Experiences of African Americans in Jim Crow South

Research Paper Instructions:

Final Paper Assignment A portion of this course asks you to write a paper that gives a small taste of what a historian actually does. The field of history is not solely about memorizing names and dates, but the major components of the field center on constructing arguments and researching supporting evidence. A historian will make an argument about a topic and support their argument utilizing primary source or secondary source documents (i.e. evidence).
You will be required to write a 6-8 page (1500-2000 words) paper on an assigned topic from the field. This assignment will expose you to several aspects in the field of history like primary sources, citations, oral history, etc . . . The Final Paper must be submitted using the Dropbox function on D2L. An extension will not be given except for the most extreme circumstance, and must be arranged well in advance of the due date with your instructor. This means that the due date is firm for the entire class.
The Civil War stands as a pivotal point in American history, because it generated 3 major constitutional changes (the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments). The redemptive actions of white supremacist to these revolutionary amendments removed hope for equality and quickly engendered the Jim Crow Era in the United States.
You will be required to write a 6-8 page paper (1500-2000 words) biographical paper utilizing the Behind the Veil digital history website: http://library(dot)duke(dot)edu/digitalcollections/behindtheveil/. Behind the Veil, produced by Duke University, collected oral histories from individuals that grew-up in the Jim Crow South and tell the story of their experiences. You should find an individual’s story that interests you (it maybe from any state represented on the site), and develop a paper about their experience. You should be able to construct a biography answering questions of who is the individual interviewed? Who is the interviewee? Were did they grow up? Occupation? Educational background? Difficulties growing up in the Jim Crow South? What interested you about the individual? Etc.... Finally, are there any dangers/concerns for using oral histories as a primary source of evidence?
This paper should reflect your understanding and knowledge of this topic from the course thus far, and you should be able to speak about specific historic instances that support these oral histories. Your paper should be constructed into multiple paragraphs including an introduction paragraph that has a thesis statement, supporting body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. Your thesis should engage with the following question: What was your subjects experience growing up in the Jim Crow South? You should also keep citations to less than 1/4 of the entire text, and you should use the interviews as your primary resource. You are allowed to bring other sources into the paper, but you are not required to use additional sources.
If you consult outside source, you are required to site that source, and you are required to get approval from your instructor. The paper must include either a title page or heading on your first page that includes your name, course i.d., date, and instructor’s name.
This assignment requires that you cite ALL your sources in the text either in Chicago Style (as is required in the field of history) or I will allow you to cite in MLA Format. If you use the Chicago Style, you may choose between footnotes or endnotes. Failure to cite your sources is considered plagiarism, and students will be reported to the Dean of Students. Plagiarism is a form of cheating, and cheating is not tolerated at Langston University. If you plagiarize you will receive a zero on this assignment and you may also be removed from the course.
Websites to help with citations:Chicago: https://owl(dot)english(dot)purdue(dot)edu/owl/resource/717/01/MLA: https://owl(dot)english(dot)purdue(dot)edu/owl/resource/747/01/This paper should also include a works cited page or a bibliography, which will be located at the end of the paper. Page numbers must be included, location on the page is left to you, but make sure they start on the first page of written text and not on the title page. For some of the interviews you may have to browse around in order to find all the information required for a citation. The big items that need to be included will be who was interviewed? Who conducted the interview? When was the date of the interview? What was the location of the interview? What archive or library holds these materials? Where can this interview be found (website address)? On some of the interviews, not all of this information is included, so it will be ok to leave that part out of the citation (i.e. location of the interview). Citation examples:Chicago

Research Paper Sample Content Preview:

Student Full Name
Student ID
Professor Full Name
Course Full Name
Due Date
Jim Crow South
Introduction
The main purpose of this film was to capture and preserve the living memory of African American life in the American South from the 1890s through the 1950s, while legal segregation was in effect. To compile the data, experts conducted oral history interviews with approximately 1,000 elderly black southerners who remembered the legal segregation era. From the late 1800s to the mid-1900s, the series brings to life the colorful individuals, moving personal stories, and behind-the-scenes decision-making that influenced the African American experience in the South.
During this time, by assigning a large number of officers into areas of color, the crime bill led to continuing systemic police abuse and systemic racism, and it risked reintegration for returning people of color by removing their Pell Grant status while in jail. The bill also increased the use of the death sentence, mandated obligatory life terms for those convicted of three or more felonies, and established harsh new sanctions for juveniles involved in the criminal system. Many of these destructive clauses are still in existence today, targeting and destabilizing people of color. It is the most extensive single collection of Jim Crow oral histories in the world. This paper will address the primary experiences of Herbert and Ruth Cappie. African Americans were passive and were taken advantage of during this era.
Jim Crow Era
Michelle Mitchell interviewed Herbert Melvin Cappie and Ruth Irene Cappie. In this interview, the interviewees remain humble and have forgiven all bad deeds, making it interesting. They learned from their experiences to be better and passive people in the community. Through their traumatizing experiences, they were able to help each other grow hence strengthening their neighborhood. The interview took place in New Orleans, Louisiana, on July 2nd, 1994, and the website address is https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4qn63s5c.
In Jim Crow South, African Americans were treated differently from everybody else. The challenges they faced included not being allowed to go to drug stores to take a soda. Herbert was born and raised in Covington and had to walk for 4 or 5 miles to school depending on the weather each day while white kids used the school buses. On their way to school, they could hustle up an empty Coca-Cola bottle hoping to get a soda in return for recycling. Herbert attended school in Covington and later a catholic school in Mississippi, a terrible place for black people. In a one-room segregated school in New Orleans, all the grades, that is, 1-8, were included in the room. While riding downtown on a streetcar, black people rode, mostly standing up, in the back behind a screen ‘colored only’ (Melvin & Irene).
African Americans were not allowed to go to any shows or films. Herbert grew up with a white friend Jack whose parents were well off financially, yet they used to sit upstairs in the colored section, a nickel, and downstairs was a dime. There were several fights due to the prowess of Herbert in football since he was the only black kid playing football with Jack and other white children. African American...

Updated on January 26, 2024

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Experiences of African Americans in Jim Crow South

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