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African American History Since 1877

Primary Source Essay Instructions

Assignment Overview: This document essay is an opportunity for you to critically engage with course materials, express your understanding, and analyze themes, events, and experiences discussed in African American History. You will use sources from the assigned list to write your essay. Sources outside of this list are not allowed.

Important Dates to Remember:

· Essay Planning Worksheet due Sunday, September 13th at 11:59 pm

· Primary Source Essay #1 due Sunday, September 27th at 11:59 pm

Assigned Sources:

1. 14th Amendment

2. 15th Amendment

3. Black Code of Mississippi

4. Ida B. Wells - Barnett, “Lynch Law in America”

5. NAACP, Thirty Years of Lynching in the United States

6. Walter F. White, “The Eruption of Tulsa”

7. W.E.B DuBois, “Returning Soldiers”

Prompt:

Between Reconstruction and the end of World War I, African Americans confronted a widening gap between the constitutional promise of citizenship and its lived reality. These documents represent different moments, genres, and strategies within that struggle.

Write a 2 - 3 page compare / contrast essay examining how two or more of the assigned primary sources reveal the gap between the rights promised to African Americans and the realities they experienced after 1877.

You may choose which sources you want to compare, but you must use only the seven sources listed below. Your essay should not simply summarize each source separately. Instead, use the sources together to develop a historical argument about African American freedom, citizenship, equality, resistance, or racial oppression after Reconstruction.

Questions to Consider:

· What does each source reveal about African American rights, freedom, or citizenship?

· What similarities do you see between the sources?

· What differences do you see in the authors, perspectives, time periods, or historical circumstances?

· How do the sources demonstrate the difference between legal rights and lived experiences?

· What forms of racial control, discrimination, or violence appear in the sources?

· How do African Americans respond to or challenge these conditions?

· Does the latter source suggest that conditions for African Americans had changed? Why or why not?

· What can we learn by placing these sources in conversation with one another?

Your essay should ultimately answer a question such as:

What do these sources reveal about the struggle for African American freedom and equality after Reconstruction?

You are not required to answer this exact question; your thesis should reflect the specific sources and comparison you choose.

Essay Requirements:

· Be 2–3 full pages

· Have a clear thesis statement

· Compare and/or contrast at least two of the assigned sources

· Use only the seven assigned sources

· Include specific evidence from the sources

· Explain the significance of the evidence rather than simply summarizing it

· Identify similarities and/or differences between the sources

· Connect the sources to the broader history of African Americans after Reconstruction

· Use proper grammar, organization, and paragraph structure

African American History Since 1877

Primary Source Essay #1 — Planning Worksheet

Due Sunday, September 13th at 11:59 pm

Complete this worksheet and submit it before you begin writing your essay. It is designed to help you plan a focused, evidence-based argument and to give your instructor a chance to give you feedback before the final draft is due (Sunday, September 27th). This worksheet will not be graded for polish — answer in complete sentences where indicated, but bullet points and rough notes are fine elsewhere.

Name:
Date:

1. Choose Your Sources

Which sources have you chosen to compare? You must use at least two, and only sources from the assigned list below.

Source A	Source B	Source C (optional)

See list of sources on the instructions provided.

2. Why These Sources?

Why did you choose this pairing? What made you curious about putting these sources in conversation with each other?

3. Draft Thesis Statement

Write a working thesis: one to two sentences making an arguable claim about African American freedom, citizenship, equality, resistance, or racial oppression after Reconstruction — based on your chosen sources. A thesis is an argument, not a summary.

4. Evidence and Analysis Plan

For each source you chose, identify one or two specific pieces of evidence (a quote, statistic, or example) and explain its significance — what it reveals, not just what it says.

Source 1: ____________________________ Evidence:

Significance / what it reveals:

Source 2: ____________________________ Evidence:

Significance / what it reveals:

Source 3 (optional, if using more than two): ____________________________ Evidence:

Significance / what it reveals:

5. Comparing the Sources

Answer the questions that are most relevant to your chosen sources. You do not need to address every question — focus on what serves your argument.

What similarities do you see between the sources?

What differences do you see (authors, perspectives, time periods, or historical circumstances)?

How do the sources show the gap between legal rights and lived experience?

What forms of racial control, discrimination, or violence appear, and how do African Americans respond to or challenge them?

If your sources span different time periods, do later sources suggest conditions had changed? Why or why not?

6. Planned Essay Structure

Sketch a rough outline. This can change as you write — this is just a starting map.

Introduction / thesis:

Body paragraph 1 (main point + evidence):

Body paragraph 2 (main point + evidence):

Body paragraph 3 (main point + evidence, if applicable):

Conclusion — broader significance for African American history after Reconstruction:

7. Questions for Your Instructor

Is there anything you're unsure about — your thesis, your source pairing, or your argument — that you'd like feedback on?

Instructor Feedback (do not write below this line):