African American Studies_Week 2
Introduction to African American Studies

Week 2 Discussion

The grade for this week’s work will be your 250-word essay in response to one the questions below. There are sufficient materials in the Week 2 Content to answer any of these questions. Choose the BEST evidence to answer the question you choose.

A) From evidence found in slave narratives, write about the differences between the lives of enslaved people living in a town or city and those living on plantations/farms in rural areas. Think about the enslaved people’s food, clothing, ability to earn money for work, and the treatment by their owners. Focus on the years between 1800 and 1860.

B) What kinds of lives did free black Americans live? What laws limited their freedoms? What kinds of achievements did free blacks make in the 1800-1860 time period for their personal and political lives. (There were free blacks in slave states, but many more lived in the Northern states from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts)

C) What did the white power structure — U.S. Congress, state legislatures, and the Courts — do to shape how the United States handled the institution of slavery, i.e., laws limiting the importation of slaves, laws regarding the expansion and operation of slavery as the nation grew, and the return of runaway slaves. Consider the time period from 1797 to 1860.

** should be 250 words in length, which is equal to about 1 page of double-spaced writing in Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman 12 point font in a Word document.

Please make sure to follow the scoring rubric.

Here is the Rubric that will be used for the Student Essay and Responses in the Weekly Discussions.

Initial Post – 30 points weekly, 10 criteria worth 3 points each:

Criteria

3 points

2 points

1 point

Answered question by the deadline with required 250-word minimum

Cited required readings at least 3 times using correct MLA-style method including a Works Cited List

Included no factual errors or misreading of the course materials

Used quotations only for effect and comprised less than 20% of the post

Included an explicit thesis statement

Explained main points from the readings cited

Provided 3 detailed examples to support his/her answer

Provided 3 insights that furthered knowledge of the discussion topic

Communicated the post clearly with good paragraph organization and no grammatical or spelling errors

Clearly described and expressed his/her own conclusions