Black American History

For the following assignment you are going to consider the condition of African-Americans in a post slavery United States. Although the 13th amendment eradicated slavery, the socioeconomic position of most blacks, in addition to their political standing, was always in flux, and for many, their positions in American society were not much better than they had been in the US prior to the abolition of slavery, socially in the south. As a result, numerous black leaders rose up forwarding various philosophies as to how best to improve the lives of African-Americans, and quite frequently, these leaders were not always in agreement with one another. This is particularly the case with two: Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. As would be the case throughout much of US history, the debates between African-American leaders as to how to address social, political, and economic equality in the US often became divisive.
For this assignment, you will need to read two primary sources, and a short introduction on the subject, and then write a primary source analysis that is no less than 3 pages long. First, you need to watch the first 11 min and 33 seconds of the film on African-Americans in the Early 19th Century so as to build context

Again, this will serve as a very basic overview for contextual purposes only. You do not need to assess the film directly. Second, you need to read Booker T. Washington & W.E.B. DuBois on Black Progress (1895, 1903)Links to an external site.. Begin by reading the material written by Washington and then read the material written by DuBois. Although both texts are on the same web page, you need to address each separately.

Booker T. Washington & W.E.B. DuBois on Black Progress (1895, 1903)

After reading these sources, you will use the information learned to answer the following questions, again, in no less than 3 pages, but no more than 4 pages. Your answers should have a clear thesis and conclusion, and they MSUT be written as a Word document in Times New Roman, 12-point font, double spaced, with 1-inch margins.
For both the Washington and DuBois sources, in approximately 1 page per source, you need to answer the following as applicable:
Who is the author and what is the author’s main argument?
What is the basic content of the source and how does the author support their position?
What conclusions are drawn by the author and what are the broad implications of the argument?
The next 1-2 pages will make up your comparative analysis of the two sources, and you need to answer each of the following questions:
How are the two sources similar and how are they different? (Think about each author’s tone, the type of argument being made, the language and word choice used, and the type, or kind, of evidence each relied upon to draw their conclusions.)
In what ways does Washington’s observations influence those of DuBois, and how do these two sources shape your overall understanding of the position of African-Americans in the early 19th century? (You can reference the film when answering this portion.)

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