Example - Research Worksheet

1. Select an interesting research topic that "jumps out" from the pages after you read through the California Social Science Standards at the grade level in which you are interested - either 7th grade world history, 8th grade U.S. history, 10th grade world history, 11th grade U.S. history, 12th grade American government, or 12th grade U.S. economics.
   • Describe your topic and why it is of particular interest to you. The history of the Ku Klux Klan has great significance for understanding the legacy of racism in the 21st Century. Additionally, because the KKK has often used acts of political violence to intimidate Americans it is important to ask whether or not the KKK can be considered a terrorist organization.
   • What grade level and standard did you select? The history of the Ku Klux Klan fits into several places in the 11th grade standards:
     • 11.3.3 = Cite incidences of religious intolerance in the United States (e.g., persecution of Mormons, anti-Catholic sentiment, anti-Semitism).
     • 11.4.5 = Analyze the political, economic, and social ramifications of World War I on the home front.
     • 11.5.2 = Analyze the international and domestic events, interests, and philosophies that prompted attacks on civil liberties, including the Palmer Raids, Marcus Garvey’s “back-to-Africa” movement, the Ku Klux Klan, and immigration quotas and the responses of organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Anti-Defamation League to those attacks.
     • 11.11 = Analyze the major social problems and domestic policy issues in contemporary American society.
2. Find at least two books that you will use to research this topic. These must be books that have differing approaches and/or views on your topic. This step will require a visit to the library and look through the stacks for books on your topic and/or an internet search for books on your topic.
   • Provide a full citation - title, author, and publication date - for your first book and a brief (3-4 sentences) summary of what you expect to find from the book after reading the Introduction and concluding chapters.
     • Susan Campbell Bartoletti, They Called Themselves the Ku Klux Klan: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group (HMH Books, 2014) This book traces the origin and evolution of the Ku Klux Klan from a small mischievous social club into a powerful, destructive organization. Bartoletti presents the complex era of Reconstruction, 1865-1877, that gave rise to the KKK. After the Civil War, the defeated South was a simmering cauldron of political, economic, and social instability. As the federal government struggled to provide law and order and to protect the rights of freed slaves, secret groups of Southern whites banded together to vent their anger over lost property, prosperity, and power. From six men in a law office in Pulaski, Tennessee, KKK dens spread across the South targeting freed blacks and their supporters. Although the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 was meant to end violence, KKK activity persisted through the 20th century, diminishing in the last 30 years as civil rights became a reality for all Americans. Bartoletti includes excerpts from slave narratives, archival illustrations, and historical quotes to convey the human drama of KKK terrorism. I expect to find evidence to support my thesis that the KKK was a domestic terrorist organization.
   • Provide a full citation - title, author, and publication date - for your second book and a brief (3-4 sentences) summary of what you expect to find from the book after reading the Introduction and concluding chapters.
     • Elaine Frantz Parsons, Ku-Klux: The Birth of the Klan during Reconstruction (University of North Carolina Press, 2016). This is a well researched book that provides evidence from many primary resources. The book provides a social and political history of the KKK, as well as describing the Klan as a complex, cultural phenomenon that carried social and political force throughout the south and through several different eras. I expect to find evidence to support or debunk my thesis that the KKK was a domestic terrorist organization from its very inception.
       
3. Based upon this preliminary research, pick a possible thesis that you might use to guide the remainder of your research.
   • Write your thesis. The KKK began as and continues to be a terrorist organization.