Humanities Homework Help

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Humanities Homework Help. CCSF Paying Reparations to The Descendants of American Slaves History Ques

 

  • Pick one of the three paper topics below
  • Read or listen to the assigned chapters, articles, podcasts, and/or webpages
  • Then write a 3-4 page (double-spaced) response answering the prompt question for your chosen topic. The prompt questions are located above, under each paper topic.
  • —————————————————————————-
  • Dakota Indian War
  • Option 1—The Dakota Indian Uprising of 1862 in Minnesota during the Civil War, and broader ideas of how we remember and teach history.

    • Write a 3-4 page (double spaced) paper
      responding to the following prompts, with specific, detailed references
      to the podcast (i.e., your paper must demonstrate that you completed
      the reading and podcast, and thought critically about them):

      • How does the Dakota Uprising fit into
        our broader discussions of Indian-European/American relations since the
        beginning of the semester? Hint: Think about early European-Indian relations, Pontiac’s Rebellion, U.S. Indian relations, Indian Removal in the 1830s, etc.
      • What caused the Dakota War? Think beyond the triggering events to the longer-term causes of the conflict.
      • How were the Dakota treated by the U.S.
        Army in comparison to the Confederate states, who rose up against the
        U.S. at the same time? After the Civil War, President Johnson offered a
        general pardon to nearly all Confederate soldiers. Only a handful for
        high-ranking officers were tried for war crimes and only 2 were
        executed. So almost all of the Confederate soldiers who took up arms
        against the U.S. in the war were pardoned for their actions. Why the
        difference in treatment between the Confederate and Santee Sioux
        soldiers? What do these similarities and differences tell us about
        Indian-American relations?
      • How is the Dakota War remembered and
        taught today? What does that tell us about the connection of history and
        memory, particularly related to Indian-American relations
      • —————————————————
      • Soldiers Views On Slavery
      • Option 2—Union and Confederate soldiers’ views, personally, on what they were fighting for in the Civil War, and particularly their views on slavery.
      • Thanks to the emphasis on literacy in
        the Early Republic era, more than 80% of Confederate soldiers and 90% of
        Union soldiers could read and write (which was very high for any army
        in the world at the time). Soldiers on both sides of the war wrote
        frequent letters home, which left us with a fantastic source of
        first-hand knowledge about the conditions soldiers faced in the war and
        what they felt they were fighting for. Historian James McPherson spent
        years looking through Civil War soldiers’ letters to give us a sense of
        what the war was like for the men who fought it. In chapter 3 of his
        book, which you will read, he looked specifically at Confederate and
        U.S. soldier’s views on slavery, and the role it played in motivating
        their participation.
    • Read Chapter 3 in James McPherson’s What They Fought For.

    Write a 3-4 page (double spaced) paper responding
    to the following prompts, with specific, detailed references to the
    chapter (i.e., your paper must demonstrate that you completed the
    assigned chapter, and thought critically about it):

  • What role did the issue of slavery play
    in how Confederate soldiers (both slaveowners AND non-slaveowners)
    viewed the Civil War and their understanding of what they were fighting
    for?
  • What were Union soldiers’ views on slavery?
  • How did soldiers on each side explain
    their views? What words did they use to explain their views, and what
    did they mean with those words?
  • McPherson argues that many Union soldiers’
    views on slavery changed throughout the Civil War. What do the letters
    written by Union soldiers during the war tell us about when, how and why their views changed?
    • ——————————————————————
    • Congressional Debate On Reparations
    • Option 3—The current Congressional debate on the issue of reparations for slavery and racial discrimination, and the role of history in informing present-day discussions.

      • In April 2021, the House of
        Representatives began hearing testimony in support and opposition to
        H.R. 40, a bill that called for the creation of a commission to study
        and develop reparation Proposals for African-Americans. According to the
        bill (first introduced in 1989), introduced by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee
        (D-Texas), “the commission shall examine slavery and discrimination in
        the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present and
        recommend appropriate remedies. Among other requirements, the commission
        shall identify (1) the role of federal and state governments in
        supporting the institution of slavery, (2) forms of discrimination in
        the public and private sectors against freed slaves and their
        descendants, and (3) lingering negative effects of slavery on living
        African-Americans and society.” The bill has sparked debate, not for the
        first time in U.S. history, over the issue of reparations to
        African-Americans for slavery and discrimination over the past 400 years
        of U.S. history. In this project option, you have the chance to weigh
        in on this historically-relevant current debate.
      • Write a 3-4 page (double spaced) paper responding
        to the following prompts, with specific, detailed references to the
        articles (i.e., your paper must demonstrate that you completed the
        required articles, and thought critically about them):

        • What are the main arguments in favor of paying reparations to the descendants of American slaves?
        • What are the main arguments against paying reparations?
        • What are the main historical issues at
          stake on both sides? What historical evidence do the authors cite to
          support their arguments?
        • How does the reparations debate connect
          to the history we’ve talked about in this class? How does the history
          of slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction that we discussed this
          semester inform (or get ignored by) this debate?
        • At the end of your paper, in a sentence or two, discuss your own thoughts
          on the reparations debate. (But keep in mind this isn’t just an opinion
          piece. The main goal in your paper is to show you can connect the
          arguments made on both side of the debate with the historical trends we
          discussed this semester).

Humanities Homework Help