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How to Write a CCOT Essay

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This article was co-authored by Jake Adams . Jake Adams is an academic tutor and the owner of Simplifi EDU, a Santa Monica, California based online tutoring business offering learning resources and online tutors for academic subjects K-College, SAT & ACT prep, and college admissions applications. With over 14 years of professional tutoring experience, Jake is dedicated to providing his clients the very best online tutoring experience and access to a network of excellent undergraduate and graduate-level tutors from top colleges all over the nation. Jake holds a BS in International Business and Marketing from Pepperdine University. This article has been viewed 160,741 times.

The Continuity and Change-Over-Time (CCOT) essay is a type that is commonly used on the AP World History exam, but you may be asked to write one for other settings or courses. Basically, it asks you to think about how a particular subject has developed or altered over time, as well as to consider what about it has stayed the same. Writing one is a piece of cake if you practice, organize your thoughts before you start writing, and keep the basic requirements of this essay type in mind as you work.

Gathering the Information you Need

• For example, a prompt might ask you to “Evaluate the extent of continuity and change in the lives of European immigrants in the United States between 1876 and 1918."

• A thesis might look something like “While the United States maintained its position as a manufacturing superpower in the first five decades after WWII, over time its focus shifted from the production of traditional goods to the creation of innovative electronics.”
• Your thesis must specifically mention the time period. [2] X Research source
• Be as direct as possible about the continuity and change over time.

• Jot down the basic facts you know about the topic, as well as any key details that stick out in your mind. Build your essay around these concrete details.
• For example, if your topic asks you to consider the development of manufacturing in the United States after WWII, start by writing down what you know about industries during that time period. If you know particular details about developments in the auto industry, you might work with those above all.

• For instance, if you are writing about changes and continuities in manufacturing after WWII, you might argue that the Vietnam War and the fuel crisis of the 1970s decisively changed the shape of American industries.
• Create a timeline of events to sort out your historical information in order and help identify the turning point.

• Continuing with the manufacturing example, your might keep in mind that the fuel crisis of the 1970s led to a rise in imported, fuel-efficient cars, which impacted the auto industry in the United States.

Organizing and Writing Your Essay

• Create an outline to serve as the framework for your essay.
• For example, you might have a first paragraph that establishes your thesis and the conditions at the start of the time period. This could be followed by two paragraphs on changes that occurred over time. Finally, the essay could close with a paragraph on what stayed the same.

• Be selective and organize your thoughts. Don’t just dump out everything you know about a subject.
• Stay in the place and time relevant to the prompt. If a prompt asks you to think about the development of manufacturing in the United States, your evidence shouldn’t be based on examples from manufacturing in China.
• On the other hand, don’t forget to explain the global significance of your topic. For instance, at some point in your essay, you might note that changes in manufacturing in the United States led to an increasing rise in imported home goods manufactured in China.

• If you get stuck, go back to the notes/ideas you had about the turning point, since this can show you exactly what changed, when, and why.

Preparing for the Exam

• 1 point for having an acceptable thesis
• Up to 2 points for addressing all parts of the question
• Up to 2 points for effectively using appropriate historical evidence
• 1 point for explaining the changes in terms of world history and global contexts
• 1 point for analyzing the process of continuity and change over time

• For example, including several relevant examples of changes and continuities will help you earn points in the Expanded Core.
• You cannot earn points in the Expanded Core unless your essay already covers all aspects of the Basic Core.

• Don’t use evidence from the wrong time period. Using the example of Captain Cook won’t help you if the essay asks you to examine continuities and changes in work exploration between 1400 and 1700.
• Avoid vagueness of dates. Don’t write an essay that discusses “exploration before the eighteenth century.” Instead, tell your readers that your essay will discuss changes and continuities from 1492 (Columbus’ first voyage) to Hudson’s voyage of 1609-1611.
• Don’t just dump as many facts as possible into your essay. Organize and analyze all information you include, making sure it is relevant.

Community Q&A

• If you are writing a CCOT essay for a class, always ask your teacher for advice. He or she may have specific expectations for the essay that may differ from these general guidelines. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• If you can't spell a word, choose another one. Although spelling mistakes and grammar errors would not deduct points, poor spelling can cast a shadow on the rest of your essay. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Avoid cursive, especially if your handwriting is messy, as it may be harder for the AP essay readers. Don't have too many scribbles on the paper, for they may make it harder for the grader to read. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Keep an eye on your time. You do not want to spend too much time on this one essay, running out of time on the rest. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

Other wikiHows

• ↑ http://www.utdallas.edu/apsi/documents/cone-2016.pdf
• ↑ http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/dl/free/0024122010/899891/AP_World_History_Essay_Writers_HB.pdf
• ↑ https://gibaulthistory.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/possible-ccot-essay-structures.pdf
• ↑ http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/courses/teachers_corner/40896.html
• ↑ https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/ap/apcentral/ap15_world_history_q3.pdf
• ↑ http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/6.2/cohen.html

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• Change and Continuity

What is change and continuity in history?

History is the study of change over time.

All sorts of things change over time: empires, languages, ideas, technology, attitudes, etc.

However, even when thing change, many remain the same. 

Together, change and continuity form the foundation of the study of history, as historians seek to understand both the ways in which societies and cultures have evolved over time, as well as the ways in which certain elements have remained constant.

By examining both change and continuity, historians can gain a more complete understanding of the complexities of the human experience.

Categorising historical events

In order to study change and continuity, historians study different types of events through time and group these events based upon topics or themes.

Breaking historical events up based upon categories makes it easier for people to identify changes and study the effects on people over time.

Some general categories of events include:

  ‘Change’ refers to something that is obviously different from what occurred previously.

Change refers to the alterations or transformations that occur in societies, cultures, political systems, or other aspects of the human experience over time.

Change can result from a variety of factors, including technological advancements, natural disasters, wars, social movements, and economic developments.

It can be both positive and negative, and it can impact individuals and communities in different ways.

Change in history usually occurs over a long period of time and it is often hard to pin-point an exact moment of change.

Therefore, it is easier to choose two different moments in history and compare them.

For example, comparing 2nd century AD with the 4th century AD, or the year 1600 with 1900.

However, when there is a sudden and clear change at a particular point in history, usually as the result of a single event, the event is usually referred to as a ‘Turning Point’ in history.

Watch a video explanation on the History Skills YouTube channel:

Not all things change over time, some things remain the same across long periods in time, sometimes lasting into the modern world.

‘Continuity’ refers to things that stay the same, relatively unchanged, over time.  

This can include long-standing traditions, cultural values, or political systems that endure despite changes that may occur in other areas.

Continuity provides a sense of stability and a connection to the past, and it helps to shape the development of societies and cultures over time.

Assessing change and/or continuity

  As historians, we need to study what things have changed or continued over time and try to explain the reasons for these.

Example questions for assessing Change and Continuity:

• What kind of historical development are you focusing on (e.g., religious, political, economic, cultural, etc.)?

What was the situation like before this occurred?

What was clearly different after this occurred?

What were the direct causes of the changes?

What were the reasons that some things remained the same?

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No personal information is collected as part of this quiz. Only the selected responses to the questions are recorded.

What do you need help with?

