Write an essay focus on Document 4, written by W.E.B. Du
Bois, in chapter five of Major Problems in American History.
Write the essay with the following guidelines in mind: After
reading the source (a few times would be a good idea), you
should place the document in historical context and consider
how it sheds light on the subject of race relations in the period in
which it was written.
In addition to saying something about race relations in the
period in which the Du Bois document was written, you should
analyze the document. You might briefly say something about
the author, the document’s purpose, and its intended audience. In
analyzing the key points in the Du Bois document, you can
certainly quote directly from the source (use quotation marks to
indicate a direct quotation). You will almost certainly want to
refer to the ideas of Booker T. Washington, whose thinking is
presented in the same chapter (Document 3). In writing the
paper, you should emphasize those parts of the Du Bois source
that you find most important or illuminating. The aim of your
essay is to use the Du Bois document to explain how this source
sheds light on American race relations and African-American
aspirations in the early twentieth centurv.
Note: You should base your understanding of the period and the
document on the material covered in the relevant lectures, on the
discussions you have had in section, and (if helpful) on the
relevant essays in Major Problems. It is not necessary to do any
outside reading to complete the assignment.
Some further guidance: The paper, which should be three
pages’ long, will likely be divided into six paragraphs. The
first paragraph will provide relevant historical background on
race relations in the early twentieth century and prepare the
reader for a discussion of the Du Bois document. Paragraphs 2-
5 will discuss and analyze the Du Bois document, including
some discussion of Washington’s perspective.
The final
paragraph will serve as a conclusion, in which you will sum up
what you have discussed in the paper. The concluding paragraph
will likely say something about why the document and the ideas
it contains are historically significant. Note: If you quote
directly from the document, here is an example of how to do
so: As Du Bois writes, “this is an age when the more advanced
races are coming in closer contact with the less developed races”
(132).
Use Document 4 ONLY
