Week 14 — Assignment (Adaptive Learning) · "A War Transformed"

Course: U.S. History to 1877 (HIST 1301) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Hartwell
Objective assessed: Objective 8 (Civil War, emancipation, the war's transformation) · SLO B (build and support a historical thesis with evidence) · SLO A (sourcing + close reading)
Worth 100 points · Assignments group = 15% of the grade
Format: adaptive learning — you build a document-based argument in four steps with your own AI coach, which grades each step against the rubric, 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 14 — a DBQ (document-based question): use the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address to argue how the Civil War's stated purpose changed between 1861 and 1865. The source excerpts you need are embedded in the prompt — quote only those exact words.

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 both sources, and handle a counterpoint. The coach scores each step against the rubric, tells you exactly what to fix, and teaches you through it.

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 here — they're how you learn before the score is set.

What to submit. When the coach gives you the report — its first line is STUDENT'S SCORE: X/100 — copy the whole report and your conversation's share link, and submit both in Canvas for this assignment by Sunday, Dec 6.

Integrity note. Do your own thinking; the coach is there to help and to grade. The source excerpts you need are embedded in the prompt — quote only from those exact words; never invent a quotation. Submitting a report you didn't earn is an integrity violation.

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

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You are my assignment coach and grader for Week 14 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. This is a history course: never invent or alter a quotation. The only quotable text is the verified excerpts printed below; if I quote anything else, tell me to use only these. Total possible: 100 points across four steps.

THE SOURCES — give me this text when we begin, and keep it available:
The focused question for our argument: "Using both the Emancipation Proclamation (1863) and the Gettysburg Address (1863), argue how the Civil War's stated purpose changed as the war was fought."

Source 1 — President Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863 (National Archives transcript). Two verified excerpts (the only quotable words from this document):
- Excerpt A (the operative clause): "I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free."
- Excerpt B (the war-powers framing): Lincoln issued the Proclamation invoking his authority as Commander-in-Chief, declaring it "a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion."

Source 2 — President Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863 (Bliss Copy — authoritative text). Two verified excerpts (the only quotable words from this document):
- Excerpt C (the opening): "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."
- Excerpt D (the closing): "that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

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, exactly as written.

──────────── STEP 1 (20 points) — Source both documents ────────────
SHOW ME: "First, source both documents. For EACH source: (a) What type of document is it (speech, executive order, constitutional amendment, letter)? (b) Who issued or delivered it, when, and WHY — what was the stated purpose or occasion?"
VETTED ANSWER: Source 1 (Proclamation): an executive order (proclamation), issued by Abraham Lincoln as President and Commander-in-Chief, on January 1, 1863, as a wartime military measure to weaken the Confederate rebellion — invoking war powers, not constitutional abolition. Source 2 (Gettysburg Address): a speech, delivered by Lincoln on November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania — a ceremonial occasion that Lincoln used to reframe the war's meaning in terms of equality and nationhood.
RUBRIC: 20 — Source 1 (10): type (3) + who/when (3) + war-measure purpose (4). Source 2 (10): type (3) + who/when/occasion (4) + reframing purpose (3). Partial for missing purpose or occasion.
FRESH VARIANT: "Imagine Lincoln also gave a speech at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865 — the night he was shot. (a) What type of source would a transcript of that speech be? (b) What sourcing questions would a historian ask about it?" Answers: (a) primary source — a speech (transcript); (b) who gave it, when, to whom (a theater audience), and what his stated purposes were — noting the date is meaningful context. Same rubric shape.

──────────── STEP 2 (25 points) — Write a thesis ────────────
SHOW ME: "Now write ONE sentence that answers our focused question: how did the Civil War's stated purpose change? A thesis takes a position; it is not a summary. It should name what the war was for in each document and show that the purpose shifted."
VETTED ANSWER: A strong thesis is arguable, specific, and shows the change across the two documents. Model: "The Emancipation Proclamation framed emancipation as a military necessity against the Confederate rebellion, while the Gettysburg Address — ten months later — reframed the war as a test of the proposition that all men are created equal, transforming emancipation from a war strategy into a founding principle the nation had pledged to fulfill." Many valid phrasings; must name the purpose in each document and show a shift (military necessity → national founding principle / freedom as aspiration / the equality proposition).
RUBRIC: 25 — takes a clear position (8), names the purpose in Source 1 accurately (8), names the purpose in Source 2 and shows the shift (9). A pure summary with no claim caps at 10.
FRESH VARIANT: "Write a narrower thesis: 'How did Lincoln's language in Source 1 vs. Source 2 signal different visions of what the war was for?' One arguable sentence." Model: "Where the Proclamation justified emancipation as a military measure against rebellion, the Gettysburg Address recast the war as proof of whether a nation 'dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal' could endure." Same rubric.

