what evidence do you have that the group experienced contradictions to this founding principle?
Background for the Project: The Declaration of Independence proclaims
, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights
, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” As we have read this quarter, some Americans did not fully realize this promise in different historical time periods.
The Writing Prompt: questions: Choose a group of people that experienced contradictions to the founding principle that “All men are created
equal” as they attempted to live and work in the United States in the 19th or early 20th centuries. Using course materials and your own critical thinking, develop a theory that answers the following question–why did they experience these contradictions?
Intended Audience: As you draft and revise your project, it may help to imagine that you are writing to an audience of your fellow peers in this class. Writing Principles: We are hoping you will demonstrate an understanding of the following writing principles and concepts in this class:
drafting a clear thesis and topic sentences that prepare readers for what follows; focusing your paragraphs on a single controlling idea; reading closely and choosing examples that best illustrate your ideas for your reader; analyzing those examples and “showing” instead of “telling”; citing your sources; communicating with clear words and instead of parroting academic-sounding jargon. Getting Started –
How do you interpret the founding promise in the Declaration of Independence? –
How do we define “contradiction” as a concept in this course? What does this concept mean? -What is the group you are writing about? What is the general time period in which you are writing about? -What kind of contradictions did they experience?
Did they experience systemic inequality in the political or legal systems? Employment, jobs, or economic inequality?
Housing inequality? Inequitable cultural representations? –
In other words, what evidence do you have that the group experienced contradictions to this founding principle?
What examples best illustrate these experiences?
Now that you have developed this pre -writing, you are ready to develop a hypothesis that will become your working thesis. Why did they experience contradictions? In other words,
what is one major reason they were left out or excluded from this promise?