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How to Write a CCOT (Continuity and Change Over Time) Essay

Basically, CCOT stands for continuity and change-over-time, so in this type of task, you have to explore the dynamics of a particular subject and explain how it transformed over time. 

In fact, its purpose is to evaluate students' ability to analyze historical changes that shaped social, political, technological, and economic developments or affected global processes. 

Generally, the CCOT essay is a type of writing required at the Advanced Placement United States History (APUSH) examination. However, you might be asked to complete a CCOT essay in other settings and disciplines. 

You can think about CCOT in different ways. For example, you may discuss in your essay whether change outweighs continuity or focus on the cause and effects of a primary change in a certain era.

How to Write a CCOT Essay

• Formulate your thesis statement 

Simply put, a thesis statement is a summary of your essay argument. As for a COOT essay, you must refer to both continuity and change, so you can follow the next formula when creating a thesis:

Over the time period between (x) and (y) in (location), (continuity)x3, remained constant in (topic), while there were significant changes in (topic) such as (change)x3.  

Usually, it’s fine to make your thesis not longer than one sentence. But note that you should include at least two continuities and two changes to your statement as well as to mention a specific time period. 

• Write down ideas and identify concepts 

Before you start writing an essay at APUSH (AP United States History) exam, jot down some basic facts about the topic, relying on your own knowledge only, since you won’t be provided with any information sources. First, determine what you can write about and then build your essay around it. 

Even though you have to focus on a particular location and timeframe, you should also consider the situation in the rest of the world in that period. There is no need to go deep into detail about other locations, but it would be great to describe how some world events influenced your topic. 

• Create an outline and find evidence 

You can organize your essay in many different ways since there is no right or wrong. However, it is more preferable to organize your paper so that it emphasizes changes first. If you discuss the changes before the continuities, you will be able to come across your arguments more clearly. In fact, this is the most common approach for outline creation. 

It's essential to include a few specific examples in each paragraph. Make your examples rich in detail and relevant to the time and place mentioned in the essay prompt. Also, think about the significance of your topic in the global context. 

• Explain the cause of change 

To get a high score in the AP World History exam, you should not just clearly state what changed about the topic but also analyze a historical situation. In other words, it's important to go beyond the basics and explain both the process and causes of changes. You can also describe if the change happened unevenly in different places or over time and mention intermediate points in a certain period. 

Approaches to Address the Topic

Using this approach, you should first add a topic sentence, then provide a baseline, next explain the cause of change or context, give evidence, summarize the change, describe its status and significance at the endpoint. 

According to this approach, you need to base body paragraphs around sub-periods. So after adding a topic sentence, you need to describe the characteristics of a historical situation, tell about the events and processes that changed or stayed the same, and then explain the cause of changes and their significance during a certain period.

Use writing formulas 

To write body paragraphs, you can follow the next formulas. 

Statement (sentence #1)

During the time period (… to …), (events in the world context) caused (topic/theme) to stay constant because (reasons). 

As you see, you must think about what was going on in the world causing the continuity and cover the historical development of an event. Note that the global context must be relevant to the topic. 

Analysis of continuity (sentences #2, #3, #4)

One continuity that took place in (topic/theme) was (…). The reason for it is (analysis). An example of this would be (specific evidence). 

• Changes  

Statement  (sentence #1) 

During the time period (…), (event in the world context) caused things to change in (topic/theme) because (reasons).  

One change that occurred in (topic/theme) was (…). The reason for it is (analysis). An example of this would be (specific evidence). 

In your conclusion, you should make some more global connections and explain why it's important to discuss the essay topic today. You can also predict how it will move forward in history and whether it will undergo further changes or stay the same.

Learn More About Scoring

Typically, you can earn 1 point for having a good thesis, up to 2 points for addressing the question, up to 2 points for using accurate evidence, 1 point for illustrating the changes in terms of global contexts and 1 point for analyzing the process of continuity and change over a period of time. 

You can also get up to 2 additional points for excellence if you go above and beyond in analyzing your topic. 

Wrapping Up 

Hopefully, this article gave you a better understanding of how to write a CCOT essay for AP World History. Summing up, you should first define areas of change and continuity in your thesis, and then establish time period boundaries that you will address. Next, analyze the cause of changes and address continuity. It's also important to discuss the global context of the historical situation and connect it to world processes and change.

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One of the essays you will have to write on the AP Exam is the Continuity & Change Over Time (CCOT).

Percent of Section II score – 33 1/3

Directions: You are to answer the following question. You should spend 5 minutes organizing or outlining your essay. Write an essay that:

• Has a relevant thesis and supports that thesis with appropriate historical evidence.
• Addresses all parts of the question.
• Uses world historical context to show continuities and change over time.

Analyzes the process of continuity and change over time.

Analyze the social and economic transformations that occurred in the Atlantic world as a result of new contacts among Western Europe, Africa, and the Americas from 1492 to 1750.

Note: the question does not use a more traditional form of asking you to analyze the changes or continuities about something, directly, but rather expects you to know that is required and is really looking for a process rather than a beginning and an end, or even a beginning, middle or end.

Following the steps outlined below. Do not simply extract the words from above, but rather expand on them or give examples as appropriate.

Key Events During Time period (think events rather than years):

• Changes: Topic 1
• Changes: Topic 2
• Continuities: Topic 1
• Continuities: Topic 2
• Key Steps in Process/Major developments:
• World Historical Context
• Analyzes Reasons for Continuity and Change

What does the Thesis need to be:

• Has acceptable thesis according to the CCOT Rubric.

The thesis must address social AND economic transformations AND the ‘Atlantic world.’

Thesis cannot simultaneously count for transformation, evidence, or global context.

Addresses all parts of the question, though not necessarily evenly or thoroughly

For 2 Points: Essay must accurately describe FOUR social and economic transformations that occurred as a result of new contacts in the Atlantic world from 1492-1750. At least ONE must be social, and at least ONE must be economic. [Bond-Lamberty says three of each would be best]

Substantiates thesis with appropriate historical evidence.

For 2 Points: Include FOUR pieces of historical evidence related to social and economic transformations. The student must cite at least ONE piece of evidence for a social transformation and ONE piece of evidence for an economic transformation. [Bond-Lamberty says three of each would be best]

Uses relevant world historical context effectively to explain continuity and change over time.

The student uses global historical context effectively to show change and continuity in the Atlantic world from 1492 to 1750 by: Placing the Atlantic world in the context of world history, OR Connecting the Atlantic world to global processes, OR Describing the interactions between at least two regions

Explains a reason for a change or continuity in the Atlantic world as a result of new contacts among Western Europe, Africa and the Americas from 1492 to 1750 [Bond-Lamberty says analyze reasons for all changes and continuities.]

What IS Analysis?

Historical analysis what is being done is breaking down the item being analyzed into its parts which generally include (depending on what is being analyzed):

• historical actors: events, processes, institutions, ideas, etc. (examination of multiple causation which looks at cause and effect relationships)

• evidence (determining the significance and reliability of various perspectives like when point of view is analyzed)

• interpretations of what happened (comparing and contrasting changing versions of developments or theories)

• underlying structures (determining how all the processes, institutions, ideas, events, actors, motives, evidence, interpretations are connected and related and affect each other)

• overall process of change and continuity (connecting different regions and eras)

This is different from just explaining because of the need to look at multiple causation.