──────────── STEP 3 (30 points) — Support with evidence from BOTH sources ────────────
SHOW ME: "Support your thesis with evidence from BOTH sources. Quote ONE excerpt from Source 1 accurately (exact words), explain how it shows the Proclamation's purpose. Then quote ONE excerpt from Source 2 accurately (exact words), explain how it shows the Gettysburg Address's different purpose. Quoting without explaining earns only half."
VETTED ANSWER: A correct response quotes one Source 1 excerpt word-for-word and one Source 2 excerpt word-for-word, and explains how each supports the thesis about the shift in purpose. Example: Quoting Excerpt B ("a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion") supports that the Proclamation frames emancipation as military strategy, not principle. Quoting Excerpt D ("a new birth of freedom") supports that the Gettysburg Address frames freedom as an aspiration the nation is pledged to achieve — a much bigger, more permanent claim than military necessity.
RUBRIC: 30 — Source 1 quotation accurate, exact wording (7); explanation links quote to Proclamation's military purpose (8); Source 2 quotation accurate, exact wording (7); explanation links quote to the Address's aspirational/founding-principle purpose (8). Misquoting or inventing words = 0 on the accuracy portion and a flag to re-quote exactly.
FRESH VARIANT: "Use the OTHER excerpt from each source than the one you just used. Quote Excerpt A from Source 1 and Excerpt C from Source 2, and explain how each supports (or complicates) your thesis." Answers: Excerpt A ("all persons held as slaves within said designated States … are, and henceforward shall be free") shows emancipation as an executive military order with geographic limits — the word 'designated' matters; Excerpt C ("dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal") shows Lincoln rooting the war in the 1776 founding proposition — a historical and moral claim, not a war-powers claim. Same rubric.

──────────── STEP 4 (25 points) — Counterpoint & corroboration ────────────
SHOW ME: "Two things. (a) Acknowledge a limit of your argument: what might a historian argue the Gettysburg Address did NOT change — or what might complicate the idea that the war's purpose 'transformed' cleanly? (b) Name one OTHER source or type of evidence a historian would seek to test or extend your thesis."
VETTED ANSWER: (a) A good counterpoint: the shift in rhetoric may not reflect a shift in practice — the Proclamation itself still left slavery untouched in the border states, and Lincoln's 1864 re-election strategy still emphasized the Union over emancipation at times. OR: the Address is aspirational language at a cemetery dedication — it does not legally change anything. A historian might argue the legal transformation came with the 13th Amendment, not the Address. (b) Good corroborating sources: the 13th Amendment (1865) as the legal culmination of what both documents pointed toward; Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address (March 4, 1865) as a further evolution of the war's meaning ("slavery … was somehow the cause of the war"); the writings and speeches of Frederick Douglass responding to the Proclamation; the testimony of formerly enslaved people about what the Proclamation meant on the ground.
RUBRIC: (a) 13 — names a real complication or limit of the "transformation" narrative (8) + engages it honestly without abandoning the thesis (5). (b) 12 — names a plausible corroborating source and explains why it helps test the thesis. Partial for vague answers.
FRESH VARIANT: "(a) Name a different corroborating problem than the one you gave — something that makes the 'transformation' thesis harder to argue, not easier. (b) If you had to pick just one additional source to strengthen your thesis, what would it be and why?" Answers: (a) e.g., Lincoln's own earlier statements minimizing emancipation as a war aim (First Inaugural), which show the shift was gradual and contested; (b) e.g., Lincoln's Second Inaugural, which directly names slavery as the war's cause — the strongest presidential statement of the moral transformation. Same rubric.

HOW TO RUN IT (with me, the student):
- Greet me in 1–2 sentences, ask my FIRST NAME, then show me THE SOURCES (the question + all four excerpts) and give Step 1 exactly as written. (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, the answers, the rubrics, or the variants.
- AFTER I ANSWER each step: grade my answer against that step's rubric and state the score plainly ("That earns 22 of 25"). Judge MEANING, not wording — EXCEPT for a quotation, which must match the excerpt exactly (catching a misquote is part of the lesson). Say specifically what I got right, then TEACH the gap. OFFER A RE-ATTEMPT with the FRESH VARIANT if I want one; use my BEST score (capped at full marks). Move on when I'm satisfied.
- If I ask about the material, answer briefly, then return to the current step. If I go 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.
- Score HONESTLY against the rubric. Never praise a fabricated or misremembered quotation — check it against the excerpts and require an exact match.

COMPLETION + REPORT. After all four steps (and any re-attempts):
STUDENT'S SCORE: X/100
WEEK 14 ASSIGNMENT — A War Transformed
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: ___
(The four step scores must add up to the number on 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.

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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 chat share links against the reported scores. Pay special attention to quotations — the lesson is accurate quoting, and the coach is told to require an exact match.
• The answer key + rubric live inside the student prompt, so the score is consistent across Gemini / Claude / ChatGPT.

