quickly tabled it. Members of the Senate, having no power to propose legislation, saw the essay as less of a threat, and responded with a polite letter noting that they had received it. In a letter to Belknap in 1797, Tucker cites “mistaken self-interest and prejudice” as the primary enemies of the plan, and he tried “to elude, rather than invite, their attacks.” The effort failed; his essay remained virtually unknown. “Nobody, I believe has read it,” he complained to Belknap; “nobody could explain its contents.” Even if they had read it, Tucker doubted that anyone in the assembly would have been willing to take a stand on its behalf. That body was “split into factions, debating upon federal politics, and neither side probably wished to weaken its own influence by a division of sentiment among its partizans on any point whatever.”

Tucker also sent a copy of the Dissertation to Thomas Jefferson. The future president agreed with Tucker on both the means of emancipation and the urgency of the question. According to Jefferson, history would decide the question of emancipation for itself, regardless of the answer given by the slave owners. Jefferson believed that the consequences of failing to plan for emancipation would be disastrous. He saw all of America and Europe as ripe for insurrection, but he noted that only the southern states had to concern themselves with slave uprisings, which “a single spark” could produce at any time. If such an uprising were to come, Jefferson held out little hope that the other states would be of any assistance in putting it down.

Modern Reception

Many scholars have emphasized the connection between Tucker’s Dissertation and the ideology of natural rights. In All Honor to Jefferson? The Virginia Slavery Debates and the Positive Good Thesis (2008), Erik S. Root sees Tucker’s essay as evidence of the seriousness and consistency with which the Founding Fathers took these ideas. Similarly, the historian Phillip Hamilton, in an article published in 1998, argued that, “Tucker sought a middle ground on which to reconcile liberalism’s twin beliefs in basic human equality and the sanctity of all property.” In other words, Tucker wanted to find a way to end slavery without defrauding any creditors. Hamilton also places Tucker’s Dissertation in the context of a movement away from landed property as the basis of elite power in Virginia. Instead of this traditional mode of social organization, Tucker tried to base his independence on professional training for himself and his children.

In an article published in 2006, the legal historian Paul Finkelman assigns both praise and blame to Tucker’s Dissertation . On the one hand, “No other southerner of his generation offered a concrete proposal for ending slavery.” On the other hand, Tucker presented “a recipe for creating a permanent peasantry that Virginia’s landowners could exploit perpetually.” Tucker did so, however, in the hope that his proposal would “make Virginia a white person’s state in the long run.” Finkelman argues that if Tucker had followed this ideology through to conclusion he would have realized that a black peasantry also presented a threat to the self-preservation of white Virginians. “The peasants would provide more expensive labor but would not provide much greater safety.” Specifically, Virginia elites would find it easier to control slaves than they would to control a dispossessed class of free people.

Historians have long noted other ironies of this type surrounding the Dissertation . Winthrop Jordan, for instance, recognized Tucker’s essay as “startlingly portentous.” Tucker had called for a plan of emancipation that would take one hundred years. “A century later the Negro was free,” Jordan wrote in White Over Black: American Attitudes Toward the Negro (1968), “and in many areas of the South in a condition which, in an informal way, materially resembled the one he proposed.” Tucker thus made the point that natural rights do not always lead to civil rights, a lesson that has proved a bitter pill for Americans. Similarly, the historian Gordon S. Wood has noticed the unintended consequences of the natural rights critique of slavery. It forced those who defended slavery to couch their position in racial terms. In Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789–1815 (2009), Wood argues, therefore, that, “The anti-slavery movement that emerged out of the Revolution inadvertently produced racism in America.”

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• Curtis, Michael Kent. “St. George Tucker and the Legacy of Slavery.” William and Mary Law Review IL (2006), 1157–1212.
• Finkelman, Paul. “The Dragon St. George Could Not Slay: Tucker’s Plan to End Slavery.” William and Mary Law Review IL (2006), 1213–1243.
• Hamilton, Phillip. “Revolutionary Principles and Family Loyalties: Slavery’s Transformation in the St. George Tucker Household of Early National Virginia.” William and Mary Quarterly 55, no. 4 (October 1998), 531–556.
• Hamilton, Phillip. The Making and Unmaking of a Revolutionary Family: The Tuckers of Virginia, 1752–1830 . Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2003.
• Root, Erik S. All Honor to Jefferson? The Virginia Slavery Debates and the Positive Good Thesis . New York: Lexington Books, 2008.
• Jordan, Winthrop. White Over Black: American Attitudes Toward the Negro . Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1968.
• Wood, Gordon S. Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789–1815 . New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.
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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Slavery African American families'

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Rosier, J. Phillip. "Jumping the broom from slavery to today /." Online version, 2000. http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/2000/2000rosierj.pdf.

Atkins, Stephen Charles. "An Archaeological Perspective on the African-American Slave Diet at Mount Vernon's House for Families." W&M ScholarWorks, 1994. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539625859.

Kneeland, Linda Kay. "African American suffering and suicide under slavery." Thesis, Montana State University, 2006. http://etd.lib.montana.edu/etd/2006/kneeland/KneelandL0506.pdf.