For example: if with the 2005 COT question we had asked students to explain a transformation that took place, [it] would have been okay with a single description - (“the population of the Americas declined”).

Instead we required students to go further with looking at why the population declined, ideally several steps forward and backward.

If students were asked to explain the causes of the demographic change in the Americas from 1450-1750, simply describing the Atlantic slave trade and European colonization would cut it; whereas if students were asked to analyze demographic change in the Americas we would want students to also look at why they needed the slave trade, why there was colonization and the differences in which genders were involved.

Analysis Examples

“The mercantilist economies established in Europe redefined the economies of not only of European nations, but of American and African ones as well. Under mercantilism, European colonies in the new world were limited to trade only with their mother countries to ensure profit. The European monarchs would finance gold and silver expeditions in the Americas so that their national treasure would grow. In order to ensure productivity not only in American mines, but on plantations as well, Europe began to enslave Africans and send them to the Americas via the Middle Passage. The Middle Passage was part of a great trading triangle linking Europe, Africa, and America. African slaves were sent to America to work in captivity. America sent raw good to Europe and Europe sent money and good to allied African tribes to pay for slaves. The goods and money exchanged on the Great Circuit profited many European nations and African tribes. Plantation owners in America also became very wealthy. However, the exchange of goods, and not to mention people on the Great Circuit, also reshaped societies socially. “

· Analysis in this paragraph is limited, but is present in the connection between the requirements of mercantilism and the productivity of plantations in the Americas.

· European motives (and trade restrictions) for trade are explored.

· The context of the Middle Passage within the larger trade patterns is described, but there is no evaluation/assessment of the slave trade.

“By 1492, Europe was on the verge of an economic explosion and Africa and America were relatively quiet in the global economy. Long before European contact in Africa, slaves and trans-Saharan slave trade were in existence. Portuguese explorers came upon Africa to find this institution. An institution once belonging to Africa would become globalized. Europeans soon began to export slaves to their countries and eventually to the American economies. The slave trade put Africa on the map as a contending economic power. The slave workers fueled the American economies soon thereafter. The Europeans had difficulty in finding and maintaining native-American labor - slaves filtered into the Caribbean, Brazil, and the southern U.S. to serve on plantations. The sugar industry was growing in Europe and the slaves satisfied the Portuguese sweet-tooth on the “engenhos” and in other lands. By creating the triangular slave trade, the Americans entered the global economy and Europe morphed into a more powerful one. “

· This paragraph weaves together multiple good writing characteristics.

· It places each continent into global context at the beginning of the time period.

· The institution of slavery over time is nicely described within the larger framework of global trade patterns.

· The slave trade’s effect on Africa’s place in global community is directly noted, as well as the economic effect the slave trade had on the Americas.

· Europeans’ motives are explored, and the paragraph finishes with a succinct summarization of the slave trade’s overall effect on both Europe and the Americas. WORLD HISTORY SECTION II Part B

(Suggested planning and writing time - - - 40 minutes)

Has a relevant thesis and supports that thesis with appropriate historical evidence. Addresses all parts of the question. Uses world historical context to show change over time and/or continuities. Analyzes the process of change over time and/or continuity.

2. Analyze the social and economic transformations that occurred in the Atlantic world as a result of new contacts among Western Europe, Africa, and the Americas from 1492 to 1750.

Following the steps outlined in your COT guide from the other day. Do not simply extract the words from above, but rather expand on them or give examples as appropriate.

Economic transformations - trade, labor, money, wealth, production.

Atlantic World in Europe (Spain and Portugal), Africa (Kongo and Gold Coast), and Americas (Mexico, Caribbean, Brazil).

Topic 1 - Social – New classes, ethnicities, women lose standings in Africa and Americas

Topic 2 - Economic – New trade goods, mercantilism, change in labor systems, triangular trade, new wealth (mineral and plantations)

Continuities:

Topic 1 - Social – continued hierarchical societies including slavery, women still in low position in Europe, men still in a high position in Europe

Topic 2 - Economic – continued reliance on unprocessed goods and agriculture, continued practice of slave trade,

Process/Major developments:

Global Context

Analyzes Reasons for Change/Continuity

Unacceptable

“There were many transformations in the Atlantic world as a result of new contacts among Western Europe, Africa, and the Americas from 1492 to 1750.”

This is merely a rephrasing of the question. “Many” is a virtually meaningless qualifier. Be more specific!

“Columbus’ discovery of the New World had a huge impact on the future of the Atlantic world.” or

“Europe dominated the Americas through military technology and political absolutism.”

Off topic. The question asks the reader to focus on the social and economic transformations, NOT the degree of Columbus’ impact, or military & political developments. This illustrates why it is so important to read the question carefully and spend time organizing the essay BEFORE actually writing. Not only would this not earn the Thesis point, it might also distract the writer from earning point #3 (Evidence). Make sure to answer precisely what the question asks.

“Europe was going through a social and economic transformation from 1492-1750 as it moved beyond feudalism and into the modern era.”

Off-topic. This thesis reflects a ‘European history’ point of view. Europe’s relationship to Africa and the Americas is a key part of this question, but a thesis devoted solely to any one continent is irrelevant. Too often students devote considerable effort to the Renaissance, Scientific Revolution, Reformation, Absolute Monarchy, English Civil War, etc. without relating it back to the rest of the Atlantic world.

“Between 1492-1750 Europe grew both socially and economically, while Africa and the Americas suffered.”

“Although Europe quickly dominated the economic aspects of the Columbian Exchange, their social influence in Africa and the Americas developed more slowly.”

“As Europe came to economically dominate trans-Atlantic trade with Africa and the Americas, dramatically changing labor systems and the distribution of wealth, their influence over social customs also expanded changing class structures, ethnicities and role of women in Africa and the Americas. At the same time the basic structure of the economies remained the same while hierarchies continued with women in Europe holding the same gender roles.”

For 1 Point: describe ONE social and ONE economic transformation.

Note: 3 economic transformations would earn 0 points (there must be at least 1 social transformation)

Note: The nature of this question makes it difficult to distinguish between a “transformation” and “evidence.” General long-term trends (Columbian Exchange, spread of slavery) usually counted as a transformation, while specific examples (potatoes, Kongo) counted as evidence. Readers paid close attention to the verb to identify transformations. Statements that indicated a conclusion, connection, or cause & effect were the most obvious transformational verbs, and often indicated analysis (point #5) as well. Likewise, the distinction between social and economic transformations was subtle. Often the context of the statement framed readers’ interpretation.

Unacceptable Students often rephrased a single transformation, repeating it in a later paragraph. Each transformation could only count ONCE. Readers had to pay close attention to the substance of the statement.

“As the slave trade increased, it changed the native population.” = social trans.

“As the slave trade increased, it changed the native standard of living.” = economic trans.

Social Transformations (w/ Evidence) Economic Trans. (Evidence)

• European colonization • Columbian Exchange

• Slave trade • Slave trade / Triangle trade

• European rule – replacement of ruling classes • Spanish rule (encomienda, repartimento)

• Social stratification (peninsulars, creoles, • Mercantilism

For 1 Point: Include TWO pieces of historical evidence related to social and economic transformations. The student must cite at least ONE piece of evidence for a social transformation and ONE piece of evidence for an economic transformation.

