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Do your research in English.

Your writing sounds much better when you have done everything in English. Translating everything results in very strange sounding English.

Relate your topic to American history

Argue your topic's importance in history.

Start with a clear thesis statement in your introduction.

Usually each main point in your thesis becomes a paragraph in your body.
The thesis statement is usually the last sentence in your introduction. The first part of the introduction gives historical background to your topic (when and where it fits into U.S. history).

Good thesis statements	Poor thesis statements
John. F. Kennedy exerted a strong influence on U.S. history because he was a symbol of youth and perseverance and he brought to the presidency a concern for all Americans, not just the rich.	I'm going to talk about John F. Kennedy
The legacy of the Kalapuya is still evident in Salem today in it's place names and in its historical sites.	I'm interested in the Native Americans who lived in Salem.
The Civil Rights movement of the 1960s changed the U.S. forever; the results can be seen today in workplaces, schools, and city streets.	Civil rights was important in the 1960s.