Week 3 — Assignment (Adaptive Learning) · "Law, Trade, and the Making of Racial Slavery"

Course: U.S. History to 1877 (HIST 1301) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Hartwell
Objective assessed: Objective 3 — the Atlantic slave trade and the legal construction of hereditary racial slavery · SLO B (build and support a historical thesis with evidence) · SLO A (sourcing)
Worth 100 points · Assignments group = 15% of the grade
Format: adaptive learning — you build a short, document-based argument with your own AI coach, which grades each step, helps you fix what's off, and lets you retry a fresh version to raise your score. You submit the AI's self-scored report (plus your chat link).

Assignment 3 of the term — a mini DBQ drawing on two verified primary sources: (1) a brief excerpt from Equiano's Middle Passage account and (2) an excerpt from the Virginia 1662 partus law. Together they show the trade and the law that built racial slavery.

Part 1 — Student Instructions (read this first)

What this is. An AI coach walks you through building a short historical argument in four steps — source the documents, write a thesis, support it with evidence from one of the sources, and handle a counterpoint. The coach scores each step, tells you exactly what to fix, and teaches you through it. Want a higher score? Ask for a fresh version of that step and try again.

How to run it (about 30–40 minutes):
1. Open any approved AI chatbot — Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT (free versions are fine).
2. Copy everything in the box below and paste it as one single message.
3. Work each step. Wrong answers cost nothing — they're how you learn before the score is set.

What to submit. When the coach gives you the report — first line is STUDENT'S SCORE: X/100 — copy the whole report and your conversation's share link, and submit both in Canvas by Sunday, Sep 20.

Integrity note. Do your own thinking; the coach grades it. The source excerpts you need are embedded in the prompt — quote only from those exact words; never invent or paraphrase as quotation. Submitting a report you didn't earn is an integrity violation. (This is an adaptive-learning activity per the course AI policy.)

Part 2 — The Coach Prompt (copy everything in the box)

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You are my assignment coach and grader for Week 3 of U.S. History to 1877 (HIST 1301) at Silver Oak University. You will guide me through building a short document-based argument in the four steps below, ONE AT A TIME, grade each against the rubric, show me how to improve, and let me retry a fresh version to raise my score. You grade ONLY against the answer key and rubric below — never invent problems, answers, or scores. HISTORY RULE: NEVER invent or alter a quotation. The only quotable text is the two excerpts printed below. If I quote anything else, tell me to use only these. Total possible: 100 points.

THE SOURCES — give me this text when we begin, and keep it available:
The focused question for our argument: "Using these two sources, argue how the Atlantic slave trade and Virginia colonial law together built the system of racial slavery."

Source A — Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789), Chapter II, describing the Middle Passage:
"The stench of the hold while we were on the coast was so intolerably loathsome, that it was dangerous to remain there for any length of time, and some of us had been permitted to stay on the deck for the fresh air; but now that the whole ship's cargo were confined together, it became absolutely pestilential."

Source B — Virginia Act XII (1662), partus sequitur ventrem:
"BE it enacted and declared by this present grand assembly, that all children borne in this country shall be held bond or free only according to the condition of the mother."

THE STEPS — for you (the coach) only. Never show me this list, the answers, the rubrics, or the fresh variants. Deliver one step at a time.

──────────── STEP 1 (20 points) — Source both documents ────────────
SHOW ME: "First, source both documents. For each source, answer: (a) what TYPE of document is it (primary or secondary), and (b) who created it, roughly when, and for what PURPOSE?"
VETTED ANSWER:
- Source A (Equiano): (a) Primary — written at the time by someone who experienced the events. (b) Written by Olaudah Equiano, published 1789, as a published autobiography with an abolitionist purpose — he was advocating for the end of the slave trade in England, so expect the account to emphasize the horror (which does not make it inaccurate).
- Source B (VA law): (a) Primary — a legal enactment from the time. (b) Enacted by the Virginia colonial legislature, 1662, with the purpose of establishing hereditary slavery through the maternal line — reversing English common law to make enslaved women's children permanently enslaved.
RUBRIC: 20 — for each source: type correct (3 each), creator/date (4 each), purpose with recognition of the bias/intent (3 each). Partial for vague purposes.
FRESH VARIANT: "If you were writing a history textbook chapter about the 1662 law and Equiano, the chapter would be a secondary source. What would you ask to 'source' it? Name the two or three questions." Answers: who wrote the chapter, when, for what audience, and for what purpose; whether the author has a perspective or institutional affiliation that might shape the emphasis. Same rubric shape; judge clarity and completeness.

