Topics in Global History

Essay on Dominican Republic

and

Niall Ferguson

(Homework 5)

(1) assignments appear in the syllabus on the day assigned, not the day due

(2) You must submit your written work by blackboard

(3) BE SURE TO FOLLOW THE FILE-NAMING CONVENTIONS FOR THIS COURSE (5% penalty if you do not).

All files should be saved on your computer as: your last name, followed by an underscore ("_"), followed by the first two letters of your first name, followed by an underscore ("_"), followed by the assignment number. So if a student named Saddam Hussein were to submit assignment number 4, the file name would be:

hussein_sa_5.doc

THIS IS ASSIGNMENT 5

One of the great paradoxes of the modern world is that despite all of the economic, political, and social progress that occurred in the 20th century, the one hundred years after 1900 proved to be, by far, the most violent in human history. Niall Ferguson argues that the relentless, horific violence in the 20th century had its roots in (a) ethnic conflict (particularly the mismatch between the idea of the nation and the heterogeneity of ethnic groups in many places), (b) economic volatility, and (c) the withdrawal of empires.

How well does his theory hold up in the Dominican Republic? In short, is the 1937 massacre in the Dominican Republic more similar or more dissimilar to, say, the massacre of ethnic Greeks during the burning of Smyrna?

Using evidence from Why the Cocks Fight, and Seller'sMerengue and Dominican Identity: Music As National Unifier, as well as both the Ferugson video and reading, answer the following question in a 750 - 1000 word essay:

How and why does the 1937 massacre of Haitians in the Dominican Republic either fit or not fit with the larger pattern Ferguson identifies?

Requirements

1) Be sure to organize your paper around a concise thesis that explains how and why your argument is the best way to interpret the evidence (e.g.,"The 1937 massacre fits the pattern Ferguson describes for reasons X,Y, and Z")

2) Be sure to include a discussion of merengue in support of your larger argument. Hints: (A) think about the ways merengue helped add to the outsider status of Haitians (B) why was merengue important to Trujillo's efforts to define a sense of Dominican national identity? and (C) how was merengue "racialized"? (that is, how did merengue come to be seen as reflecting, representing, or embodying perceived racial differences?)

3) You should have at least five direct quotations from the Ferguson reading or video, four from Why the Cocks Fight, and at least four from Sellers' Merengue and Dominican Identity: Music As National Unifier OR the Grove Encyclopedia article on the "Dominican Republic"(for a total of at least thirteen quotations). The evidence chart you completed earlier can help you organize your evidence for this paper. Be sure to introduce your quotations and that they consist of ten or fewer words. Keep in mind the instructions from here and here.

4) Likewise, be sure to organize all of your paragraphs that present evidence around the familiar cl/ev/wa format. Paragraphs that don't present evidence, such as your introductory paragraph(s), should not be structured around claim/evidence/warrant. Be sure to identify your various elements in each evidence paragraph by placing a (cl) before your claims, an (ev) before your evidence, and a (wa) before your warrants.

Is it all Trujillo's fault?

Much of the Why the Cocks Fight reading discusses Trujillo. Be sure your essay considers broader forces and sentiments within the Dominican Republic. Likewise, what does the Sellers reading detail about racism in general in the Dominican Republic?

5) Be sure your answer addresses all three of the reasons Ferguson identifies: economic volatility; the mismatchbetween the idea of the nation and the heterogeneity of ethnic groups in many places; and the withdrawal of Empires.

6)You should do NO outside research for this paper; indeed, papers that employ outside research will receive a D- (and papers that include any plagiarism will, well, cause bad, bad things to happen).