John Hope Franklin & Loren Schweninge

Assignment Criteria
Introduction Paragraph:
• Historical Context – Two to four sentences that places the Antebellum Era in historical context. In other words, use your lecture notes to mention and briefly describe two or three specific and relevant events, movements, policies, or developments that shaped Antebellum Era or the coming of the Civil War.

• Thesis Statement – One to three sentences that use In Search of the Promised Land to answer the following question: How does the Thomas-Rapier family demonstrate how black Americans navigated slavery in the mid-nineteenth century U.S. ?

Body Paragraphs – Using In Search of the Promised Land, specifically answer each of the following questions, using a couple short quotes from the text as evidence for your answers to each question:

– How did the Thomas-Rapier family complicate definitions of black and white, along with​slavery and freedom?

– How were the boundaries between slavery and freedom enforced?

– What were the experiences of the Thomas-Rapier family in non-slave states​compared to slave states?

– What were the experiences of the Thomas-Rapier family in the Americas as a whole?

– Analyze two (2) 19th c. fugitive slave ads of your choice: What do the ads you chose​demonstrate about how enslaved African Americans resisted enslavement?

Your work must include examples from the sources to analyze. You are welcome to make broad statements (e.g., “Enslaved black people were exploited in the antebellum South…”), but you must cite specific examples from the sources as evidence. You are encouraged to include information from class lectures and other required readings when relevant. On the whole, a solid paper displays critical thinking through creative analysis that interrogates the sources and uses knowledge gained from our course.

Length, Formatting, & Submission
In Word Document format of 1,000-1,250 words. Double-spaced, 12-point font with your name and date at the top of the first page and word count listed at the bottom of your essay’s conclusion. Late papers will be docked one letter grade per 24-hours late. Sub-length papers as well as papers over the word limit will be automatically penalized.