Academic records don’t disappear (i.e., transcripts), but if a student’s Canvas (or Powerschool or Schoology or Google Classroom whatever) account is canceled, then everything in that account could well be gone.
One idea is to contact individual teachers to see if they downloaded and saved papers. I actually do this, partly for record-keeping, and partly so I can write recommendation letters later. So, OP, you might contact your teachers and ask if they saved old papers.
Btw, a history paper would be a fine submission, as long as you do well.