Document-Based Question (DBQ)

Description

History 1302

Fall 2024
Directions for Document Based Question (DBQ)
Due: Sunday, November 3
This assignment requires a reaction to ONE of the following questions:
1. What were the consequences of the Columbian Exchange?
2. How did the absence of morality and humanitarian concerns influence the treatment of
slaves during the transatlantic slave trade?
3. What were the positive effects and the negative effects of the Industrial Revolution on
European society?
The first step in the assignment is to answer all the questions for the DBQ that you
choose. (And only the one that you choose. Do NOT answer the questions for all three
sets of readings.) Answering these questions accurately is worth 20% of your paper
grade.
The second step, worth 80% of your grade, is to write a paper that argues a position based
on the question that you choose.
A well-crafted essay will draw upon the following materials:
1. Lecture notes (or PowerPoint lectures posted on Canvas)
2. The documents found in the DBQ that you choose
3. One Internet source
You are encouraged to utilize all three of these sources, but your essay must utilize, cite,
and document at least seven individual packet documents, one reference to a class
lecture, and one internet source. Citing a source does not necessarily mean merely
quoting the source. Rather it means you have utilized identifiable information contained
in the source to support your answer. While direct quotes are acceptable, they should be
short and minimal. It is more preferable that you paraphrase most of the information you
utilize from your sources.
How to document your essay
Parenthetical documentation works best for this assignment, with a corresponding works
cited page at the end. With parenthetical documentation, whenever the writer utilizes
another’s facts, words, or ideas, the writer briefly acknowledges the source within the text
of the essay.

Example: Another negative impact that the Columbian Exchange had on the Native

population of the Americas was the introduction of new diseases from Europe such as
smallpox (Document 7).
Lecture Material should be cited as (Lecture 4)
Your works cited page should identify documents by letter and description. Internet
source(s) must also be identified.
Example: Document 7: Geoffrey Cowley. “The Great Disease Migration.” Newsweek.
Fall 1991
Your essay should contain an identifiable introduction and conclusion.
3-4 pages, double-spaced