19th C. American History SOP

[ToomuchLes]

Below is a copy of my SOP. I decided to work on my shortest SOP (max 800 words) and expand on my subsequent SOPs that have a much higher word count limit. If there are any questions, please post here. Please, please provide constructive criticism by completely tearing apart this SOP. Im not at all sensitive about my work.

 

This is still a rough draft.

 

__________ 

 

 

 Ambition and curiosity is the driving forces that compels my further historical research. As an immigrant, raised in a predominate, lower-class neighborhood, I was integrated into a peripheral society of, presumably, non-American stigmatized individuals, including African-Americans and Eastern Europeans; which, consequently, birthed the many questions I'd like to research in graduate school. At a young age, I was introduced to slave narratives, and an infinite amount of slave stories by my best friend's mother. Supposedly, her family during Antebellum America was shackled into the peculiar institution, and her great-grandmother was cleaved from her parents at a young age as a byproduct of the burgeoning domestic slave trade. Fortunately for me, I was introduced to this particular history through a personal connection.

 

In my first week at the University _____, I introduced myself to Professor _____, an expert on social and political slave history, becoming a regular visitor, debater and conversationalist in his office. Our friendship flourished, and he independently supplied the academic nourishment that I needed to answer the many research questions I had. Moreover, by joining a variety of student clubs, historical organization, and networking with professors from other institutions, a picture of this particular history became more vivid. In return, I organized student discussions, guest lectures, and introduced new themes as a Phi Alpha Theta officer for eager history majors like myself. Additionally, the assortment of seminars, numbering close to a dozen, improved my historical research methodologies, introduced new perspectives concerning historical objectivity, modified my approach to primary source documents, but more importantly, I became familiarized with the logistics behind the composition of a research paper. Nevertheless, as an immigrant, I still held onto my non-native views of American history, and in addition, my personal connection to this history has also produced a different perspective. This has all amounted to the research topics I'd like to study at University____ under the guidance of Professor ____.

 

Growing up in a confusing childhood, I sought for self-discovery by listening to those slave narratives. Independence is a concept all slaves yearned for, and so do children today; however, once grasped, a state of shock consumes the individual, and confusion, over what to do with this new freedom takes over. By investigating certain legislative patterns that led to the burgeoning of the domestic slave trade - a complete transformation in the nature of this traffic in human slaves - I would examine the experiences, social roles and relationships enslaved children had in their new environment, away from their families. I would explore the treatment of orphaned slaves by other enslaved families, and their relationship with their, supposedly, paternalistic white masters,while studying the struggles adolescent runaways had once they obtained freedom. I'd meticulously study the effects that the domestic slave trade had on children, their sale in slave markets, but also, the responses abolitionist groups had towards child divisions from their family. By studying this one aspect of the southern slave system, I believe it is possible to gain a greater understanding of not only the Antebellum South, but also of American society as a whole.

 

Through my own curiosity, I came across Professor _____ research, and her similar interests in early America, gender and slave history. Her work on the sexual exploitation of slave women, and more recently, her study on the manumission laws of enslaved mothers, and the relations with their children would be invaluable to my own research. Likewise, Professor #2_____ study on the experience and fate of the African diaspora, and the obstacles to emancipation for African peoples would guide many of my research ideas. Finally, historians like #3_____ and #4_____, although not pertinent to my own area of interest, would also provide additional guidance since their own research following similar questions, but dwell on different time periods and geography. Research like theirs, combined with the strength of the overall program in my area of history is a major part why I'm interested in University______. In attending this program, I will be able to answer all of my research questions, contribute to the historical community, and grow as a historian. For my career, I will return my new aforementioned studies to members of a growing group of historians that are currently  examining how legislative actions in nineteenth century America effected subsequent slave generations. Likewise, I will be able to provide a new theme for students, and draw more attention to a particular history that, for the most part, has remained ignored. University______ History Graduate Program provides all the necessities that I need to achieve these goals, and in return, I would bring a new area of thought to the department.

 

 

(767 word count / 800 [still need to include names])

Edited September 16, 2014 by LeventeL

[StudyStar]

Sent you a PM!

[ToomuchLes]

I got your PM. Thank you for your help. 

 

If anyone else can insert some of their own suggestions, and tips, I'd truly appreciate it! The more, the merrier. 

[ToomuchLes]

Bump

[ToomuchLes]

another bump =(