Note: The nature of this question makes it difficult to distinguish between a “transformation” and “evidence.”

“The exchange of ideas caused both the American and French Revolutions.”

This ‘evidence’ is outside the time frame (post-1750). Numerous weak essays seemed to be borrowed from students’ US history class experiences, dwelling on John Smith, Pocahontas, Jamestown, the Pilgrims, Plymouth Rock, or Thanksgiving.

“The spread of diseases among the native Americans motivated Europeans to find an alternative labor source, which they satisfied with the introduction of the African slave trade.”

“The interactions of the Atlantic world caused a population decline in the Americas while Africa's population increased. The Aztecs and the Incas, for example, were not immune to new diseases such as smallpox which wiped out much of their society.”

In this case, the transformation is the American population decline of which disease is a point of evidence. “

“As a result of interactions in the Atlantic World, new cultural traditions appeared in the Americas. The slave trade brought Africans to the Americas where Africans mixed with Native Americans and Europeans to form new languages and religions.”

In this case, “new cultural traditions” constitutes the transformation while the slave trade becomes evidence of that transformation.

Note how the evidence should relate back to the thesis (from p. 1). It shouldn’t just “hang out there” unrelated to anything else in the essay.

“The introduction of the Europeans into the Americas vaulted them to the top of the social systems, replacing the previous native nobles.”

An essay that provides abundant specific historical evidence to substantiate the thesis.

Social: mulattoes, class system, Kongo

Economic: slave trade, mita, Potosi Uses global historical context effectively to show continuity OR change.

The student uses global historical context effectively to show change OR continuity in the Atlantic world from 1492 to 1750 by:

•Placing the Atlantic world in the context of world history,

•Connecting the Atlantic world to global processes,

•Describing the interactions between at least two regions

In other words, students should know how ‘Specific Example A’ compares with ‘Global Trend #1.’ (e.g. Does the example reflect or contradict the overall global trend? What are the major milestones/turning points in the development of the global trend?) This requires students to know what the global trends ARE, and then be able to cite specific examples that support their topic sentences.

“The slave trade was an example of an Atlantic world transformation from 1492-1750.”

The essay must explicitly describe the interaction between two specific regions. Simply rephrasing this statement to “The slave trade from Africa to the Americas was an example...” would have earned the point.

Note: Virtually any accurate, relevant statement that described a relationship linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas between 1492-1750 would satisfy this requirement. Readers anticipated that this would be the easiest point to earn. Unfortunately, approx. 10% of essays (in this reader’s experience) did not meet even this minimal requirement.

The social status of European women remained constant from 1492-1750 as European social customs were transplanted to the Americas.

The discovery of silver in the Americas, greatly affected the international flow of silver and created inflationary conditions in many markets, including China and Spain.

“By 1492, Europe was on the verge of an economic explosion and Africa and America were relatively quiet in the global economy. Long before European contact in Africa, slaves and trans-Saharan slave trade were in existence. Portuguese explorers came upon Africa to find this institution. An institution once belonging to Africa would become globalized. Europeans soon began to export slaves to their countries and eventually to the American economies. The slave trade put Africa on the map as a contending economic power. The slave workers fueled the American economies soon thereafter. The Europeans had difficulty in finding and maintaining native-American labor - slaves filtered into the Caribbean, Brazil, and the southern U.S. to serve on plantations. The sugar industry was growing in Europe and the slaves satisfied the Portuguese sweet-tooth on the “engenhos” and in other lands. By creating the triangular slave trade, the Americans entered the global economy and Europe morphed into a more powerful one.”

· Europeans’ motives are explored, and the paragraph finishes with a succinct summarization of the slave trade’s overall effect on both Europe and the Americas.

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How to discuss continuity and change over time, helpful words and phrases for discussing continuity and change in history, a part of the enduring issues essay, and activities for practicing the use of those words and phrases..

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Helpful words and phrases for discussing continuity and change in history, a part of the Enduring Issues Essay, and activities for practicing the use of those words and phrases. 

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Understanding Continuity and Change for Better Historical Analysis

Historians use “continuity and change” to refer to aspects of life or society that have remained the same (continuity) or developed over time (change). It is a fundamental skill in the historian’s toolkit. There are four tasks when using continuity and change. We must identify, analyze, evaluate, and describe. We use other historical skills along the way.  

Historical Skills 

History is the study of our past and present. We learn about fascinating people and events. 

There is also an additional step, which is very important for a historian. It involves explaining what happened. Why did it happen? How do people and events over time relate to each other? 

Historical skills provide the tools to make sound arguments and express them clearly and in a convincing fashion. Continuity and change is one such helpful tool.  

What Is Continuity And Change? 

Historians use “continuity and change” to refer to aspects of life or society that have remained the same (continuity) or developed over time (change). These concepts work together.

Different things that continue over time are traditions and cultural values , political and societal systems, and economic policies. The United States had three branches of government for over two hundred years. Nonetheless, each branch has changed, including a more powerful president.

Basic Tasks

There are four basic tasks when applying continuity and change. 

Identify 

We need to recognize what has stayed the same and developed over time. The past can be a confusing place. We study the Roman Empire , which spanned hundreds of years. 

For simplicity’s sake, history lessons often provide aspects that stay the same over time. Nonetheless, several things changed for such a long period. We need to identify the two different categories. You can make a list. The whys and hows can wait. 

The first step allows us to enjoy the details. History contains fascinating people and events. We can appreciate and respect these while having a more in-depth understanding. 

Analyze 

An analysis is a detailed examination of the elements of something. A person goes to a therapist to analyze their problems. Historians are also concerned with the “how” and “why.” 

We analyze continuity and change in various ways. Categories include type, speed, and extent. We can compare and contrast events in different decades . 

Racial discrimination continued during WWII even as African Americans played a heroic role. Individual accomplishments did not erase the continuation of racism. Nonetheless, WWII provided some openings for racial advancement. The extent of racism changed somewhat.  

Historians try to discover the reasons why. Why did the power of the American president change over time? For instance, what role did modern warfare and technology play? 

Evaluate 

An evaluation is a judgment call. An employer evaluates an employee’s work to determine how well they are doing their job. A historian evaluates to determine “so what?” 

Historical fundamentals apply here. We use sources, keeping in mind their point of view and biases. Historical context shows us that people act and believe differently depending on when and where they live. All of these things factor in when we evaluate history.

The assessment of continuity and change involves examining patterns over time. Historians fit specific events into context. How did warfare change over time? How did it stay the same? What are the reasons why this is so? An evaluation is a historical summary.  

Describe 

The final task involves explaining what you identified, analyzed, and evaluated. 

A principal tool is the historical essay . A historical essay answers a question or addresses a specific topic. The format is like a sandwich: a body cushioned between the introduction and conclusion paragraphs. A student applies this task to address continuity and change. 

A historical essay would identify patterns, describe the importance of specific persons and events, and explain how they relate to broader themes. 

For instance, what changed and stayed the same before and after the American Revolution ? The answer would differ depending on the categories, period examined, and other factors. 

History skills are a fundamental aspect of describing continuity and change. Nonetheless, you also need to apply the skills of a good writer. Someone can know all about history and have problems explaining what they know. Good writing is a fundamental tool in the historian’s toolkit.

