This discussion assignment will be based upon a specific set of materials found in Chapter Seven of your textbook, "Debating Thomas Jefferson and Slavery" (see pp. 264-267).  In this section, you'll read excerpts from two prominent scholars who have examined Thomas Jefferson in some detail, Douglas Wilson and Paul Finkelman.  You'll also be reading excerpts from some documents that Jefferson wrote in which he discusses slavery, the abolition movement, and African-Americans in general.  In the discussion, it might be useful to begin to addressing the following questions:

1. Regarding the excerpts from Wilson and Finkelman, what judgments do these scholars make of Jefferson? Are they the same, or different?  How do they arrive at these judgments?

2. Regarding the primary documents by Jefferson himself, how did Jefferson view the institution of slavery?  Is there any evidence that he regarded slavery as morally problematic? How did he regard African-

Primary Document Assignment: Race Relations in America Description

This writing assignment centers on the topic of race relations from the settling of the Americas in 1492 up to the Civil War. Its goal is to challenge you to examine the historical documents from the period that relate to that topic (e.g. the primary sources) and to place those documents in the context of the secondary sources and lecture material from the course. In short, your task is to demonstrate the ability to think like a historian by critically analyzing the types of evidence that historians utilize to make sense of the past and to answer the questions that interest us.

To begin this assignment, select at least three primary sources from the course that offer three different perspectives on the nature and experience of equality and/or inequality in the United States. You might choose, for instance, the primary documents that deal with any of the following:

European or Native perspectives on

Please take a position either WWII or Postwar played the most significant role when it come to nation-state building. Need strong argument to defend your argument with nuanced evidence and analysis from 50/50 from lectures and readings only. Very important to 50/50 balance of evidence from the course lectures and assigned readings!

In the Harlem Art Workshop, 1933, children carve soap models. This is from artstor.org.

Thousands and thousands of African Americans wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt for help from 1932 to 1944.

Assume an African American character and write from the perspective of the character. What would be the obstacles faced by people of color during the Great Depression or the war years?  Explain the issues in your letter and ask for specific help on those matters.  Also in a separate paragraph below your letter, explain why you chose to write what you did. What inspired you to write on the topics, situations or events that were discussed in your letter?

One way to help you prepare for your letter is to research writing letters during the Great Depression to President and Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt.  In addition,  some websites you can look at for this Discussion: Eleanore Roosevelt and Civil Rights, George Washington University  and "Please Help US Mr. Presiden