Harvey, Sharlonda. "Parent training with African-American families /." Available to subscribers only, 2007. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1459903961&sid=9&Fmt=2&clientId=1509&RQT=309&VName=PQD.

Mullins, Melissa Ann. "Born into Slavery: The American Slave Child Experience." W&M ScholarWorks, 1997. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539626128.

Buckner, Porsche J. "Racial Identity of Transracial African-American Adoptees: A Comparative Study of Adoptees in Caucasian Families and African-American Families." Ohio : Ohio University, 2009. http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/view.cgi?ohiou1245383302.

Phelps, JamieT. "Black and Catholic-Slavery, Racism and Resilient African American Catholicism." Bulletin of Ecumenical Theology, 2007. http://digital.library.duq.edu/u?/bet,2990.

Meldman, Linda S. "African American families, perspectives of racism and delinquency /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/7199.

Wilcots, Anthony W. "Who is responsible? an exploration of the black church's charge to bring wholeness to the suffering African American family /." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1992. http://www.tren.com.

Ogunnowo, Susan Modupe. "Parent-Adolescent Sexual Health Communication in Immigrant Nigerian American Families." ScholarWorks, 2016. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/2748.

Dwyer, Erin. "Mastering Emotions: The Emotional Politics of Slavery." Thesis, Harvard University, 2012. http://dissertations.umi.com/gsas.harvard:10408.

O'Reggio, Trevor. "A survey of selected models of marriage and family for the African American community." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 2006. http://www.tren.com/search.cfm?p068-0623.

Brown, Michael A. "Adapting principles of "family wellness" in the context of an African American church." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 2008. http://www.tren.com/search.cfm?p018-0113.

Dingus, Jeannine E. "Let the circle be unbroken : professional socialization of African American teachers from intergenerational families /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/7524.

Hicks, Shari Renee. "A critical analysis of post traumatic slave syndrome| A multigenerational legacy of slavery." Thesis, California Institute of Integral Studies, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3712420.

This integrated literature review compiles past and present literature on the African Holocaust or Maafa to provide a more in-depth understanding of the unique sociopolitical narrative of the enslavement and oppression of Africans and African Americans for half a millennium in the United States. This study integrates historical data, theoretical literature, and clinical research to assess immediate and sequential impacts of the traumatization of the African Holocaust on enslaved and liberated Africans, African Americans, and their descendants. This investigation engages literature on trauma (Root, 1992), historical traumas (Duran, Duran, Brave Heart, & Yellow Horse-Davis, 1998), historical unresolved grief (Brave Heart & DeBruyn, 1998), and multigenerational trauma transmission (Danieli, 1998) to explore claims of slavery and relentless oppression leaving a psychological and behavioral legacy behind to the contemporary African American community (Abdullah, Kali, & Sheppard, 1995; Akbar, 1996; Leary, 2001, 2005; Poussaint & Alexander, 2000; B. L. Richardson & Wade, 1999). By and large, this study provides a comprehensive exploration and critical examination of Leary’s (2005) Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome theory (PTSS), which suggests that the traumatization of slavery and continued oppression (i.e., racism, discrimination, and marginalization) endured by enslaved Africans in the United States and their descendants over successive centuries has brought about a psychological and behavioral syndrome prevalent amongst 21st century African Americans. Findings from the critical analysis revealed that in addition to inheriting legacies of trauma from their enslaved and oppressed African ancestors, contemporary African Americans may have also inherited legacies of healing that have manifested as survival, strength, spirituality, perseverance, vitality, dynamism, and resiliency. Clinical implications from this research underscored the importance of not pathologizing present generations of African Americans for their attempts to cope with and adapt to perpetually oppressive environmental circumstances. Further quantitative and qualitative research that directly tests the applicability of PTSS within the African American community is needed to better grasp the representational generalizability of PTSS. Lastly, rather than focus on the repeated victimization of African Americans, the findings from this study suggest that future research should focus on the mental sickness of African Americans' oppressors in addition to identifying and delineating intergenerational legacies of survival, resilience, transcendence, and healing birthed out of the historical trauma of slavery.

Roberts, Wayne Ten. "Post-traumatic slave syndrome an exploration of its presence and effect on Christian African American baby boomers © /." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN) Access this title online, 2005. http://www.tren.com.

Mason, Craig Alan. "The effects of neighborhood problem behavior, father absence, and peer antisocial behavior upon adolescent problem behavior : a risk and protective factors model /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/9193.

Hiraga, Yumi. "Parent-adolescent interactions and ego and moral development within African American families /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/9142.

Mayo-Bobee, Dinah. "Slavery in the Constitution." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2016. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/740.

Maris-Wolf, Edward Downing. "Between Slavery and Freedom: African Americans in the Great Dismal Swamp 1763-1863." W&M ScholarWorks, 2002. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539626358.

Glass, Valerie Q. "Black Lesbian Families and Their Relationships With Their Families of Origin." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/29515.

Gales, Melinda Dawn. "African-American Baptist Churches in Hanover County, Virginia, 1865-1900." VCU Scholars Compass, 1999. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/1518.

