Essay Prompt: In 1861 an elected convention of delegates made the decision that

Essay Prompt:
In 1861 an elected convention of delegates made the decision that Louisiana should secede from the United States. Later that year, it joined ten other “rebel” states to form the Confederate States of America (CSA). Those decisions led to four years of Civil War and, following the surrender of the CSA, 15 years of Reconstruction.
Those decisions and their consequences changed Louisiana and the lives of its people dramatically. One example is that more than 300,000 people had their status changed from slave to free by the ratification of the 13th amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1865.
There are many other examples after 1865 when elected officials (federal and state), judges, or the actions of individuals or groups resulted in the expansion of rights for the formerly enslaved. There were also instances when elected officials (federal or state), judges, or the actions of individuals or groups resulted in the constriction, withdrawal, or obliteration of rights for the formerly enslaved.
Your job in this essay is to write about four specific instances between 1866 and 1900 that show examples of rights being granted to or withdrawn from the formerly enslaved.
* Two of your examples should describe and explain how, when, where and by whom the rights of freed people were expanded.
* Two of your examples should describe and explain how, when, where, and by whom the rights of freed people and their descendants were constricted or reversed.
* Each of your examples can be up to a page long. That is about 250 words double-spaced.
Your final task is to write a personal assessment (you can do this in the first person) about what you learned about Reconstruction and the Rise of Jim Crow in Louisiana that seems significant to you You can answer however you wish, but I hope you answers will include consideration of two general issues:
* How you understand the nature of historical change (how things happen, and in what direction(s) historical change moves).
* Your reaction to how people in Louisiana and the United States gained then lost rights that were granted but then later withdrawn by government at both the state and federal level.
Sources:
As always, the best answers will be both specific and adequately documented. The strongest answers will use material from the assigned readings or additional materials you locate on the 64parishes.org website. Sources from outside the assigned readings or 64parishes.org may be awarded lesser credit.
* Include parenthetical citation using author’s name for material that either substantially paraphrases an idea or quotes directly form a given source.
* Include a Works Cited page that provides full bibliographical citation (including a url) for each source form which you quote or draw from substantially in your anwers.
* Arrange those citations in alphabetical order on your Works Cited page.
Example:
In text:
“Louisiana seceded from the Union, sent thousands of Confederate soldiers out of state, witnessed occupation, and saw the emancipation of more than 300,000 enslaved people” (Sacher).
On works cited page:
Sacher, John M., “Civil War Louisiana,” 64parishes.org@https://64parishes.org/entry/civil-war-louisiana
This is the rubric we will use to evaluate your essay:
1. How well chosen and explained is the student’s first example of an expansion of rights? 1-5 points
2. How detailed and convincing is the response? 1-5 points
3. How well chosen and explained is the student’s second example of an expansion of rights? 1-5 points
4. How detailed and convincing is the response? 1-5 points
5. How well chosen and explained is the student’s first example of the constriction, withdrawal, of obliteration of rights previously granted? 1-5 points
6. How detailed and convincing is the response? 1-5 points
7. How well chosen and explained is the student’s second example of the constriction, withdrawal, or obliteration of rights previously granted? 1-5 points
8. How thoughtful and thorough is the student’s final reflection? 1-5 points
9. How effectively does the student make use of the assigned readings? 1-5 points
10? How well reasoned, coherent, and clearly written is the submission? 1-5 points
*** PLEASE SEE ATTACHED CLASS SYLLABUS FOR SOURCES FROM ASSIGNED READINGS.