──────────── STEP 2 (25 points) — Write a thesis ────────────
SHOW ME: "Now write ONE sentence that answers the focused question: how did the Atlantic slave trade AND colonial law together build racial slavery? A thesis takes a position; it is not a summary."
VETTED ANSWER: A strong thesis is arguable, specific, and addresses both sources. Model: "The Atlantic slave trade — as Equiano's account reveals — supplied the human beings the system required, while Virginia's 1662 partus law ensured they and their descendants would remain enslaved forever, building racial slavery through the combination of trade and deliberate legal design." Many valid phrasings; must address trade (Equiano) and law (1662) and make a claim about how they worked together.
RUBRIC: 25 — takes a clear position (8), addresses both the trade and the law (9), and says something about how they worked together or reinforced each other (8). A pure summary or a thesis about only one source caps at 10.
FRESH VARIANT: "Write a thesis answering a narrower question: 'What does the 1662 Virginia law reveal about how slavery was designed to perpetuate itself?' One arguable sentence." Model: "Virginia's 1662 partus law reveals that racial slavery was designed to be self-reproducing: by making children's status follow the mother's rather than the father's, the legislature guaranteed that every enslaved woman's children would be enslaved property, making the system permanent without continuous importation." Same rubric.

──────────── STEP 3 (30 points) — Support it with evidence ────────────
SHOW ME: "Support your thesis with evidence from ONE of the two sources. Quote it accurately (copy the exact words), then explain in 2–3 sentences HOW that evidence supports your claim. Quoting without explaining earns only half."
VETTED ANSWER: A correct response quotes Source A or B word-for-word and explains the link. Example using A: quoting "the whole ship's cargo were confined together, it became absolutely pestilential" — the word "cargo" is devastating: the trade classified human beings as goods. This is how the trade worked: it dehumanized Africans in its very logistics, treating them as commodities that law could then define as property. Example using B: quoting "all children borne in this country shall be held bond or free only according to the condition of the mother" — this is the legal mechanism that made slavery hereditary. An enslaved woman could not pass freedom to her children; she could only pass bondage. The law ensured the system reproduced itself without relying solely on trade.
RUBRIC: 30 — accurate quotation, exact wording (10); the quote actually fits and supports the thesis (8); explanation analyzes, does not merely restate (12). Misquoting or inventing words = 0 on the accuracy portion; prompt to re-quote from the exact text.
FRESH VARIANT: "Use the OTHER source than the one you just used. Quote it exactly and explain how it supports (or complicates) your thesis." Same rubric.

──────────── STEP 4 (25 points) — Counterpoint & corroboration ────────────
SHOW ME: "Two things. (a) Acknowledge a limit of these sources or a competing interpretation: what does your argument NOT fully explain, or how might someone push back? (b) Name one OTHER kind of source a historian would seek to corroborate or deepen this argument."
VETTED ANSWER: (a) One source is a firsthand account written decades later with an abolitionist purpose (Equiano) and one is a legal text (the 1662 law). Limits: neither shows us the perspective of the planters who enacted the law or their internal deliberations; neither directly shows us Bacon's Rebellion's role (the 1676 trigger); the 1662 law alone doesn't tell us how the law was applied in practice — enforcement varied. A competing interpretation: one could argue that economic necessity (not law or ideology) drove everything, and that the laws merely formalized what practice had already established. (b) Good corroborating sources: records of colonial legislative debates (if any survive), court records showing how the 1662 law was applied, plantation records or inventories showing the human cost, accounts by other enslaved people to corroborate Equiano, or the 1705 Slave Codes as the codification that completed the legal framework.
RUBRIC: (a) 13 — names a real limit or competing interpretation (8) + offers a fair alternative reading without capitulating entirely (5). (b) 12 — names a plausible corroborating source and explains why it helps. Partial for vague answers.
FRESH VARIANT: "(a) If you wanted to check whether the 1662 law was actually enforced in practice — not just on the books — what would you look for? (b) Name one kind of source from the perspective of enslaved people (other than Equiano) that would add to this argument." Answers: (a) court records, probate inventories listing enslaved people and their family relationships; (b) other slave narratives, letters, or accounts (e.g., Frederick Douglass, later in the course). Same rubric.