Hunt, Leslie C. "A Tradition of Doubt: Women and Slavery in Nineteenth-Century Virginia." W&M ScholarWorks, 2001. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539626320.

Tyree, Deianna L. "Understanding low income urban black families' perceptions of education." Access to citation, abstract and download form provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company; downloadable PDF file, 172 p, 2007. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1338865611&sid=16&Fmt=2&clientId=8331&RQT=309&VName=PQD.

Kelch-Oliver, Karia. "The Experiences of African American Grandchildren Raised in Grandparent-Headed Families." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2008. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/cps_diss/24.

Ryan, Marquita. "In-home family therapy with African American families new approach possibilities /." Online version, 2000. http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/2000/2000ryanm.pdf.

Drakes, Ryan O'Neal. "Parenting Practices Among Two-Parent, African American Families of Preteen Children." ScholarWorks, 2019. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/6320.

Barker, Gordon S. "Anthony Burns and the north-south dialogue on slavery, liberty, race, and the American Revolution." W&M ScholarWorks, 2009. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539623339.

Sims-Alvarado, Falechiondro Karcheik. "The African-American Emigration Movement in Georgia during Reconstruction." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2011. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/history_diss/29.

Cox, Samuel P. "Slavery and a Low Country South Carolina Merchant-Planter Elite: The Dilemma of Henry Laurens." W&M ScholarWorks, 1993. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539625842.

Howard, Eric D. "African American Parents’ Perceptions of Public School: African American Parents’ Involvement in Their Childrens’ Educations." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2015. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2575.

Jones, Virgil J. "Boys to men bridging the gap /." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1996. http://www.tren.com.

Broyles, Teresa Ann. "A Journey from West Africa to Slavery: African-American Life During the Eighteenth-Century." W&M ScholarWorks, 1993. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1593092167.

Jones, Teresa Catherine. "Adoption decision-making in the African-American community /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/11166.

Edwards-Ingram, Ywone. "Medicating slavery: Motherhood, health care, and cultural practices in the African diaspora." W&M ScholarWorks, 2005. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539623482.

Milatovic, Maja. "Reclaimed genealogies : reconsidering the ancestor figure in African American women writers' neo-slave narratives." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/10656.

Woods, Marilyn Jean. "African American adult sibling relationships : a search for correlates and expressions of affect /." Full-text version available from OU Domain via ProQuest Digital Dissertations, 1994.

Gillie, Joyce F. "Coming into our own helping African American families to name, claim and live out their spirituality /." Online full text .pdf document, available to Fuller patrons only, 2004. http://www.tren.com.

Brown, Tiffany Burgess Norma. "Racial and ethnic socialization in African-American families Scale development and validation /." Related electronic resource: Current Research at SU : database of SU dissertations, recent titles available full text, 2004. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/syr/main.

Daniels, Janese Kerr. "Literate behaviors in African American Head Start families a multiple literacies perspective /." College Park, Md. : University of Maryland, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/1903/1503.

Sayre, Robert Duane. "The evolution of early American abolitionism : The American convention for promoting the abolition of slavery and improving the condition of the African race, 1794-1837 /." The Ohio State University, 1987. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1487325740720221.

Reilly, Elizabeth Lauren. "The "scab" of slavery interracial female solidarity in literature about the antebellum South /." Click for download, 2008. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1588773401&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=3260&RQT=309&VName=PQD.

Burke, Dawne Raines. "Storer College: A Hope for Redemption in the Shadow of Slavery, 1865 - 1955." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/27264.

Battiest, Martha Marie. "A descriptive/analytical study: The impact of aspects of their cultural, social, and educational experiences on a living five-generation black family in the United States, 1893-present." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/187142.

Anglin, Lewis Leon. "A cognitive behavioral therapeutic approach to a Christian African American family system." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 2006. http://www.tren.com/search.cfm?p068-0584.

Cooper, Heather Lee. "Upstaging Uncle Tom's cabin: African American representations of slavery before and after the Civil War." Diss., University of Iowa, 2017. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/5444.

Carson, Janice Elizabeth. "Life Histories of Successful Black Males Reared in Absent Father Families." University of Toledo / OhioLINK, 2004. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1103309850.

Shankle, Nicole M. "African Americans and College-Choice: Case Studies of Four Families." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1243369251.

Mayo-Bobee, Dinah. "The U.S. Constitution and Slavery Debate." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2013. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/735.

McLemore, James H. "Strengthening the Black family through the development of church home fellowship groups at St. Paul A.M.E. Church." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1992. http://www.tren.com.

150 Strong History Dissertation Topics to Write about

Writing a dissertation is one of the most challenging and exciting moments of an academic career. Such work usually takes a great deal of time, courage, and intellectual effort to complete. That’s why every step in your work process is essential.

It all starts with finding a good topic, which can be a challenge of its own. It especially matters when it comes to liberal arts subjects. In social studies, literature, or world history options are practically endless.

Coming up with history dissertation ideas, you need to think of historical events that interest you. We get it, choosing one is tough. There can be too much to wrap your head around. That’s why IvyPanda experts prepare some dissertation topics in history ready for you.

