TOPIC: Abolition of Slavery
SUBJECT: African-American Studies
TYPE: Essay (any type)
DESCRIPTION:
Abolition Essay Purpose: To examine and discuss major developments in the movement to abolish slavery from the founding of the nation in the late 18th century through emancipation during the Civil War. Use the textbook as a resource for this essay (Chapters 8-11). The primary objective is to be able to explain various strands of abolition and relate them to the larger historical context in which they were relevant. Process: Reread/study Chapters 8-11 in the textbook and compose a chronologically driven essay that traces opposition to slavery from the late 1700s through the Civil War. Your essay should state a clear thesis in the introductory paragraph, followed by distinct paragraphs that address the following questions (not necessarily in this order): What forms did opposition to slavery take? What individuals and groups were involved in opposing slavery? What was black nationalism? What various aims were proposed by those involved in opposing slavery? What major events fueled opposition to slavery? How was the nature of slavery a catalyst to the abolition movement? What forms of resistance to slavery developed? What various tactics were employed by abolitionists? How did the Civil War shift from a war to preserve the Union to a war to abolish slavery? Product: A 1000 – 1500 word essay that traces the development of abolition to slavery. Remember to tie your essay together with a clear thesis in the beginning–an assessment of the movement as a whole. You only need use the textbook as a resource for this essay. Do not quote verbatim from the text unless you are quoting from one of the many primary sources in the text–these are located in the Voices sections in the text. Every quote must be accompanied by a citation, which includes name of author and page number where the quote appears in the text. For example: “anti-slavery friends were not very abundant in Indiana” (Douglas 215). Citations and paper should be in MLA format. If you are a history major, your paper must be formatted in Chicago Manual of Style. Item Warning This is not a collaborative activity. Though several students may choose to review the same article, they should refrain from working together on their written essays. SafeAssign will notify the professor of any papers that are the same as or similar to one another. It will also notify the professor of papers that are the same as or similar to those submitted by students from past semester and students currently assigned to other course sections. In cases where SafeAssign indicates that two students have turned in the same review or reviews that have a high degree of similarity as to indicate collaboration, said students will be subject to sanctions. To avoid this, simply do your own work in your own words. If you quote or paraphrase from the textbook, make sure to indicate the appropriate parenthetical page reference. Assignment Essay Complete your assignment using word-processing software such as MS Word 365 (download free software at http://www.ctcd.edu/faculty-staff/information-technology/student-links/), LibreOffice (download free software at https://www.libreoffice.org/download), or other per course requirements. Save your file as an .rtf file or .doc to ensure that it can be opened at any computer. Submit your assignment by selecting the title link, browsing to, and attaching your saved file. Make sure to select SUBMIT. You may view your posting both on this page and under My Grade (available under Tools). Item Helpful Items for Completing an A+ Research Paper 1. What is a primary source? http://www.library.illinois.edu/village/primarysource/mod1/pg1.htm 2. What is a secondary source? http://www.library.illinois.edu/ugl/howdoi/secondarysources.html 3. How do I access academic and scholarly articles? Your college fees provide you with access to the library’s databases of academic articles. You must learn to use databases as sources found in a simple Google search will not necessarily yield peer-reviewed academic work. Further, learning how to use and access databases is vital to your success as you reach upper division coursework. Please follow the directions below: a. Go to CTC’s Library Website: http://www.ctcd.edu/academics/library/ b. Scroll down the page until you see a blue underlined link for “Databases” and click on it. c. A page labeled “Databases” will pop up with multi-colored listings ordered by discipline. d. For our purposes, click “A-Z Listing of Databases,” which should generate a drop down menu of all of the databases available to you. e. Scroll down to a database named “JSTOR,” and click on it. f. This will generate an “Online Database Login” screen. Please follow the directions carefully as your username and password may not be the same as your Blackboard user name and password. When you have entered your user name and password, click “Login.” g. You are now in JSTOR and may search for your desired topic of study. Let’s do an example, please follow along i. Let’s say I’m writing a research paper on the effects of shell shock on WWI veterans. ii. Enter “shell shock” in the search bar and click the magnifying glass. iii. Oh dear, this search has yielded 287 pages worth of materials! Far too many! a. Click Modify Search to right hand side of the box. b. Click “Advanced Search” below the search box. c. Enter “Shell shock” AND “WW1” d. To narrow my results further for more accurate and up-to-date study, I will scroll down and limit my search to articles written since 1990. e. Press search at the bottom of the screen after reviewing the other options on the page. f. Uh-oh! I’ve found one page of articles, but they appear to be on shoreline science and biology. Let’s go back. g. Change the second part of your search box from WW1 to World War and the date range from 1960 to 2016 and search. h. Voila! Articles titled “The injured mind in the UK Armed Forces,” “Historical Approached to Post-Combat Disorders,” and “Psychiatric Casualties of War” are listed. These are much better sources than could be found by simple Google searches. 4. Am I allowed to cite Wikipedia? No. Please do not use Wikipedia for this course. It is not an academic source. 5. What about writing style? Use the third person. Always make sure you provide an eye-catching title. Avoid rhetorical questions in your introduction. Make sure you have a clear thesis! 6. Is there help available to review my work? Yes! The college’s writing lab, which you’ve already paid for with your fees, has a draft-review service and can be very helpful to improving your formal writing. 7. What about the deadline? Even though you are enrolled in a self-paced class, there is a hard deadline for this paper. The reason is a simple one: I have five days from the end of the course to submit final grades. I cannot grade 40+ essays in that amount of time. I grade essays in order received. I accept early essays and encourage them! You may turn in your (approved) essay at ANY time prior to the deadline, even three weeks into the course! Late essays incur a 10 point per day late penalty.
