Eric Foner’s Voices of Freedom Chapter 15
Essays will be graded on the following components:
- Sources, Structure, Supportive Evidence, Analysis. (Each of these is worth 10 points each. Exams graded <60 will be graded for content and supportive evidence.)
- Requirements for each component:
- Sources:
- Must use two primary sources selected from the Voices of Freedom text.
- Structure:
- Must be in proper essay format—“Intro, Body, Conclusion” (at least three paragraphs)
- Introduction must include a thesis statement.
- Conclusion paragraph required.
- Essays of less than three paragraphs will be subject to a one letter-grade deduction.
Supportive Evidence:
- Students must use direct quotes from primary sources selected from the Voices of Freedom text.
- Students should use historical examples from the Give Me Liberty text.
Analysis:
- Students should offer analysis of primary sources. (Use quotes and analyze what the author of the source is saying an why using knowledge of historical events and trends.)
- Conclusion should tie together the two sources used within a historical context or, compare and contrast.
Essay Question
- 15-2. According to Eric Foner, “During Reconstruction, freedom became a terrain of conflict, its substance open to different often contradictory interpretations. Out of the conflict over the meaning of freedom, arose new kinds of relations between black and white southerners, and a new definition of the rights of all Americans.” In a society that had made political participation a core element of freedom, the right to vote inevitably became the focus for former slaves’ desire for political empowerment and equality. Write an essay that gives two examples from the primary sources in Voices of Freedom chapter 15 that highlights different definitions of citizenship and levels of possible political empowerment for freed-persons immediately following the Civil War. Your “how-conclusion” should compare or contrast the authors, audiences, and the purposes of your two chosen documents.