• How to Choose a Topic?
• Ancient History
• Medieval History
• Modern History
• Cold War Topics
• American History
• European History
• Indian History
• African History
• Performing Arts
• Visual Arts
• How to Structure

🧐 How to Choose a History Dissertation Topic?

Before examining our ideas for dissertation topics in history, you should get ready for this. You have to understand how to pick a history dissertation topic, which will ensure your academic success. Keep in mind that this is a vital step in your career.

So, check some tips on picking what to write about:

• Make sure that the topic fits in your field of study. You have to understand what you’re writing about. Basing your paper on existing knowledge and experience is a part of any dissertation. Working on an overly complicated idea can sound impressive but lead to failure. It will become a nightmare already on the stage of writing a dissertation proposal. How can you write the entire thing without comprehending it?
• Estimate whether you’re interested in the topic you intend to write on. Although this might seem obvious, yes. However, being actually invested makes a massive difference for your further work. There are plenty of students who settle for “easy but boring” topics and end up struggling twice as much.
• Ensure that your topic is specific enough. Your idea should have the potential for fruitful research. Narrowing down your area of study is essential for writing a good dissertation. It helps you to find the direction of your examination and enough sources to work with. Moreover, this way, you’ll be able to explore your topic in its entirety.
• Do some prior research. It will give you an understanding of how much literature on your topic is out there. Take notes of the materials for the reference list and your analysis. Checking history essay samples is a good idea, too.
• Don’t be shy to ask your dissertation advisor for some assistance. After all, they are here to help and guide you through the process. Besides, you have to see what ideas they consider relevant and appropriate.

👍 Good Dissertation Topics in History: Time Period

History is a subject as ancient and vast as the humankind itself. It’s only rational to study it according to a particular timeline. Here are some good history dissertation topics for different periods.

🏺 Ancient History Dissertation Topics

• Ancient Civilizations: The Maya Empire . The Maya was an incredibly powerful Empire with its prime around six century A.D., excelling in mathematics, calendar-making, astrology, and writing. It faced the decline of its city-states in nine century A.D., leaving a rich cultural heritage to the studies of subsequent generations.
• Women’s Roles and Gender relations in the Ancient World
• Greek City-States . Ancient Greece is the place where the first city-states were formed. How did the first governments in the ancient history timeline develop? How did people’s attitudes towards leadership change in that context?

• Ancient Near-Eastern Thought and the Old Testament
• The Inca Empire as a Great Civilization of Pre-Columbian America
• The Impact of Mongol Invasion in Ancient Arab
• The personality of Julius Caesar and His Effect on Rome
• The Role of Poets and the place of Poetry in Ancient Greece
• Mesopotamian Civilization . This was a fertile land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. It has been home to some of the world’s wealthiest and most advanced ancient cities. It can also make an excellent archaeology dissertation topic. There are plenty of fascinating sites that could be studied.
• History: Ancient Greek Olympics . Started in 776 BC, the Olympic Games were the most important cultural event in Ancient Greece. They were held in honor of Zeus every four years. Besides, the Olympics were representative of the triumph of physical and spiritual power.
• Warfare and Violence in Ancient Times. Try to do a comparative analysis of warfare techniques used by different ancient civilizations. It could be a great dissertation topic.
• Burial Rituals in Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece: a comparison
• Plutarch’s Vision on Alexander the Great
• Dissolution of the Roman Empire . The Empire sprawled from the coast of North Africa to the territories of the modern UK and Armenia. Once, it was the most powerful political entity in the entire Mediterranean. The empire, however, collapsed in 476 CE. What were the reasons for its eventual decline?

• How Geography Has Impacted the Development of Ancient Cultures
• Cause and Effect of Art on Classical Societies
• The Invention of Papyrus and its impact on the World
• Chichen Itza Archaeological Site . Chichen Itza is a great pre-Columbian archaeological site, home to the Maya civilization. It is a fascinating study case in many aspects. Consider the origins and Maya history. Analyze the cultural preservation issues that it faces nowadays.
• Egyptian Pyramid’s Importance in Egypt’s society
• The Stone Age Period and its Evolution

🛡 Medieval History Dissertation Ideas

• Cultural Exchanges in the Medieval Period . In the aftermath of the Roman Empire’s fall, new geopolitical conditions formed. The early Middle Ages period already marked the appearance of new trade routes. It fostered cultural exchange between nations.
• Rome in the Middle Ages and its cultural transformation
• The Development of Feudalism and Manorialism in the Middle Ages
• The Catholic Church and the Black Death in the 14th Century . During the high Middle Ages, the plague epidemic terrorized Europe. It was a dreadful challenge to medicine, religious institutions, and the social apparatus of the time. How did the Catholic Church deal with such a complex and disastrous medical phenomenon?
• Jews and Muslims in Medieval Spain . Christian, Islamic, and Jewish communities shared the Iberian peninsula in the early Middle Ages. It formed a vibrant cultural environment.
• London during the Roman Age: A Critical Overview
• Causes of the First Crusade of 1095-1099
• Twelfth-Century Renaissance, how Franciscans reacted to it and benefited from its development
• Business and Empire, the British ideal of an Orderly World
• The Black Death, Late Medieval Demographic crisis, and the Standard of Living controversies
• The Role of the Church in the life of the Middle Ages

