Select ONE of the two essay questions from below and answer it in an essay format. The essay must include an introductory paragraph and a concluding paragraph. The body of your paper should have at least two or three paragraphs with the paragraphs addressing the various main points of the essay question. The essay needs to be at least 400 words long. Please make sure you have proofread your paper before the final submission. Submit your paper as a Word document. Do not submit as Pages or a Google document.

1. In the years following the American Civil War, the ‘New South’ turned ever more toward tenant farming, more commonly known as sharecropping. (A) Explain just what sharecropping was how it was so exploitative to the people that ended up being caught up in it. (B) Explain how the system benefited the wealthy landowners at the expense of the everyday southern sharecropper. (C) The South was by far the poorest and most backward part of the U.S. in the late-nineteenth century, what were the sources of southern poverty and how did they hold the South back?

OR

2. The Spanish-American War awakened the American people to the establishment of a global colonial empire. (A) After that war, there was a determination by many political leaders in the U.S. to establish colonies in the Pacific. Why would they feel the need to do that? (B) While many Americans favored establishing colonies in that region, there was a great deal of opposition to acquiring the Philippines. What were the reasons for opposing the U.S. gaining the Philippines? (C) Explain and defend the position you would have taken in the debate over the annexation of the Philippines