Common Core Essay Assignment (Midterm)
Your task: Using five of the following primary Virginia statutes relating to colonial slavery, write a 500-1000-word essay that fully answers the following prompt:
Discuss the conditions and treatment of Africans and their descendants in colonial Virginia between 1629 and 1705. Utilize at least five different Acts (statutes) to show how race determined the relationship between English and Africans during seventeenth century Virginia. You will need to read the short statutes and then explain the historical context in which these laws were written. No secondary sources, other than the textbook should be integrated into this paper’s analysis. You will need to click on the hyperlink to access the Acts.
Virginia Statutes Relating to Colonial Slavery
October 1629-ACT IX: An act distinguishing between the work of English and African women
January 1639/40-ACT X: An act creating a legal distinction between white and black men.
December 1662-ACT XII: An act applying the status of the mother on children.
September 1667-ACT III: An act declaring that baptism did not alter the status of slaves.
October 1669-ACT I: An act legalizing the punishment and killing of slaves.
October 1670-ACT IV: An act prohibiting free blacks and Native Americans from owning white servants.
September 1672-ACT VIII: An act to suppress the rebellious activities of slaves.
April 1691-ACT XVI: An act attempting to suppress runaway slave communities.
October 1705-CHAP. IV: An act that contains the first definition of a mulatto in Virginia’s laws.
October 1705-CHAP. XXII: An act declaring the Negro, Mulatto, and Indian slaves real estate.
October 1705-CHAP. XLIX: An act that provides a definition of who would become a slave upon entering Virginia.
Goals of this essay: The purpose of this assignment is to advance your ability to reason through a specific historical question and to communicate through written text your ideas. Thus: Your paper should critically consider the issue/problem and deliver all relevant information. You should also provide a clear thesis statement. In a paper this size, your introduction and thesis should appear in the first paragraph. Make sure to paraphrase your sources accurately. In other words, state what the source says, not what you wished it said or thought it said. You need to state the evidence fairly, even if you think it wrong or offensive. Your paper should use evidence to answer the historical question. Your paper should develop and organize your thoughts clearly and logically. Outlining is necessary, but not required, step in writing a well-organized paper. Your paper should draw a conclusion that addresses the paper’s chief topic or question and that states your answer to the question or your contribution to the topic.
Formatting: Your paper needs to be typed, double spaced, 12 pt. Times New Roman font. You will need to cite your sources using the Chicago Manual of Style. Here is a link to an online resource for those unfamiliar with this style: https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org. You will need to use footnotes for in text citations and your paper needs to have a works cited page (bibliography) with the sources (the texts/prompts from Cengage and possibly your textbook) you used in your paper.
Due date: This assignment is 10/20/2022 by 11:59PM.
Submitting assignment: To turn the paper in, click on assignments in your blackboard course. There you will see a Safe Assign icon titled Core Essay Midterm Assignment. Click on that icon and it will lead you through a process to upload your paper. Safe Assign will automatically check your paper for plagiarism. See the following link for the Universities policy on academic dishonesty, as well as your professor’s syllabus. www.tsu.edu/ssp/2015-TSU-Student-Code-of-Conduct.pdf
Note: By submitting your common core essay assignment, you accept that it will be checked by SafeAssign for plagiarism. The punishment for Academic Honesty Policy violations are listed in the TSU Student Code of Conduct and your Professor’s syllabus. You will need to submit your paper in either a pdf or a .doc format. This is a multi-step process. Failure on YOUR part to complete the submission process means the paper will not be submitted and you will not be given credit for the assignment. After the submission is complete blackboard will send you a SUBMISSION RECEIPT. KEEP THIS!!! If there is any confusion about submitting the assignment, this receipt will provide documentation to your submission. If you DO NOT receive a submission receipt something is wrong. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to make sure the submission went through. When the submission has been processed correctly there should be a round yellow circle with an exclamation point in it on blackboard under your grades for this assignment. If there are only dashes for your grade it means nothing has been submitted. You will upload the assignment like attaching a document to an email. After you have submitted it will ask you to wait while it checks your document. Blackboard will tell you when your submission has been accepted and has been uploaded. If you have any further questions about the submission process email or speak to your professor.