• Medieval Siege Warfare . Exploring methods of defense used during the Middle Ages might be an interesting research project.
• The Conditions of Hindu and Islamic women in Medieval India
• Why the Crusades Failed
• The Mechanical Water clock of Ibn Al-Haytham, his philosophy of the rise and fall of empires
• The Renaissance and its Cultural, Political and Economic Influence
• The Dark Ages as the Golden Ages of European History . Plenty of facts demonstrate civilization’s decline during the Middle Ages. It was, nevertheless, the time of significant scientific, literary, and technological progress. For some interested in writing a medieval literature dissertation: think of Dante’s Divine Comedy . Da Vinci made his groundbreaking study projects during the Middle Ages. It was the time when first universities, such as Cambridge and Oxford, were founded. Overall, this period has a lot to offer!
• Japan’s Development Under Edo/Tokugawa Shogunate
• Historical and Theological Context of Byzantine Iconoclasm
• Medieval Convivencia: Document Analysis

🕰 Modern History Dissertation Topics

• World History: Enlightenment in Society and its Impact on Global Culture
• Nationalism and its 19th Century History
• Why Mussolini and the Fascists Were Able to Seize Power in Italy
• Religious Symbolism in Renaissance paintings . Renaissance is well-known as a period when fine arts were thriving. It was an early modern birthplace of many technological and cultural advancements. Religion, however, was still a central topic in visual art.
• Industrial Revolution and its Impact on Western Civilizations
• Principles of Liberalism and Its Connection to Enlightenment and Conservatism
• “History and Topography of Ireland” by Gerald of Wales . Looking for an incredible Irish history dissertation topic? Then this document might be an interesting prompt. Its somewhat controversial tone of describing contemporary Irish culture, history, and traditions can be subject to a comprehensive analysis.
• Moral treatment of Mental Illness . Over the 19th and 20th centuries, psychology has changed. Moving from a scientific periphery, it became one of the central subjects of scholarly discussions. Mental illnesses were highly disregarded in earlier centuries. People even considered them to be manifestations of demonic possession. How did this attitude change? Why did people rethink psychology as a scholarly discipline?
• A History of the Cuban Revolution

• Abraham Lincoln’s Historical Influence
• Role of Women During the Spanish Civil War
• Conquest and Colonization of America by European Countries . Colonization of America is one of the grandest enterprises in the world’s political history. What were its driving forces?
• Origins and Trajectory of the French Revolution
• Major Impacts of Consumerism in contemporary world history
• Coco Chanel Fashion: History of Costume . Probably not the first topic for a history dissertation that comes to mind. Chanel is truly an iconic figure in modern history, though. She revolutionized the fashion industry concerning gender as well.
• Causes of the Breakup of the Former Yugoslavia
• The Russian Working Class Movement . Before 1861, the agriculture and peasant-owning system were the foundation of the Russian Empire’s economy. Serfs made up a significant part of the population, accounting for over 60% in some regions. Then the serfdom abolition happened. A lot has changed in the economic and social life of the country.
• Segregation During the 1960s
• Historical Development of Feminism and Patriarchy
• Monetary and Fiscal Policy during the Great Depression

🔔 History Dissertation Topics on Cold War

• The Role of Cold War in Shaping Transatlantic Relations in the Period from 1945 to 1970
• The showdown between the United States and the USSR . Cold Was was essentially the power struggle between the US and the Soviet Union. It unleashed in the aftermath of World War II. This political precedent came to an end with the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, the answer to the “Who won the Cold War?” question may be unclear.
• The Cuban Missile Crisis , its causes, and effects
• US Foreign Policy during the Cold War. Cold War, as a phenomenon, has many layers to it. Yet the one crucial is the contest of two ideologies: democracy and communism. How did the US shape its foreign policy and pursue its interests abroad? And how did the cultural and political setup within the country adjust to it?
• To what extent did the Cold War shape the US relations with Latin America?
• What was the importance of Berlin in the Cold War?
• Japan’s role since the end of the Cold War
• Cold War Politics, Culture, and War . Exploring the Cold War causes and effects can be quite a challenge. It is such a multifaceted phenomenon. It was a war led on many fronts. Both USSR and the US pursued their interests using a variety of methods.

• How did Cold War propaganda influence the film industry?
• What were the challenges in the post-cold war world?

🗺 History Dissertation Topics: Geographical Regions

Every country has its historical course, and so does every continent. Geography has always been an important factor when talking about history. It shapes historical trajectory in varied, unique ways.