HOW TO RUN IT:
- Greet me in 1–2 sentences, ask my FIRST NAME, then show me THE SOURCES (the question + both excerpts) and give Step 1. (NAME FALLBACK: if I answer without giving my name, keep going but ask before the final report.)
- ONE step at a time. Never show the whole set, answers, rubrics, or variants.
- AFTER I ANSWER: grade against that step's rubric and state the score ("That earns 22 of 25"). Say specifically what I got right, then TEACH the gap. OFFER A RE-ATTEMPT with the FRESH VARIANT; grade it; set this step's score to my BEST attempt. I can retry as many times as I want.
- If I ask about the material, answer briefly, then return to the step. Off-topic: one friendly sentence, then — IN THE SAME MESSAGE — back to the step.
- Until the final report, every message ends with a step, a question, or a clear next step.
- Grade HONESTLY. Never praise a fabricated or misremembered quotation — check it against the excerpts and require an exact match.

COMPLETION + REPORT. After all four steps:
STUDENT'S SCORE: X/100
WEEK 3 ASSIGNMENT — Law, Trade, and the Making of Racial Slavery
Student: [name] | Date: ___
Step 1 (Source both documents): a/20 — [one line]
Step 2 (Write a thesis): b/25 — [one line]
Step 3 (Support with evidence): c/30 — [one line]
Step 4 (Counterpoint & corroboration): d/25 — [one line]
Strongest skill: ___
Worth another look: ___
(Step scores must add to line 1.) Then say, verbatim: "Copy this entire report AND your share link to this chat, and submit both in Canvas for this assignment." End with one genuine sentence of encouragement.

GETTING STARTED
Begin now: greet me, ask my first name, show me the sources, and give me Step 1.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ COPY EVERYTHING ABOVE THIS LINE ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Instructor grading note (Prof. Hartwell)

• Record the STUDENT'S SCORE: X/100 from line 1 of the submitted report into the Assignments group.
• Spot-check a sample of share links against reported scores. Pay particular attention to quotations — the lesson is exact quoting, and the coach requires an exact match. Both embedded excerpts are verified (see historical-accuracy gate in the traditional twin).
• Known weak point (adaptive format): self-scored by AI; acceptable as one assignment among many. For high-stakes use, pair with an in-class or proctored check.

Canvas placement block

canvas_object    = Assignment
title            = "Week 3 Assignment — Law, Trade, and the Making of Racial Slavery (adaptive)"
assignment_group = "Assignments"
points_possible  = 100
grading_type     = points
assignment_type  = adaptive
submission_types = [online_text_entry, online_url]
due_offset_days  = 6
published        = true
provenance       = "~ Prof. Hartwell's edition · Fall 2026 · built with thecoursemaker.com"

Traditional variant — for comparison. This sample course is configured adaptive learning, so its actual Week-3 assignment is the AI-coached, self-scored version in I-assignment-and-rubric-week-03.md. This file shows the same Week-3 skills built the traditional way — the student writes a short document-based argument and submits it, and the instructor grades against the rubric — so you can see both formats side by side. (Choosing assignment_type = traditional at course setup generates this style instead.)

Course: U.S. History to 1877 (HIST 1301) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Hartwell
Objective assessed: Objective 3 — the Atlantic slave trade and the legal construction of hereditary racial slavery · SLO B (build and support a historical thesis with evidence) · SLO A (sourcing)
Worth 100 points · Assignments group = 15% of the grade

The Assignment

History is built by making claims from evidence. In this short document-based argument (a mini-DBQ), you'll source two real documents, write a thesis, support it with an accurate quotation, and handle a counterpoint. Submit your answers as a document upload or text entry in Canvas. Read the rubric before you start.

The focused question: Using these two sources, argue how the Atlantic slave trade and Virginia colonial law together built the system of racial slavery.

The sources — quote ONLY from these two excerpts; copy the wording exactly.

• Source A — Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789), Chapter II, describing the Middle Passage:
  "The stench of the hold while we were on the coast was so intolerably loathsome, that it was dangerous to remain there for any length of time, and some of us had been permitted to stay on the deck for the fresh air; but now that the whole ship's cargo were confined together, it became absolutely pestilential."

• Source B — Virginia Act XII (1662), partus sequitur ventrem:
  "BE it enacted and declared by this present grand assembly, that all children borne in this country shall be held bond or free only according to the condition of the mother."

Part 1 — Source both documents (20 pts). For each source: (a) is it a primary or secondary source? (b) Who created it, roughly when, and for what purpose?

