Question

Read the thesis statement from a historical essay. Determine which type of claim the author is making (claim of fact, definition, policy, value, or cause and effect) and why the claim fits this designation. Finally, provide an example of the type of evidence the author should use to best support the claim.
Washington, D.C., should not become the 51st state, because making our nation's capital a state provides no economic benefits, nor did the Founding Fathers intend for it to ever become a state

Answer 1

The type of claim this author is making is: Claim of policy. Why? Because what this type of claim asserts is that something should or should not be done. A key here is the verb "should". In this case, the claim from this historical essay would be "Washington, D.C., should not become the 51st state".

The type of evidence the author should use to best support the claim would be a judgement evidence since there is nothing in history which prove this assumption to be true. However, he is making an assumption using his judgements that he will need to explain and argue afterwards.

Example: The investment for the capital would be distributed among the other cities and towns of this supposed 51st state.