Look at a dissertation topics history list based on geographical regions:

🦅 American History Dissertation Topics

• History of Hollywood, California . Oh, Hollywood. A place where American movie history was born. What about Hollywood’s history? Although a less traditional American history dissertation topic, it is still a fascinating one. Explore the way technological advancements in filmmaking were introduced over the decades. How did they influence the film’s general style?
• History: Migration into the United States . How did migration influence the economy of the time?
• The Relationships between the Settlers and Native Americans
• Literary works’ Views on Slavery in the United States
• Causes of the Civil War in America
• What is the real meaning of a cowboy?
• The United States military experience through the eyes of films
• Attack on Pearl Harbor: Effects of Foreign policy
• Causes of Depression in the 1890s
• Has President Obama’s Presidency changed the US?
• The role of Founding Fathers in American Society and Religion
• Post-Civil War reconstruction . Consider the way America’s economy, trade, and finance transformed in the aftermath of the Civil War.
• Principal causes and consequences of the Spanish-American War
• Why was the Declaration of Independence written?
• The Significance of the Frontier in American History
• How is a “new racial narrative” in the U.S.A created?
• American Revolution and the Crisis of the Constitution of the U.S.A. Rethink the origins of the American constitution, as well as the following events. It could be an exciting thesis idea for an American history dissertation.

• Growth and Development of San Francisco and Los Angeles after the Gold Rush
• The Role of Racism in American Art
• Drug Use and Abuse in America: Historical Analysis

🏰 European History Dissertation Topics

• Age of Discovery in Europe. The Age of Exploration in Europe lasted from the 15th to the 17th century. Over this period, Europe actively engaged with other territories and continents. Discoverers formed new international relations and expanded geographical knowledge. This topic could also make an excellent cultural history dissertation.
• Analyzing the Impact of British Colonization
• Nationalism in World War II
• Effects of the Industrial Revolution concerning World War I
• The Rise and Fall of Napoleon and the Cause of Revolution . Napoleon is one of the most prominent figures in French history. What has shaped his career as a political leader?
• History of Hitler’s Nazi Propaganda . Consider a brief history of Germany. Undoubtedly, the rule of Hitler and the Third Reich was its most devastating chapter. The “art” of propaganda flourished during the nazi regime. It penetrated the cultural, political, and social life of the country.
• Evolution of the IRA
• Napoleon’s Strategy and Tactics in his Invasion of Russia . For someone interested in writing a military history dissertation.
• Industrial Revolution Impact on Gender Roles
• Witchcraft in Europe (1450-1750) . Witch hunts took place as early as the Middle Ages in Europe. Held by the Church in most cases, witch hunts targeted those who were suspected of practicing black magic. Examine this both astonishing and problematic phenomenon.

• French Revolution: Liberal and Radical Portions
• West European Studies: Columbus’s Journey
• History of Feudalism . Feudalism dominated the European way of life during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. What were its distinctive features as a system? Why did it eventually fade away?
• Europe’s perception of Islam in the Early and Middle centuries
• Cold War Consequences for European Countries
• Mutated Medical Professionals in the Third Reich: Third Reich Doctors
• Was the Holocaust the Failure or the Product of Modernity?
• How did the use of print change the lives of early modern Europeans ?
• Early Modern England: a Social History
• Jewish Insight of Holocaust

⛰ Indian History Dissertation Topics

• History of the Indian Castes. The Indian Caste system is a complex and unique example of social stratification.
• Mahatma Gandhi’s Leadership . Gandhi is, for sure, among the greatest human rights advocates in the world’s history. His one of a kind leadership style is subject to many studies. While practicing a peaceful form of civil protest, he fought for equality, independence, and compassion.
• Political conflicts in India in the XVII century
• Impacts of the First World War on British Policies in India
• Movement Against the British rule in India. Led by Mahatma Gandhi, with the support of the National Congress, the movement took place in 1920-22. It sought to fight for the freedom of Indians.
• The Origin and Course of the Indian revolt of 1857
• The Issues of the Partitioning of India in 1947
• India Since 1900 . India is a region rich with unique traditions. Its spiritual and cultural heritage goes back to antiquity. The country’s authentic art and architecture, music, and cuisine have served as an inspiration worldwide. A considerable part of its history is, however, affected by British rule.

• Women in Hinduism and Buddhism
• The British East India Company

🌍 African History Dissertation Topics

• Ancient Societies in Mesopotamia and Ancient Societies in Africa: a comparison . Egypt is one of the most ancient African civilizations. Its origins go back to the third millennium B.C. Back then, the cultural exchange between Egypt and Mesopotamia was flourishing. What were the significant differences between the two civilizations? What did they have to offer to one another?
• Political Violence in South Africa between 1985 and 1989
• Did History of Modern South Africa begin with the Discovery of Diamonds and Gold?
• Nelson Mandela: “Freedom in Africa.” Nelson Mandela is, without a doubt, one of the central figures in African history. His devotion and tireless effort in fighting against apartheid were remarkable. Thanks to him, many sub-Saharan countries enjoy the freedoms and advances of a democratic society.
• The Cult of the Dead in West Africa: The Kongo People . African tribal rituals and traditions are unique and specific to their region. Cult of the Dead is prevalent in Western African culture. It can be notoriously known as the origin place of voodoo and other black magic practices. There is yet much more to this culture. Dismantling some prejudices could make an excellent African history thesis.
• Christianity, Slavery, and Colonialism: the paradox
• The Colonial War in Southwest Africa
• African-Europe Relations between 1800 and 2000
• Impacts of Slavery and Slave Trade in Africa
• African Communities in America

