THE NATION CLASSROOM
History as It Happened
RACE RELATIONS and CIVIL RIGHTS
MODULE TWO: 1877-1899
STUDENT PRACTICE ACTIVITY THREE
WRITE YOUR DBQ ESSAY
Directions: The following prompt asks you to write a well-organized, concise essay that integrates your interpretation of Documents One through Seven and your knowledge of the period referred to in the question. The best answers will not only cite key pieces of evidence from the documents but also include outside knowledge of the period.
DBQ: Using the documents below and your outside knowledge, evaluate the validity of this statement by African American author W.E.B. Du Bois in 1935 about liberation, Reconstruction, and its aftermath: “The slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery.”