You must answer two questions, one from each pair below. Each essay should be in the 3-4 page range, for an exam total of 6-8 pages. You’re expected to draw on the assigned readings for the course (including the textbook, the readers,and any documents,vi

You must answer two questions,

one from each pair below

. Each essay should be in the 3-4 page range, for an exam total of 6-8 pages.

You’re expected to draw on the assigned

readings for the course (including the textbook) the readers, and any documents,

video worksheets, or other reading assignments I’ve handed out in class and your class notes as

sources of information in putting together your essays.

No other source is expected OR PERMITTED.

Be sure to identify which question you’re answering

for each pair.

.

Your essays should be typed and double

spaced, with one

inch margins on all sides. Any material directly quoted from

the text

book

or readers

should be cited using parent

hetical references in the text

:

just write

(

Author

, pg. X)

directly

after

the quoted material. No bibliography necessary.

Your essays are due at the last class meeting of the semester. Good luck!

PAIR ONE

1A.

Reconstruction was a time of great promise

and opportunity for black Americans, and a chance for America to

achieve the kind of equality it had always held out as the basis of our society. To what extent did Reconstruction reach

(or at least come near to) its goals of equality and freedom, and to w

hat extent did it fail to do so? In your answer, be

sure to consider both the short

term and the long

term impact Reconstruction had on African American life.

1B.

One of the major themes of African American history between the Civil War and World War II

is that of

migration. Concentrated largely in the South prior to the Civil War, African Americans spread quickly across all parts

of the nation after 1865. Discuss the impact this migration out of the South had on both the United States and on the

black

community between 1865 and 1940. You might want to consider economic, political and social trends in your

answer; be as broad and yet as specific as you can in considering this important aspect of black history.

PAIR TWO

2A.

Consider the history of the Ci

vil Rights Movement since 1945. Pick two events from

each

of the 1950s and 1960s

that you think were turning points in this drive for racial and social justice, and write an essay in which you make the

case. Your essay should include a brief discussion of

what you define as a “turning point,” how the four events meet

that definition, and how your choices are linked together in time and impact. In short, I want you to write a kind of

“greatest hits” history of the CRM and explain your choices.

2B.

How would

you assess the effect

African Americans have

had on

American culture since 1900?

Has it been

stronger in some areas than others? Are there common threads to the impact black America has had on the larger

culture throughout this time period? Is there anything today that we can fairly call “African American” culture that is

distinct and

separate from “American” culture, or have the two become mostly conflated? I’m interested here in

having you not just

describe

the cultural influences of African Americans over the last 100

plus years

and how they

may have changed (or not) over time

, but i

n having you

assess

it: its significance, its impact, its effect.