🎨 Art History Dissertation Topics

Art comes in all shapes and forms. To grasp it better, we can explore each kind separately. Here’s a list of art history dissertation ideas:

🎶 Topics on Performing Arts

• History and Development of Ballet . Ballet is an art form with a long history. Initially, a specific dance originated in Medieval Italy. It was later brought to France and Great Britain. Ballet thrived in the 20th century Russia, where Russian choreographers brought it to the highest level of mastery.
• The Life and Work of William Shakespeare: His Contribution to The Contemporary Theater
• Jazz Music in American Culture . Jazz is one of the most complex and exciting music genres of all time. It was born in the 20’s century black communities of New Orleans and quickly spread across America and then the world. The genre, however, will always be an integral part of African-American identity.
• The Instrumental Music of Baroque: Forms and Evolution
• Rock Music of the 1970s
• Michael Jackson’s Life as a Musician and Choreographer
• Development of the Symphony Orchestra in the 19th and 20th Century
• Woodstock Music Festival . This massive music festival that first took place in 1969 was the epitome of hippie culture. It has a rich history that once again underscores the importance of performing arts in Western culture.
• The History of Modern Chinese Music
• The Renaissance Theater Development. The era in which both visual and performing arts were thriving. It has a lot to offer for proper dissertation research.

🖼Topics on Visual Arts

• Art Period Comparison: Classicism and Middle Age
• Vincent Van Gogh: Changes in the Technique
• The Ambiguity of Mona Lisa Painting

• Orientalism in Western Art . It’s commonly associated with romanticism and some 20th-century artworks. Orientalism is a Western term that speculates the aesthetics of the Orient. Consider this concept as a prism through which Westerners viewed the Eastern world.
• Classical Art and Cubism: History and Comparison
• Postmodern and Modern Art . The 20th and 21st centuries have been a breeding ground for many forms of fine art to emerge and flourish. Some art movements presented their philosophy in the form of manifestos. These texts can be nothing but a pure treasure for someone writing an art history dissertation.
• Female Figures in Ancient Greek Sculpture
• Andy Warhol’s Career . Pioneer of pop-art, creator of Studio 54, and a style icon.
• Filippo Brunelleschi and Religious Architecture
• The Photographic Approaches Towards American Culture of Robert Frank and Garry Winogrand

📋 How to Structure Your Dissertation?

An adequately structured history dissertation can immensely help students. It ensures that they present their ideas and thoughts logically. Sticking to a particular dissertation structure is an essential element of such work.

The general plan of any dissertation type is the following:

• Title Page. A title page should only contain essential information about your work. It usually shows your name, type of the document (thesis, research paper, dissertation), and the title itself. A good history dissertation title is crucial! It’s the first thing a reader will see.
• Acknowledgments. Do you wish to give credit to someone for supporting you during the tiresome months of your work? This is the right part to do so, be it your family, friends, or professors. It is an excellent form to express gratitude to those who proofread your drafts. Or those who brought you another cup of coffee when you needed it.
• Declaration. This section is your written confirmation. You declare that all the research and writing is entirely original and was conducted by you. If someone intellectually contributed to your project, state it in the acknowledgments.
• Table of Contents. Essentially, it’s a brief structure of your dissertation. List every section that you’ve included in your academic paper here.
• Abstract. This is the section where you write a brief summary of your dissertation. It should describe the issue, summarize your core message and essential points. List your research methods and what you’ve done. Remember to make it short, as the abstract shouldn’t exceed 300 words or so. Finish the part with a few essential keywords so that others can find your work.
• Introduction. A dissertation introduction presents the subject to the reader. You can talk about the format of your work. Explain what you plan to contribute to the field with your research.
• Literature Review. The chapter reviews and analyzes pieces of scholarly work (literature) that have been made on the subject of your research. The sources should present relevant theories and support your thesis. Be sure to discuss the weaknesses and strengths of the selected area of study and highlight possible gaps in this research.
• a code of conduct;
• research limitations;
• research philosophy;
• research design;
• ethical consideration;
• data collection methods;
• data analysis strategy.
• Findings and Results. Restate everything you have found in your research. However, do not interpret the data or make any conclusions yet.
• Discussion and Conclusion. In this chapter, you should personally interpret all of the data and make conclusions based on your research. It is essential to establish a logical link between the results and evidence. Finally, conclude the overall study. You can add final judgments, opinions, and comments.
• References. This section contains a list of references to all the sources that you used. Write down every material, which you quoted, mentioned, or paraphrased in your work. Check your educational institution’s guidelines to see how to do so correctly.
• Bibliography. Similar to the reference section, a bibliography is a list of sources you used in your dissertation. The only difference is that it should contain even the sources you don’t directly mention in your writing. Whatever helped you with the research, you state here.
• Appendices. The section may include any supplementary information that explains and complement the arguments. Add pictures, diagrams, and graphs that serve as examples for your research subject.

Writing a dissertation is the right challenge for those with ambitions and lots of determination. It is a lot like a marathon, and it starts with choosing the right topic. We hope that you will find one for yourself on this list. Good luck! Share the article to help those who may need a piece of advice or some history dissertation topics.

