For the past year, I've been using MLA. My professor, however, requested that the class instead use Chicago and only cite sources by endnotes or footnotes. I've never done this before and the examples I'm given are horrible. Do I add a citation when I get generic information in general like.. "In 1928, Mao Zedong and Chu-Teh joined forces and went on to complete a revolution that had started with the removal of the Manchu Dynasty from power."

Or do I just cite information that normally isn't found in every historical book about the subject?

The only thing I know is that conclusions don't have to be cited. ( right? )

Thank you once again.

Ignore this post. Weird computer problems...

Chicago style is about how you write your sources, rather than when. I don't recall off the top of my head what the precise style is, though presumably the example you've been given tells you that - where to put the date, publisher, etc.

*When* you give a source is another matter and I think that's largely up to you or what your professor expects. I would say that it is usual to give a source when you either quote somebody or refer to them. Thus, if you say, "Professor X has argued..." you should give a citation. Arguably you could give a citation or number of citations if you say something like "Many scholars believe...", although personally I'd think that would be pushing it. I wouldn't bother giving citations for anything else. No way would you need to give a citation for the example you give or anything like that. As a rule, facts don't need citations (unless they are particularly obscure or unusual ones, perhaps). Research needs citations - thus, if you are writing about, say, anthropological studies on major white-collar Japanese companies, and someone has just published one, you would want to mention that. Opinions (not your own) need citations. Basically, anything you are attributing to someone needs a citation; anything else probably doesn't.

But if you're in doubt, ask the professor. I think that American universities like students to pepper their essays with citations to a greater extent than other universities or would be usual in a book.