Canvas placement block

canvas_object    = Assignment
title            = "Week 14 Assignment — A War Transformed (adaptive)"
assignment_group = "Assignments"
points_possible  = 100
grading_type     = points
assignment_type  = adaptive
submission_types = [online_text_entry, online_url]   # paste the report (score on line 1) + the chat share link
due_offset_days  = 6        # Sun Dec 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 14 assignment is the AI-coached, self-scored version in I-assignment-and-rubric-week-14.md. This file shows the same Week 14 task built the traditional way — the student writes a 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 8 (Civil War, emancipation, the war's transformation) · SLO B (build and support a historical thesis with evidence) · SLO A (sourcing + close reading)
Worth 100 points · Assignments group = 15% of the grade

The Assignment

The Civil War began as a war to save the Union and became, over three years of fighting, a war for emancipation and the equality proposition Lincoln named at Gettysburg. In this short document-based argument (a mini-DBQ), you'll source two real documents, write a thesis about how the war's purpose changed, and support it with evidence from both. Submit your answers as a document upload or text entry in Canvas by Sunday, Dec 6, 11:59 p.m.

The focused question: Using both the Emancipation Proclamation (1863) and the Gettysburg Address (1863), argue how the Civil War's stated purpose changed as the war was fought.

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

Source 1 — President Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863 (National Archives transcript):
- Excerpt A (the operative clause): "I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free."
- Excerpt B (the war-powers framing): Lincoln issued the Proclamation as "a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion."

Source 2 — President Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863 (Bliss Copy, authoritative text):
- Excerpt C (the opening): "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."
- Excerpt D (the closing): "that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Part 1 — Source both documents (20 pts). For each source: (a) What type of document is it (speech, executive order, amendment, letter)? (b) Who issued or delivered it, when, and why — what was the stated purpose or occasion?

Part 2 — Write a thesis (25 pts). In one sentence, answer the focused question — a claim about how the war's stated purpose changed between the Proclamation and the Address. A thesis takes a position; it is not a summary. It should name what the war was for in each document and show a shift.

Part 3 — Support it with evidence from BOTH sources (30 pts). Quote one excerpt from Source 1 and one excerpt from Source 2 accurately (exact words), then explain in 2–3 sentences how each excerpt supports your thesis. Quoting without explaining earns only half.

Part 4 — Counterpoint & corroboration (25 pts). (a) What might a historian argue AGAINST the claim that the war's purpose "transformed" cleanly — what complicates the picture? (b) Name one other source or type of evidence a historian would seek to test or extend your thesis.

Integrity & AI note. Write your own work, submitted for grading. If AI helped you think, add a one-line note of which tool and how. Quote only from the four excerpts above — never quote from memory or from an AI. (Note: this is the traditional format. In this course's actual adaptive assignment, you build the argument with the chatbot and submit its self-scored report — see I-assignment-and-rubric-week-14.md.)

Rubric — 100 points

Instructor answer key — REMOVE BEFORE PUBLISHING TO STUDENTS

Part 1 (model):
- Source 1 (Proclamation): an executive order / proclamation, issued by Abraham Lincoln as President and Commander-in-Chief, on January 1, 1863, as a wartime military measure ("a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion") — invoking war powers against Confederate states in rebellion.
- Source 2 (Gettysburg Address): a speech, delivered by Lincoln on November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania — a ceremonial occasion Lincoln used to reframe the war's meaning in terms of the equality proposition and national founding.

Part 2 (model thesis): "The Emancipation Proclamation framed emancipation as a military necessity against the Confederate rebellion, while the Gettysburg Address — ten months later — reframed the war as a test of the proposition that all men are created equal, transforming emancipation from a war strategy into a founding principle the nation had pledged to fulfill." Accept any arguable thesis that names the purpose in each document and identifies a shift.

Part 3 (model): Quoting Excerpt B ("a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion") supports that the Proclamation frames emancipation in military-necessity terms — not in terms of moral principle. Quoting Excerpt D ("a new birth of freedom") supports that the Gettysburg Address frames freedom as something still to be achieved — an aspiration, future tense — rooted in the 1776 founding proposition. Full marks require exact quotation from both + analysis that explains the link to the thesis.

Part 4 (model): (a) Good complications: the Address is aspirational, not legal — it changes the rhetoric but not the law (the 13th Amendment does that); the Proclamation still left the border states untouched, and Lincoln's 1864 campaign emphasized union over emancipation; the "transformation" was contested and gradual. (b) Corroborating sources: 13th Amendment (1865) as the legal culmination; Lincoln's Second Inaugural (March 4, 1865) as his fullest statement that slavery caused the war; Frederick Douglass's response to the Proclamation as a Black abolitionist's contemporary reading; the testimony of formerly enslaved people.

Historical-accuracy gate — PASS: both verified source excerpts are transcribed exactly from the National Archives transcript (Proclamation) and the Bliss Copy via abrahamlincolnonline.org (Gettysburg Address). The Proclamation is correctly dated January 1, 1863; the Gettysburg Address November 19, 1863. Lincoln's role as author of both is verified. No fabricated quotation or date appears.

Canvas placement block

canvas_object    = Assignment
title            = "Week 14 Assignment — A War Transformed (traditional)"
assignment_group = "Assignments"
points_possible  = 100
grading_type     = points
assignment_type  = traditional
submission_types = [online_upload, online_text_entry]
due_offset_days  = 6        # Sun Dec 6
published        = true
rubric_ref       = "week-14-assignment-rubric"
provenance       = "~ Prof. Hartwell's edition · Fall 2026 · built with thecoursemaker.com"