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• Why the Study of History is important
• Geography Thinking Skills
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How to write about Change and Continuity Over Time (CCOT)

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This is, and is supposed to be, the hardest unit of your History Studies. It asks you to analyze what has changed and/or remained the same during a certain time period (often one era, sometimes more than one), in a certain region(s) while focusing on a particular theme(s):

Consider events in history.  Is there a pattern in these events?  Patterns are not simply a set path for events to take, but rather a process involved.  In a CCOT essay you need to identify the patterns (or big picture) for a theme during a specific time period, but also use the events (small picture) as evidence to support your claim as to what the pattern is.  To do this well it is important to be familiar with periodization (the key dividing points among and within eras), and context (the Big Picture: the situation at these points in time).

For a CCOT, you are required to consider the history of certain themes – how have those areas changed or remained the same throughout time?  Has there been a smooth progression?  [Rarely the case] Have there been any interruptions or reversals/roll backs? What has remained the same despite these changes?  [This is harder to do and most often refers to obvious and often unremarkable events]  After identifying the patterns, you need to determine why these changes or continuities have occurred.

It helps to consider CCOT analysis akin to describing ripples or waves of water, which produces a more complete approach.  Depending on the theme, the process described can involve tidal waves, the regular ebbing and flowing of waves, the impact from a large rock or meteor in the ocean, or ripples from the throw of a pebble in a pond. You can consider events at the beginning, middle and end of the time period and you should consider: 1) What started the ripples or waves?

2) What are the sizes of the waves? [What is the significance of the changes?] 3) Do the waves/ripples flow in any set pattern that would help analyze the changes/continuities? Are they cyclical?  [e.g. do the same patterns seem to develop over a medium period of time?] 4) Does the same kind/size of rock [event] produce the same results? [Or is there something different about the specific event that makes its impact greater?] (it is clear that not all African-American Protest groups have the same effects, so why?) 5) Do the waves/ripples affect other waves/ripples in the same time period? In this process you are forced to address causation – what caused the initial change? 6) Did anything accelerate it, what and why? Did anything change the direction it was taking, what and why?  Was it delayed, by what and why? (This might be political expediency/foreign policy/emergency events/public emotion, etc.)

How to approach CCOT Questions

• Recognize Topic:  Correctly recognize the general topic/theme.  Consider all that could be included under that topic category and look for references across the topic areas (African-Americans/Labor Rights/Native Americans/Women’s Rights).
• Identify Correct time period : read the question very carefully – do not stray out of the parameters given.
• Determine Significance of Dates:  Determine the significance given of the dates, both the start date and the end date.  Be sure to consider events all the way until the end date and all the way from the beginning date but not beyond either. E.g. the era 1917-1945 is clearly indicating the defining period of Civil Rights between both World Wars and US involvement therein. N.B. It is ok to draw upon events before and after to help give structure to your essay but do not write more than the briefest of references.
• Identify Changes: Compare periods of time, namely conditions at the beginning of the given time period, with those at the end and determine what is different (changes). As with any comparison, the description of just one of those (i.e. the situation at the end of the given time period) is not enough, you need to identify from what it changed to have done a complete comparison.   Make sure you give concrete examples of how they changed.
• Identify Continuities: Establish what remained the same during the time period or the continuities (so the similarities of the comparison), not just what changed (the differences). Again, give concrete examples of how they remained the same.
• Identify Key Steps in Process: Consider the process that took place during this time. That is – were there any major developments that are relevant that occurred between the beginning date (the baseline) and the end date (the end point)? Sometimes, when the time period specified in the question is between eras, the era dates are good mid-way point(s) to consider. More often than not though, the time period specified is within one era and finding a relevant mid-point(s) of events that would have had an impact on the topic is a bit harder.
• Analyze the Changes and Continuities (including reasons for them): Analyze the processes identified. The pace of change, the manner of change/continuity, comparative changes/continuity, and results or effects of the changes/continuities. Make sure you also analyze why did things change or remain the same?
• Include Global Context: Make sure to include the relevant world historical context in some of your analysis of the changes and continuities over time, including reasons for them, where possible and appropriate.

Tips for responding to CCOT questions:  ·      Your thesis must include your argument (what changed, what remained the same, and why did it happen this way), the geographic focus of the question (the places identified), and the time frame specified in the question (the dates).·      When asked to discuss or even analyze changes or transformations, do not describe them as positive or negative, but rather describe specifics about the actual continuity or change/transformation. ·      Be sure to provide evidence to support your description of the continuity and changes/transformations, which should be different than your actual description of them.·      · Be sure to focus on analyzing the continuities and changes over time, rather than just listing events in the order they occurred or narrating what happened in the “story line.” Terms to use for changes:  previously, before, until that time, up to that time, formerly, from that point forward, over time, as things evolved, in the [fill in the blank] century, or then comes the period of time when [such and such happened]. You can also use the terms radical or completely to describe a change, but be careful as you will need to address a similarity and usage of these terms might make that harder or even impossible.

Terms to use for continuities:  throughout this period, continued to, persistent, lasting, enduring, ongoing, constant, sustained, or maintained. Also, permanent, undying, unrelenting or undeviating, but be careful with these terms as they can corner you into an argument you might not be able to defend.

Terms to use to indicate analysis: ‘because’, ‘as a result,’ ‘therefore’, ‘due to’, ‘as a consequence of’.

For example, the following is not analysis: “The Roman Empire grew very large and hard to defend. The emperor divided it into two parts. Barbarian invaders won.”

This is analysis: “The Roman Empire grew so large that the emperor divided it into two parts. Because it was hard to defend, barbarian invaders won.”

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is there a way to format CCOT or continuity and change over time essays?

my class hasn’t really practiced much ccot essays and my teacher even says it’s the hardest essay format to structure. i just want to know like maybe what each paragraph should be about, for example the first paragraph should be the thesis/intro and etc.

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History Cooperative

The Challenging Concept of Change Over Time

One of the biggest challenges for students and teachers in world history is the concept of change over time. Of course, the concept of change over time is essential to any study of the past, but change over time in world history often takes on the added dimensions of changes over longer periods of time and usually across more places as well. These additional chronological and spatial dimensions are often next to impossible challenges for students trying to explain how larger global processes effected changes.

