My paper for my Civil War history class

Assignment (taken directly from the course website):

In an essay of no more than 1500 words, explain and contrast the coverage of an important issue or event in any two North American newspapers from the same week during any year between 1848 and 1867. Your newspapers may be from the same place or from different places.
 
Topics:An important issue or event means a subject that speaks to the main themes of the course to this point: the political and social worlds of slavery and "free labor"; the crisis of the Union; the partial but incomplete transformation of the Civil War from a war for union to a war for emancipation; the aftermath of Confederate defeat and emancipation. For example, reactions to John Brown’s execution, the firing on Fort Sumter, or Johnson’s veto of the Civil Rights Act all generated heated discussion around the nation and can be explored in newspapers from many places. Local events can also make good subjects, as long as 1) they speak to the important issues in this course and 2) you have two local newspapers that provide contrasting coverage.
 
There are several ways to generate a good topic. You can begin with an event and look for newspapers in our holdings from the week or weeks after that event. Or you can choose a moment that seems particularly promising (e.g., one of the ones mentioned above, or any of the many other turning points in the period) and shop around in several newspapers for a telling event or for discussions of the major issues.
 
Two very important caveats about this assignment:
– Do expect to spend a good deal of time (at least several hours) "auditioning" newspapers. The first two or three you look at may not pan out; don’t be discouraged. Do make a brief note, including a citation, of anything that seems interesting. That way, when a second article trips your memory and gives you a great topic idea, you won’t have to hunt for the first article all over again. You may need to look at a half-dozen newspapers before you find two that have enough interesting content and contrast to make a compelling essay. Make sure to leave yourself plenty of time for this important part of the assignment.
– Don’t begin with an assumption or argument ("New York papers supported Lincoln’s reelection, while Kentucky newspapers opposed it") and then go looking for newspaper articles to support it. This is called looking for a needle in a haystack. If your hypothesis is right, you’ll have a hard time; if it is wrong, you’ll be completely miserable. Instead, begin with an event or moment that seems promising and locations that interest you.
 
Essay Argument and Structure:
The main objective of your essay is to explain the nature of the differences in the coverage, not to narrate what each paper said. In what way do the papers tell divergent stories about your subject? In what ways are the stories similar? Provide carefully selected evidence, and begin your paper with a statement of your overall conclusion about those similarities and differences. Use your first paragraph to name the event or issue, explain how the coverage differed between the two newspapers, and make an argument about the nature of those differences. If the event in question is not famous, you may use a brief second paragraph to describe it.
 
– Where the reason for those differences is not obvious, you should make the best argument you can to explain why the newspapers differ. Look for clues in the other articles printed in each issue-clues to partisan affiliation, economic ties, or other variables.
 
– Where the reason for the differences is obvious (e.g., the topic is John Brown’s execution, and the newspapers are an abolitionist paper based in Boston, Massachusetts and a Democratic paper based in Richmond, Virginia), you should offer another kind of argument. Think, for example, about the kinds of arguments you made on the last paper: Are there rival conspiracy theories at work? Rival visions of American history? Is it a case of wildly different emphases, or perhaps even of different sets of "facts"?
 
The rest of your essay should be a close analysis of the competing stories that proves your thesis, as stated in the first paragraph. Focus on your argument and the parts of the stories that are most relevant to it; provide acute analyses, not exhaustive summaries.
 
I picked the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and my two newspapers are The Daily Picayune (from New Orleans) and The Belvidere Standard (from Belvidere, IL).  Paper’s due on Wednesday and while the research is done, I haven’t started the actual writing yet.  It’s gotta be done by 7:30AM on Wednesday as that’s when I leave for downtown and I wont be back home before it’s due.