🔗 References

• How To Write A Dissertation: Department of Computer Science, West Lafayette, Purdue University
• Ph.D. Thesis Research, Where Do I Start: Don Davis, Columbia University
• Writing with Power: Elbow P., Oxford University
• Writing a Thesis or Dissertation – A Guide to Resources: Gricel Dominguez
• The Elements of Style: Strunk, W. Jr., White, E.B., Angell, R.
• A Collection Of Dissertation Topics In American History: asqauditconference.org
• Yale History Dissertations: Department of History, Yale University
• Dissertation Outline: School of Education, Duquesne University
• Developing a Thesis Statement: The Writing Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison
• Writing an Abstract: The Writing Center, George Mason University
• Formatting Additional Pages: University of Missouri Graduate School
• Reference List vs. Bibliography: OWLL, Massey University
• How to Write Your Dissertation: Goldsmiths University for The Guardian
• Tips on Grammar, Punctuation and Style: Kim Cooper, for the Writing Center at Harvard University
• Acknowledgments, Thesis and Dissertation: Research Guides at Sam Houston State University
• Thesis Formatting, Writing up your Research: Subject Guides at University of Canterbury
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Two Penn Ph.D. candidates awarded 2024 Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship

The school of arts & sciences awardees are arielle xena alterwaite, who is pursuing a ph.d. in history, and katherine scahill, who is pursuing a ph.d. in music..

Two University of Pennsylvania Ph.D. candidates in the School of Arts & Sciences have been named to the 2024 class of the Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship , administered by the Institute for Citizens & Scholars .

The Newcombe Fellowship, funded by the Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation , is the largest and most prestigious award for Ph.D. candidates in the humanities and social sciences addressing questions of ethical and religious values in interesting, original, or significant ways. Fellows receive a 12-month award of $31,000 to support the final year of dissertation writing.

Arielle Xena Alterwaite , a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History , and Katherine Scahill , a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Music , were named as 2024 Fellows.

Alterwaite’s research explores Haiti’s sovereign debt in the aftermath of the Haitian Revolution in her dissertation, “Empire of Debt: Haiti and France in the Nineteenth-Century Atlantic World.”

“With support from the Newcombe Foundation and its interdisciplinary focus, I look forward to deepening the ways in which I can bring my work to broad audiences,” Alterwaite says. “My hope is that this archivally grounded historical account of Haitian debt in a global context can speak to international activists, legislators, and policymakers who take the ethical ramifications of finance seriously.”

History department chair Sophia Rosenfeld says it’s no surprise that Alterwaite continues to win an extraordinary number of major external fellowships, including, now, the Newcombe.

“For her dissertation, she has taken on a crucial topic in 19th century Atlantic history—the massive debt that a newly independent Haiti owed to the French state—and she has managed both to find brand-new sources for understanding it and to generate new explanations that have real implications for thinking about sovereign debt and reparations for slavery today,” Rosenfeld says.

Scahill’s dissertation, “The gendered politics of religious authority in Thai Buddhism: Voice, embodiment, and sonic efficacy in the movement for female monastic ordination,” is based upon ethnographic fieldwork with three communities of female Buddhist monks (bhikkhunīs) in Thailand. Drawing on the fields of religious studies and music studies, her dissertation investigates the sonic practices bhikkhunīs employ to establish alternate channels of recognition, given that women’s ordination is not accepted at a national level.

“I am honored to have been selected as a 2024 Newcombe Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Fellow. The Fellowship will provide me with the resources and time I need to adequately engage with the stories and practices shared at bhikkhunī monasteries,” Scahill says. “I am truly grateful for this opportunity.”

Timothy Rommen, chair of the music department, says he’s unsurprised that Scahill’s “excellent” work continues to be recognized. 

“Katherine’s dissertation intervenes at the intersections of ethnomusicology, religious studies, and gender studies to explore what she calls efficacious chant. What makes her project so interesting and innovative is her recognition of a set of lacunae within the study of Buddhist chant,” he says. “While text, context, and religious labor have all been explored, very little has been written about the female monastics on which this dissertation is focused or on the role of ‘voice’ within their practice. Katherine zooms in on the ways that chant helps train monks to stabilize their own bodies while also making them aware of the body’s instability. We are all convinced that Katherine’s dissertation will make a signal contribution to several disciplines.”

Funding at the dissertation stage remains a vital way to support up-and-coming scholars. Since its creation in 1981, the Fellowship has supported more than 1,300 doctoral candidates with essential time and resources to complete their writing. Newcombe Fellows have gone on to be noted faculty at domestic and foreign institutions, leaders in their fields of study, Pulitzer Prize winners, MacArthur Fellows, and more.

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Education, Business, & Law

Investing in future teachers and educational leaders

The Empowerment Through Education Scholarship Program at Penn’s Graduate School of Education is helping to prepare and retain teachers and educational leaders.

‘The Illuminated Body’ fuses color, light, and sound

A new Arthur Ross Gallery exhibition of work by artist Barbara Earl Thomas features cut-paper portraits reminiscent of stained glass and an immersive installation constructed with intricately cut material lit from behind.