W.E.D. DU BOIS DOCUMENT FROM MAJOR PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN HISTORY VOLUME 2: SINCE 1865 THIRD EDITION

This paper should be typewritten (12-point font), double-spaced, and have one-inch margins. Please include your name, the professor’s name, and the name of your section leader on the top of the first page of the paper. (An extra title page is unnecessary.) The paper, which is worth 30% of the course grade, should be 2 pages long. Keep in mind that completion of the paper is one of the requirements for passing the course. The paper should be submitted electronically to your teaching assistant (Kate, Jaja, Kikuko, Madeleijn), not to the professor. Papers turned in after 5:00 pm on November 3 will be penalized (10 points will be subtracted for each day or partial day the paper is late).
 
This essay will focus on Document 4, written by W.E.B. Du Bois, in chapter five of Major Problems in American History. Write your essay with the following guidelines in mind:
 
After reading the source (a few times would be a good idea), you should place the document in historical context and assess its significance. Consider how the Du Bois document sheds light on the subject of race relations in the period in which it was written. You will almost certainly want to refer to the ideas of Booker T. Washington, whose ideas are presented in the previous document in the chapter (Document 3). You may wish to quote (briefly) from the Washington document, though that is not required. In addition to saying something about the time period in which the Du Bois document was written, you should then analyze the document itself. You might say something (in general terms) about the author, about the documents purpose, and about the key points it conveys. You might note the documents intended audience. In analyzing the Du Bois document and explaining its historical significance, you can certainly quote directly from the source (use quotation marks to indicate a direct quotation). In two pages, you will not be able to consider every part of the document. Thus, you should write about those sections of the source that you find most interesting, important, or illuminating. The aim of your essay is to use the Du Bois document to explain to your reader how this particular source helps us understand the nature of race relations in America in the early twentieth century.
 
Note: In writing the paper, you should base your understanding of the period and the document on the material covered in the relevant lectures, on the discussions you have had in your sections, and (if helpful) on any of the relevant essays in Major Problems. You do not need to do any outside reading to complete this assignment.