The proof of these challenges is apparent in the work of students in many secondary and introductory college history courses. For example, the History Learning Project undertaken by the Indiana University History Department revealed that their college students struggled to analyze historical context and preferred to let the “‘facts’ speak by themselves.”[1] Studies of historical reasoning by fifth graders[2] and ninth graders[3] also demonstrate students struggling with these larger contexts for writing historical arguments. Perhaps an even greater sample of evidence is that every year the change over time essay question on the Advanced Placement World History (APWH) examination often has the lowest scores, averaging less than 30%. Over the past seven years, I have read thousands of APWH exams in which students consistently make the following types of errors on those change over time essays: 1) they misuse evidence by placing events in the wrong time period, 2) they make reference to global processes happening over a vague period of time without any anchoring dates, and/or 3) they create lists of information rather than well-structured arguments.[4] Patrick Manning summarized these problems well. “One example of oversimplified global analysis is the listing of a variety of outcomes of different situations, and the assertion that they add up to a pattern. With no explanation of how the situations were selected or how they relate to each other, this would be a weak statement indeed of global patterns: one needs to identify the process, not just the linked influences and outcomes.”[5]

I created an intervention connected to more active student work with annotated timelines to help students see the patterns inherent in change over time in world history. This intervention emphasized students creating annotated timelines on which they have to explain the connection between events and the global processes that affect them. A 2003 article by Janet Alleman and Jere Brophy confirmed my experience that requiring students to construct and use annotated timelines generates student acceptance and analysis of the facts they put on the timeline.[6] Furthermore, Denis Shemilt bolstered my observation that annotated timelines would help students write better continuity and change over time essays. He argued that timelines can be a “meaningful narrative into which present and future can be incorporated.”[7] Finally, I found agreement with Ian Dawson’s conclusion that “pupils need to construct timelines for themselves and not just look at completed ones,”[8] Dawson’s work emphasized how important creating timelines can be for students to grasp the scale of changes. Once I started to require students to make annotated timelines for every time period of the world history course, they mostly stopped making the typical mistakes found on the APWH exam essays.

However, after reading Epstein’s work on how African-American students feel left out of some presentations of American history,[9] I began to wonder if the historical knowledge my students were creating with these annotated timelines contradicted other knowledge they gained outside the classroom. I focused on two world history classes, of which about half were of African heritage.[10] To test this question about how students learn world history, I decided to find out what students already knew Africa before we began formal study of imperialism in Africa in the nineteenth century. I asked the students to create individual lists of what they already knew about Africa (I gave the instructions orally and projected them as well). They had five minutes to create this list, and then I asked them to indicate the source for each item they listed (home/friends, school, popular culture/media). Finally, I asked them to organize their information on a timeline. I reminded them of the periodization we used for the course, but said they could create their own organization for the timeline as long as they had at least three time periods (to avoid ‘now and then’ vagueness). The results matched Epstein’s conclusions about the source of the students’ knowledge; sixty-four percent of all students of African heritage and three Latinos listed home as one of their sources of knowledge about Africa, but none of the other Latinos, or students of Asian or European heritage did. This data seemed to confirm that, in the United States, students of African heritage usually gain some knowledge of their history from home. Since that knowledge matched what we had also discussed at school (e.g. Africa as the origin of humans), I was reassured that contradictions between home and school would not impede my students’ acceptance and understanding of world history.

I then analyzed how much popular culture and the media affected the type of knowledge the students reported. It seemed likely from studies done by Seixas[11] and Wineburg[12] that films would be a major source of information and might affect the type of information the students claim to know. In fact, twelve students of my students listed the films Blood Diamonds (2006) and Hotel Rwanda (2004) as sources of information about forced labor in diamond mines in Sierra Leone and the genocide in Rwanda respectively. About half of the fifty students also listed learning about the HIV epidemic and poverty in Africa from television or the internet , and twenty-six cited television as a main source of geographical facts about Africa. On the other hand, all but four of the students listed school as the source of their general information about ancient Egypt, the spread of Islam, the slave trade, and colonization. I concluded that they could remember and count as knowledge what they had learned from the media as well as school. The most remarkable result from this exercise was that about a third of the students added more information to their lists once they began to make their timelines. This made me consider the possibility that all of the work we had done with annotated timelines perhaps resulted in the timeline becoming an unconscious tool to recall facts they had otherwise not remembered in the initial five minutes I gave them to write their lists.

The concept of change over time is extremely challenging for students to display fully in their writing about world history. This brief survey of some of the scholarship on teaching the concept of change over time along with the small research I did in my own classroom seem to point to two possible solutions. First, as teachers we should help students reveal their prior knowledge of topics to acknowledge that our students enter our classrooms with some ideas learned at home or through various media. Second, to encourage recall and analysis of key changes, we should expand our use of annotated timelines, so that students have some schema or method to incorporate new knowledge about historical topics. Perhaps, using these two pedagogical approaches we can guide our students toward more achievement and fewer errors in their historical writing.

Directions for the Annotated Timeline Assignment:

Give students a time period or several time periods to focus their analysis. They should then select a theme common to world history (political, social, economic, cultural, environmental, demographic, etc.) and the ten events they think show the largest changes related to that theme for the time period and place each event on a timeline they create. The annotations go below the timeline and explain why each event was significant to world history. At the very bottom of the page, they write a thesis statement about how the events related to the “theme” in this time period show continuity and change over time.

For some students, making the timeline into an unusual shape that conveys the main idea of the theme or the thesis can help them express and remember the main points on the timeline.

1 A. Diaz, J. Middendorf,, D. Pace, and L. Shopkow, L. “The History Learning Project: A department “decodes” its students,” Journal of American History, 94, no. 4, (2008), 1213.

2 P. Afflerbach, and Bruce VanSledright, “Hath! Doth! What? Middle graders reading innovative history text,” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 44 no. 8 (2001), 696-707.

3 Robert Bain, “Into the Breach: Using research and theory to shape history instruction,” in Peter N. Stearns, Peter Seixas and Sam Wineberg, (eds)., Knowing, Teaching, and Learning History (New York: New York University Press, 2000), 331-53.

4 The Advanced Placement World History Chief Readers’ reports available on http://apcentral.collegeboard.com also report these same types of errors.

5 Patrick Manning, “Interactions and connections: Locating and managing historical complexity,” The History Teacher. 39, no. 2 (2006), 189.

6 Janet Alleman and Jere Brophy, “History is Alive; Teaching young children about changes over time,” The Social Studies. 94, no. 3 (2003), 107-114.

7 Denis Shemilt, “The Caliph’s Coin: The Currency of Narrative Frameworks in History Teaching,” in Peter N. Stearns, Peter Seixas, Sam Wineburg, eds., Knowing Teaching and Learning History, National and International Perspectives (New York: New York University Press, 2000), 87.

8 Ian Dawson, “Time for Chronology? Ideas for developing chronological understanding,” in Teaching History, 117 (2004), 21.

9 Terry Epstein, “Adolescents’ Perspectives on Racial Diversity in U. S. history: Case Studies from an Urban Classroom,” American Educational Research Journal, 37, no. 1, (2000), 185-214.

10 The term “of African heritage” refers to students who themselves or their parents were born in Africa, the Caribbean, or mark ‘African-American’ on official school forms.

11 Peter Seixas, “Popular Film and Young People’s Understanding of Native American-White Relations,” The History Teacher, 26, no. 3 (1993), 351-370.

12 See Sam Wineburg, Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts: Charting the Future of Teaching the Past. (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2001).

By Sharon Cohen

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Modi 3.0: Continuity in Policy and Prejudice

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Some expected that a weakened Modi would be chastened. But it seems things are back to business as usual.

It has been eight weeks since Narendra Modi began his third term as the prime minister of India but with a diminished status. He is now head of a coalition government unlike in the past two terms when his party enjoyed an absolute majority.

Many observers, including yours truly , felt that perhaps with less power would come some change in the substance and style of his governance. But it seems things are back to business as usual. Modi is back to his old ways, traveling abroad (already two trips to Europe, Italy and Austria, and one to Moscow), busy attending lavish parties with India’s super rich, and as usual, has no time for the two Indian territories — Manipur and Kashmir — embroiled in civil war and terrorism.