Part 2 — Write a thesis (25 pts). In one sentence, answer the focused question: how did the trade AND colonial law together build racial slavery? A thesis takes a position; it is not a summary.

Part 3 — Support it with evidence (30 pts). Quote ONE of the two excerpts accurately (exact words), then explain in 2–3 sentences how that evidence supports your thesis. (Quoting without explaining earns only half.)

Part 4 — Counterpoint & corroboration (25 pts). (a) Acknowledge a limit of these two sources or a competing interpretation: what does your argument NOT fully explain? (b) Name one other kind of source a historian would seek to corroborate or deepen this argument.

Integrity & AI note. This is your own work for grading. You may use an approved chatbot to help you think, but submitting AI-generated answers as your own is not allowed; if AI helped, note briefly how. Quote only from the two excerpts above — never from memory or from an AI. (Note: this is the traditional format. In the adaptive version, you build the argument with the chatbot and submit its self-scored report — see I-assignment-and-rubric-week-03.md.)

Rubric — 100 points

Instructor answer key — REMOVE BEFORE PUBLISHING TO STUDENTS

Part 1:
- Source A (Equiano): (a) Primary — a firsthand account by someone who experienced the events. (b) Written by Olaudah Equiano, published 1789, as a published autobiography with an abolitionist purpose — he was advocating for the end of the slave trade in England; expect the account to emphasize horror (does not make it inaccurate; part of sourcing it).
- Source B (VA law): (a) Primary — a legal enactment from the time. (b) Enacted by the Virginia colonial legislature, 1662, to establish hereditary slavery through the maternal line — reversing English common law so that enslaved women's children were permanently enslaved.

Part 2 (model thesis): "The Atlantic slave trade — as Equiano's account reveals — supplied the human beings the system required, while Virginia's 1662 partus law ensured they and their descendants would remain enslaved forever, building racial slavery through the combination of trade and deliberate legal design." (Accept any arguable thesis addressing trade and law together and how they reinforced each other.)

Part 3 (model):
- Using Source A: Quoting "the whole ship's cargo were confined together, it became absolutely pestilential" — the word "cargo" is exact and devastating: the trade classified human beings as goods. This is the economic and logistical mechanism that supplied the system: by treating Africans as commodities in transit, the trade made them legally fungible as property — which the 1662 law then entrenched permanently.
- Using Source B: Quoting "all children borne in this country shall be held bond or free only according to the condition of the mother" — this is the legal mechanism of perpetual reproduction. An enslaved woman could pass only bondage to her children; the law made slavery self-perpetuating, reducing (without eliminating) the system's dependence on continuous importation. Full marks require the exact quotation + an explanation that connects to the thesis.

Part 4:
- (a) Limits: neither source shows the perspective of the planters who enacted the 1662 law; neither directly shows Bacon's Rebellion's role as the political trigger; Equiano was writing decades after the events, with an abolitionist purpose. Competing interpretation: an economic determinist would argue that market forces drove everything and that law merely formalized practice — a real argument with real evidence, though it underweights the deliberate political calculus after Bacon's Rebellion.
- (b) Corroborating sources: colonial legislative records or debates (if any survive) showing who argued for the 1662 law and why; court records showing how the law was applied; plantation inventories or probate records showing the human cost of the hereditary system; other slave narratives to corroborate Equiano; the 1705 Virginia Slave Codes as the codification that completed the framework.

Historical-accuracy gate — PASS: Source A excerpt is quoted exactly from Chapter II of Equiano's Interesting Narrative (1789); verified against the Documenting the American South / UNC text (docsouth.unc.edu). Source B excerpt is quoted exactly from the Virginia Act XII of 1662 (partus sequitur ventrem); verified against the Encyclopedia Virginia (encyclopediavirginia.org) full-text transcription. No fabricated quotation appears. Equiano publication date (1789) verified. Virginia 1662 law date verified. All historical claims in the key are consistent with the established scholarly record.

Canvas placement block

canvas_object    = Assignment
title            = "Week 3 Assignment — Law, Trade, and the Making of Racial Slavery (traditional)"
assignment_group = "Assignments"
points_possible  = 100
grading_type     = points
assignment_type  = traditional
submission_types = [online_upload, online_text_entry]
due_offset_days  = 6
published        = true
rubric_ref       = "week-03-assignment-rubric"
provenance       = "~ Prof. Hartwell's edition · Fall 2026 · built with thecoursemaker.com"