6 page letter

1755604235.docx

Paper 3

History 2010

Spring 2018

It’s January, 1901. You have just picked up the latest issue of Atlantic Monthly magazine to read an article by historian (and future U. S. President) Woodrow Wilson about Reconstruction. You are outraged when you read Wilson’s description of African Americans after the Civil War:

“unpracticed in liberty, unschooled in self-control; never sobered by the discipline of self-support, never established in any habit of prudence; excited by a freedom they did not understand, exalted by false hopes; bewildered and without leaders, and yet insolent and aggressive; sick of work, covetous of pleasure—a host of dusky children untimely put out of school.”

Write Atlantic Monthly a polite but angry 6-page letter, explaining to why they shouldn’t have published such a shoddy piece of historical scholarship. Draw on evidence from all the assigned readings from weeks 12-14 to make your case. You should use evidence from the era of slavery and the era of Reconstruction to explain why Wilson’s argument about African Americans is wrong.

This paper should be worded as a letter, but some aspects of essay format are still necessary here. You won’t have an academic introduction, but the first paragraph of your letter should still include a thesis statement. The body paragraphs of your letter should still include specific evidence from the reading. And, because you’re writing as a historian, you should still use the Chicago citation style.

Your letter should also:

· Be typed in 12 point, Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with 1 inch margins all around.

· Include ALL assigned readings for weeks 12-14.

· NOT include outside research.

· Be turned in in class and submitted to the Paper 3 dropbox on D2L by the final exam period.