In the first two terms, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party enjoyed an absolute majority, and his word was literally law. He ruled like an imperial president. He had rendered his own Cabinet, his party, and the Parliament itself moot. This approach also shaped his re-election campaign as evident in the main campaign slogan of his party: “Vote for Modi’s guarantee.” Not the BJP’s guarantee, or the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)’s guarantee. They didn’t matter; it was all about Modi. Opposition party members felt that they were running against Modi in every constituency.

In the recent general election, he prevailed in only 240 of the 543 constituencies and now must contend with the demands and challenges of coalition partners: Chandrababu Naidu, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh whose regional Telugu Desam Party has 16 seats, and Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar, whose Janata Dal (United) won 12 seats.  Together these two partners have 28 seats without which Modi’s coalition, the NDA, will lose its majority in parliament.

The principal cast of key Cabinet ministers — the home, defense, finance and foreign ministers — remains the same. Modi also managed to get a member of his own party — Om Birla, who was the speaker of the Lok Sabha in the previous government — elected as speaker again . The return of Modi’s core Cabinet team and Birla’s election as speaker is the biggest signal that despite the lack of majority in the Parliament there will be no change in policies. Continuity is the norm. More importantly, the BJP’s coalition partners, known for their fierce independence and maverick politics, are having no impact on Modi’s governance.

The price that Modi paid for retaining his freedom to govern as usual was revealed this week via the national budget . A disproportionately large share of the budget has been earmarked for the states of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, for building a new capital city in the former, and roads, bridges and power plants in the latter. The total outlay for this fiscal year is $5 billion with more promised in the coming years.

For ten years Modi ruled without a leader of the opposition since no single party other than Modi’s BJP had gotten 10 percent of the seats in the Parliament in 2014 or 2019, a number necessary to warrant a leader of the opposition. But that too has changed this time. An opposition leader with parliamentary powers can make governance more democratic for the nation and more complicated for Modi.

Rahul Gandhi is now the opposition leader, and he is trying to make the Parliament more relevant by challenging Modi. Gandhi also visited Manipur to bring attention to the plight of the people there and is trying to highlight critical issues like unemployment. His speeches in the Parliament are scathing and challenging.

But the mainstream media too is back to business as usual and is more interested in glorifying Modi and marginalizing Gandhi and the issues he raises. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni taking a selfie with Modi gets more coverage than Rahul Gandhi meeting with victims of dreadful violence in Manipur and their tragic stories.

Indian Muslims: From Demonization to Exclusion

While the new-old Cabinet indicates continuity in policy, it appears that prejudice and antipathy toward Muslims also persist. Many human rights organizations, U.S. State Department reports, and the U.N. secretary general have repeatedly expressed concern about hate speech against Muslims and the systematic violation of their basic human rights under the Modi government. In his third term Modi seems to show no softening of his posture toward Indian Muslims. The hate speech he resorted to during the election campaign has now metastasized into exclusion at the government level.

After a low voter turnout in the first two phases of voting, Modi resorted to demonization of Muslims , fear-mongering and dog whistling. He called Muslims “infiltrators” ( ghuspitayas ), and tried to generate panic about the high Muslim birthrate (which is declining faster than the Hindu birthrate). He incited hate and anger by alleging that the opposition, if elected, would take away Hindu wealth, including the jewelry of married Hindu women ( mangalsutras ), and give these heirlooms to Muslims. He also insisted that if Congress was elected it would take away the reservations in academics and jobs from backward classes and extend them to Muslims. He tried to revive his electoral prospects by creating a zero-sum scenario between Muslims and Hindus to garner Hindu women and backward caste votes by generating fear and anxiety.

Many experts attribute the failure of the BJP and Modi’s guarantee to win a majority — the prime minister had bragged that this time his party would win 400 of the 543 seats —  partly to his demonization of Muslims . In more than one interview, Prashant Kishor, a sought-after political strategist and commentator, made contradictory claims. He claimed that Modi’s anti-Muslim rhetoric was used not because it would generate new voters ( incremental votes were his exact words ) but to mobilize the core Hindutva voter. But then he added that the prime minister’s use of such rhetoric did not sit well with many of his diehard supporters.

Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of the BJP’s ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, complained in a thinly veiled speech about the lack of decorum displayed in the election campaign. I am persuaded that Bhagwat too is tired of the demonization of Muslims. He wants to win over Muslims not alienate them. And his criticism was clearly directed at Modi’s campaign rhetoric.

One would have thought that becoming only the second prime minister of India to win a third consecutive term would bring out the best in Modi. But unfortunately, his antipathy toward Muslims is not strategic; rather it is characteristic. His new Cabinet of 72 ministers has included representatives from different states, religious communities, and castes, but 14 percent of the nation’s population – over 200 million Muslims – have found no representation . This is the first time in the history of independent India that a Muslim was not included in the new Cabinet after elections.

Compare this with the new government in the United Kingdom. Muslims constitute about 6.5 percent of the British population and they won a lower percentage of seats in the Parliament, 25 out of 650   than in India ( 24 out of 543 ). Still, a Muslim, Shabana Mahmood, holds the key Cabinet position of lord chancellor or minister of justice of the U.K., but there is no Muslim face in the Indian Cabinet.

On the issue of a Muslim-free government, Modi’s proxies are arguing that since Muslims do not vote for BJP, they should not be demanding a role in the government. This specious argument ignores the fact that Narendra Modi is the prime minister of all of India not just non-Muslim Indians or only those who voted for BJP.

First, they are wrong about Muslims not supporting the BJP. According to the highly regarded post-poll survey of the Lokniti project at the Center for the Study of Developing Societies, 8 percent of Muslims, mostly very rich and very poor Muslims who benefitted from BJP’s business-friendly policies or their welfare giveaways like free rations, voted for the BJP. I interviewed Dr. Hilal Ahmed who is one of their principal researchers, and he agreed that if Modi had not resorted to hate speech against Muslims in the election campaign, BJP would have won a greater share of the Muslim vote. The strategy of anti-Muslim rhetoric that was used to mobilize the base also prevented the BJP from making inroads into the Muslim vote.

Second, one of Modi’s regular political mantras for several years has been Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas — Everyone Together, Everyone’s Development, meaning none will be left behind. But unfortunately, Modi chose to send the message that the prejudice that he displayed during the election campaign is difficult to discard. Islamophobia will remain an outstanding characteristic of his legacy. It is a pity that in spite of the constraints — a coalition government and a formal opposition leader with parliamentary powers — in Modi 3.0, both policy and prejudice enjoy continuity.

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The Post-liberal Catholics Find Their Man

As vice president, J. D. Vance would elevate their disdain for American liberalism to the highest levels of government.

Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (NOA) using AI narration.

Updated at 10:19 a.m. ET on August 8, 2024

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When journalists write about ties between Donald Trump and the religious right, they usually focus on evangelical Protestants. That emphasis makes sense, given that evangelicals make up a sizable portion of the GOP’s electoral coalition, and their enduring devotion to the morally and religiously louche Republican nominee remains more than a little shocking.

But Trump’s choice of J. D. Vance as his running mate puts a spotlight on a different faction of the religious right: the so-called post-liberal Catholics, who have been Vance’s friends, allies, and interlocutors since his 2019 conversion to Catholicism (he was raised Protestant) and transformation into a MAGA Republican shortly after.

