History Research Paper Topics

There are numerous history research paper topics you can choose from. Developing solid skills in research, analysis, and writing are fundamental for a successful university education, as well as for many future job prospects. These skills are particularly relevant to the discipline of history, and writing assignments is often one of the most important components of any history course. It is vital that you set aside enough time to do it properly. A history research paper is not just a compilation of facts that you cut and paste into a report. A good history essay or research paper needs to explain something important about the past; it requires you to think critically about the topic, to draw on different sources, to sift through and analyze competing claims.

Choosing your topic is arguably the most important, and often the most difficult, task in writing an essay or a research paper. An ill-defined topic will never produce a good work. A history research paper is much more than a list of facts about events that happened in the past: it must explain. It is also more than a repetition of what other historians have already concluded: it must include your interpretation. A good historical research is focused on a limited topic. To narrow your topic, ask the questions who, what, where, when, and/or why something happened as it did.

Steps for defining a good history research paper topic:

• Identify a topic of interest. If your instructor has provided a list of topics, identify one that is interesting to you. If you do not have a list from which to select a topic, think of something related to the course content about which you would like to know more.
• Review the work already done on the topic (historiography) and familiarize yourself with the basic facts and events: find out what is known about the topic in textbooks, historical encyclopedias, or other general and specialized works.
• Narrow down your topic. Select one that is narrow enough to be feasible and manageable. An ill-defined or too-broad topic will never produce a good paper. Even if your professor provided the topic, you will probably still need to refine it.

More Than 200 Ideas for History Research Paper Topics

10 African History Topics

1. African Religions
2. African Union
3. Apartheid
4. Colonial Africa
5. Nubians
6. Pan-Africanism
7. Postcolonial Africa
8. Shaka Zulu
9. Slave Trades
10. Warfare in Africa

20 American History Topics

1. Abraham Lincoln
2. American Empire
3. American Revolution
4. Andean States
5. Aztec Empire
6. Biological Exchanges
7. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
8. Haitian Revolution
9. Hudson’s Bay Company
10. Inca Empire
11. Latter-Day Saints Movement
12. Martin Luther King, Jr.
13. Mesoamerica
14. Mexican Revolution
15. Mississippian Culture
16. Native American Religions
17. The Americas
18. Thomas Jefferson
19. W. E. B. Du Bois
20. Warfare in North America

15 Art History Topics

1. History of Architecture
2. African Art
3. Ancient Greek and Roman Art
4. Chinese Art
5. Dance and Military Drill
6. East Asian and European Art Connections
7. Japanese Art
8. Leonardo da Vinci
9. Music and Political Protest
10. Native American Art
11. Paleolithic Art
12. Pre-Columbian American Art
13. Renaissance Art
14. The Enlightenment
15. World History and Art

20 Asian History Topics

1. Babylon
2. British East India Company
3. Delhi Sultanate
4. Dutch East India Company
5. Hammurabi
6. Harappan State and Indus Civilization
7. History of China
8. History of Korea
9. Japanese Empire
10. Khmer Kingdom
11. Mongol Empire
12. Orientalism
13. Pastoral Nomadic Societies
14. Persian Empire
15. Porcelain
16. Sasanian Empire
17. Silk Roads
18. Spice Trade
19. Tea
20. Warfare in Islamic World

20 Cultural History Topics

1. Apartheid
2. Barter
3. Colonialism
4. Columbian Exchange
5. Cultural Areas
6. Decolonization
7. Diasporas
8. Ethnocentrism
9. European Expansion
10. Frontiers vs. Borders
11. Maritime History
12. Social History
13. Indigenous Peoples
14. Mercantilism
15. Missionaries
16. Nationalism
17. Orientalism
18. Pilgrimage
19. Race and Racism
20. Social Darwinism

20 Environmental History Topics

1. Anthroposphere
2. Biological Exchanges
3. Carrying Capacity
4. Climate Change
5. Columbian Exchange
6. Deforestation
7. Desertification
8. Earthquakes
9. Environmental Movements
10. Erosion
11. Extinctions
12. Famine
13. Gaia Theory
14. Green Revolution
15. Ice Ages
16. Natural Gas
17. Oil Spills
18. Population and the Environment
19. Water Management
20. Wind Energy

50 European History Topics

1. Adolf Hitler
2. Alexander the Great
3. Ancient Greece
4. Austro-Hungarian Empire
5. British Empire
6. Catherine the Great
7. Charlemagne
8. Charles V
9. Constantine the Great
10. Dutch Empire
11. Early Modern World
12. Emperor Augustus
13. European Expansion
14. European Union
15. Fascism
16. Feudalism
17. French Empire
18. French Revolution
19. German Empire
20. Hanseatic League
21. Imperialism
22. Indo-European Migration
23. Industrial Revolution
24. Interwar Years (1918–1939)
25. Joseph Stalin
26. Julius Caesar
27. Justinian I
28. Karl Marx
29. League of Nations
30. Macedonian Empire
31. Napoleonic Empire
32. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
33. Ottoman Empire
34. Parliamentarianism
35. Peter the Great
36. Portuguese Empire
37. Postcolonial Analysis
38. Protestantism
39. Renaissance
40. Roman Empire
41. Russian Revolution
42. Soviet Empire
43. Spanish Empire
44. The Celts
45. The Crusades
46. The Emergence of State Societies
47. Urbanization
48. Viking Society
49. Vladimir Lenin
50. Warsaw Pact

15 Military History Topics

1. Bows and Arrows
2. Civil Disobedience
3. Cold War
4. Crusades, The
5. Firearms
6. Genocide
7. Holocaust
8. Military Engineering
9. Military Strategy and Tactics
10. Military Training and Discipline
11. Music and Political Protest
12. Religion and War
13. Terrorism
14. World War I
15. World War II

20 Political History Topics

1. Absolutism
2. Bands, Tribes, Chiefdoms, and States
3. Citizenship
4. Civil Disobedience
5. Civil Law
6. Communism and Socialism
7. Confucianism
8. Democracy
9. Fascism
10. Feudalism
11. Human Rights
12. Imperialism
13. International Law
14. Islamic Law
15. Liberalism
16. Nationalism
17. Nation-State
18. Parliamentarianism
19. Religion and Government
20. Zionism

25 Science and Technology History Topics

1. Agricultural Societies
2. Biological Exchange
3. Cartography
4. Coal
5. Computer Technology
6. Electricity
7. Industrial Revolution
8. Information Storage and Recovery
9. Internet
10. Mathematics
11. Metallurgy
12. Navigation
13. Nuclear Power
14. Oil
15. Paper
16. Roads
17. Sailing Ships
18. Scientific Expeditions
19. Scientific Instruments
20. Scientific Revolution
21. Secondary-Products Revolution
22. Telegraph and Telephone
23. Television
24. Waste Management
25. Wind Energy

History courses require you to submit written papers as part of your assignment work. Essay writing helps develop abilities that will enable you to participate in the continuing discussion about the past, including developing and stating a reasoned argument, quickly and effectively analysing and summarising texts, and presenting a scholarly, well documented final product. Such skills have wide application in many areas beyond history.

History research paper topics are not ‘true’ or ‘false’ tests. There is no one right way of answering a history question. Rather, a history paper is an opportunity to enter an ongoing debate, to read and think about questions that may never—indeed often cannot—be finally resolved. There are always new ways of looking at material, new methods to apply, and new ideas to incorporate.

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