This group of Catholic intellectuals—which includes Patrick Deneen of Notre Dame, Adrian Vermeule of Harvard Law School, and Sohrab Ahmari, a founder and an editor of the eclectically populist magazine Compact —is known for its sweeping attack on classical liberalism. It claims that a long list of contemporary problems (rising rates of economic inequality, drug addiction, suicide, homelessness, childlessness) can be traced back to moral-philosophical errors made centuries ago by the American Founders and their ideological progenitors. In place of our polity’s commitment to individual rights, autonomy, and pluralism, the post-liberals aim to create a society unified around the common good , which is itself fixed on a theological vision of the Highest Good .

Hence the need for what Deneen calls “regime change” in the title of his most recent book. In concrete terms, this means replacing the people and institutions that dominate America’s cultural, economic, and political life with a new elite willing to eschew liberal norms in service of supposedly higher ideals. In this respect, Vance is the man the post-liberals have been waiting for—a self-identified member of the “post-liberal right,” and now a contender for one of the country’s highest political offices.

Adrian Vermeule: Beyond originalism

Trump and his immediate circle may not share theological convictions with the post-liberals, but the two groups do share certain political impulses. Both exhibit a populist skepticism of elites, deference toward social conservatism, and a preference for putting “America first” when it comes to immigration, trade, labor, and foreign policy. Most of all, Trump and the post-liberals share a willingness, even an eagerness, to smash the entrenched power of the liberal cultural establishment. Vance is the embodiment of these shared hopes and drive for disruption. As vice president in a second Trump administration, he would bring both to the highest levels of government, allowing, for the first time, post-liberal Catholic ideas to exert real political influence.

T hese ambitions mark a significant change in the Catholic right compared with its most recent moment of maximal influence , during the administration of George W. Bush. Then, writers such as Richard John Neuhaus, Michael Novak, and Robert P. George argued that, when properly understood, Catholic Christian revelation, American history and ideals, and the Republican Party’s platform were perfectly harmonious. These thinkers made their case by contending that American liberalism was rooted in theological sources, that Catholic orthodoxy was essentially liberal , and that the GOP was tailor-made to unite the two.

Things feel very different on the Catholic right today. Setbacks at home and at the Vatican—including the election (and reelection) of Barack Obama, Pope Francis’s efforts to push back against the conservative legacies of his predecessors, and the Obergefell decision by the U.S. Supreme Court declaring same-sex marriage a constitutional right—discredited the idea that liberalism and traditional Catholicism could go together. One radical response to these developments can be found on the furthest extreme of the Catholic right, among a group called the integralists. Despite their name, they aim to subordinate the state to the Church, not integrate them.

Vance hasn’t gone that far in his public statements. Yet his account of his conversion to the Catholic Church, published in 2020 in the magazine The Lamp , marks him as very much a man of our post-liberal moment. In his essay, Vance explains the intellectual influences on his spiritual evolution. Some are conventional, such as St. Augustine, the theologian and bishop who has been an inspiration to Christian converts down through the centuries. But one is decidedly less orthodox: the billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel.

Before Thiel spent roughly $15 million on Vance’s successful 2022 Senate campaign in Ohio, Vance worked as a principal for Mithril Capital, one of Thiel’s many firms. Their first encounter, however, came back in 2011, when Thiel delivered a talk at Yale Law School, where Vance was then a student. As Vance recalls in his essay, Thiel, who has described himself as Christian, observed that the meritocratic striving of smart young people (like Vance) often results in both personal existential emptiness and societal stagnation. That’s a variation on a critique of liberal democracy that Thiel has been developing for much of his career . In his idiosyncratic reading of Western history, the theological precepts of Christian civilization are what inspired the great scientific and technological achievements of the past several centuries. The ideals of liberal democracy, by contrast, are responsible for the meaninglessness and inertia that supposedly plague the present.

Read: Peter Thiel is taking a break from democracy

Over the decade following his meeting with Thiel, Vance remained broadly committed to a Bush-era vision of continuity between Christianity and the moral outlook and policy agenda of the pre-Trump Republican Party. That earlier Vance favored pro-business economic policy and saw democracy promotion as a crucial element of American foreign policy. He also emphasized the importance of personal character in public life: Poverty could be explained, in part, by moral depravity, and holding political office required integrity. But around the time that he decided to run for the Ohio Senate seat vacated by the retiring Rob Portman in 2021, Vance underwent a second conversion —to the ideas of the post-liberal Catholics and the right-wing populism associated with Donald Trump.

That’s not to say he got more conservative. This new Vance often sounds like Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic senator from Massachusetts, when he talks about economic policy—emphasizing poverty’s structural causes and advocating for a higher minimum wage. On foreign policy, he began defining American interests so narrowly that the fate of a liberal democracy on NATO’s border was a matter of indifference. (“I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another,” he said in early 2022, shortly before Russia’s invasion.)

Most strikingly, after more than four years of condemning Trump, Vance began defending the former president’s most reckless acts and ambitions. He started denouncing the American “regime” and, in September 2021, told a far-right podcaster that “we are in a late republican period” in which it would be necessary to “get pretty wild, pretty far out there, and go in directions that a lot of conservatives right now are uncomfortable with.” This included “a de-Ba’athification program” with the following directives: “seize the administrative state for our own purposes … fire every civil servant in the administrative state [and] replace them with our people.”

The post-liberal Catholics, including Deneen, in his book on regime change, insist that the moral and political revolution they seek can be accomplished peacefully. But Vance appears ready to excuse some dangerous political brinkmanship. In a recent interview with The New York Times ’ Ross Douthat, Vance defended the idea of states across the country appointing alternative slates of electors after the 2020 election. He seemed to concede that such actions could have precipitated a “constitutional crisis.” So be it.

W hat might be most strange about this unapologetically radical style of politics is how tenuous its ties are to the Catholic Church as an institution and even Christianity as a historical community of faith. Whereas the Bush-era Catholics regularly cited the New Testament, Thomas Aquinas, and John Courtney Murray, today’s post-liberals rarely invoke the Bible or theologians in their political commentary. They don’t base their policy commitments on the Catechism of the Catholic Church . They aren’t in the habit of referring to the social teachings in papal encyclicals.

Rather, their theological convictions tend to remain in the background , serving as fuel for something more central to their public thought: a politics of reactionary negation. Their faith confirms that liberalism is the great enemy that must be fought and defeated so that something more wholesome and spiritually invigorating can take its place. But until liberalism has been expunged from the world, Christianity remains mainly a civilizational symbol or identity marker whose public substance is held in abeyance.

Tom Nichols: The moral collapse of J. D. Vance

That’s quite a shift for the Catholic right in a single generation. Not long ago, the group insisted on a near-perfect identification between the Church and American liberalism as expressed by the Republican Party. Now it insists on the discontinuity between Christianity and America’s ruling ideology, which requires nothing short of political revolution to overcome.

Maybe somewhere in between these extremes, a more responsible and enriching form of political engagement for pious Catholics could be found. Regardless, we’re unlikely to see anything resembling such a theological deescalation from J. D. Vance and his post-liberal Catholic allies.

This article originally misidentified The Lamp as an online journal.

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