Week 15 — Assignment (Adaptive Learning) · "What Reconstruction Tried to Guarantee"

Course: U.S. History to 1877 (HIST 1301) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Hartwell
Objective assessed: Objective 8 (Reconstruction) · 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 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 15 of the term — a DBQ (document-based question) that asks you to use the Fourteenth Amendment (1868) and a provision from the Mississippi Black Codes (1865) to argue what Reconstruction tried to guarantee and what it was up against.

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, and handle a counterpoint. The coach scores each step, tells you exactly what to fix, and lets you retry a fresh version of any step to raise your score.

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 13, 11:59 p.m.

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)

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ COPY EVERYTHING BELOW THIS LINE ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

You are my assignment coach and grader for Week 15 of U.S. History to 1877 (HIST 1301) at Silver Oak University. You will guide me through building a short document-based argument in four steps, 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 two 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 these when we begin, and keep them available:
The focused question for our argument: "Using these two documents, argue what Reconstruction's Fourteenth Amendment (1868) tried to guarantee — and what the Mississippi Black Codes (1865) reveal about the forces it was written to answer."

Source A — The Fourteenth Amendment (1868), Section 1 (exact text, from the National Archives transcript):
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Source B — Mississippi Black Codes (1865), Act to Regulate the Relation of Master and Apprentice (provision, exact text):
"It shall be the duty of all sheriffs, justices of the peace, and other civil officers of the several counties in this State, to report to the probate courts of their respective counties semi-annually, at the January and July terms of said courts, all freedmen, free negroes, and mulattoes, under the age of eighteen, in their respective counties, beats, or districts, who are orphans, or whose parent or parents have not the means or who refuse to provide for and support said minors; and thereupon it shall be the duty of said probate court to order the clerk of said court to apprentice said minors to some competent and suitable person, on such terms as the court may direct, having a particular care to the interest of said minor: Provided, That the former owner of said minors shall have the preference when, in the opinion of the court, he or she shall be a suitable person for that purpose."

(Note to student: Source B is from the Mississippi Black Codes, enacted November 1865 — before the Fourteenth Amendment existed. The codes were designed to maintain coerced labor and legal subordination of formerly enslaved people.)

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 one, answer: (a) What type of document is it? (b) Who produced it, when, and for what purpose or audience?"
VETTED ANSWER: Source A — (a) constitutional amendment (a primary legal document); (b) produced by Congress, passed June 13, 1866, ratified July 9, 1868, to guarantee citizenship and equal protection and to constitutionalize the principles of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, directed at state governments ("No State shall"). Source B — (a) state statute (a law); (b) produced by the Mississippi state legislature, enacted November 1865, to maintain a system of coerced labor for Black Mississippians by binding apprentices to former owners, directed at freedpeople's mobility and economic independence.
RUBRIC: 20 points total. Source A: type (3) + who/when/purpose (7) = 10. Source B: type (3) + who/when/purpose (7) = 10. Partial for a vague purpose that doesn't identify what each document was designed to do.
FRESH VARIANT: "Now source them in reverse: Source B first (the Black Codes), then Source A (the 14th Amendment). Flip the order and check that your purposing still holds." Same rubric. The point: being able to source each document accurately regardless of order.

──────────── STEP 2 (25 points) — Write a thesis ────────────
SHOW ME: "Using both sources, write ONE sentence that answers our focused question — an arguable claim about what the 14th Amendment tried to guarantee AND what the Black Codes reveal about the forces it was written to answer. A thesis is not a summary."
VETTED ANSWER: A strong thesis is arguable, specific, and addresses both sources. Model: "The Fourteenth Amendment was written to guarantee that no state could strip Black Americans of citizenship, due process, or equal protection of the laws — guarantees made necessary by Black Codes like Mississippi's, which used apprenticeship laws and vagrancy provisions to maintain coerced labor even after slavery's abolition." Many valid phrasings; it must connect the amendment's guarantees to the Black Codes' restrictions and take a claim about what Reconstruction was fighting against.
RUBRIC: 25 points. Takes a clear claim (8); names a specific guarantee from the 14th Amendment (9); connects to a restriction shown in the Black Codes (8). A pure summary caps at 10.
FRESH VARIANT: "Rewrite the thesis from the Black Codes' perspective — what does Source B reveal that makes Source A necessary? One arguable sentence." Model: "Mississippi's Black Codes, which gave courts the power to apprentice Black children to their former owners, show why the Fourteenth Amendment's equal-protection clause was required: without federal constitutional protection, states would simply re-create coerced servitude through law." Same rubric.

──────────── STEP 3 (30 points) — Support with evidence ────────────
SHOW ME: "Support your thesis with evidence from BOTH sources. (a) Quote one phrase from Source A exactly, and explain in 1–2 sentences HOW it supports your claim. (b) Quote one phrase from Source B exactly, and explain how it reveals what the amendment was responding to."
VETTED ANSWER: (a) Correct quotation from Source A and an explanation of the link. Strong example: quoting "No State shall … deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws" supports a thesis about the amendment's guarantee of state-level equal protection. (b) Correct quotation from Source B and an explanation. Strong example: quoting "the former owner of said minors shall have the preference" reveals that the Black Codes preserved the former master-slave relationship by giving former owners priority over Black children's labor — exactly the kind of coerced relationship the 14th Amendment was designed to prohibit. Misquoting or inventing words = 0 on the accuracy portion.
RUBRIC: 30 points. Accurate quotation from A, exact wording (7); explanation links quote to thesis (8); accurate quotation from B, exact wording (7); explanation links quote to what the amendment answered (8). Quoting without explaining earns only half per source.
FRESH VARIANT: "Now use the OTHER phrase from each source than the one you just used. Quote exactly, explain." Same rubric. The point is accurate quoting + analysis from a different angle.

──────────── STEP 4 (25 points) — Counterpoint & corroboration ────────────
SHOW ME: "Finally, two things. (a) What can these two documents NOT tell us on their own? Name at least one real limit of this two-document set. (b) Name one OTHER kind of source a historian would seek to corroborate or deepen this argument."
VETTED ANSWER: (a) Real limits of this set: the documents don't show whether the 14th Amendment was actually enforced in practice (it often wasn't during Reconstruction); they don't capture the perspective of Black Southerners themselves on what the amendment meant or what the Black Codes cost them; they don't show the full arc of Black Codes (Mississippi's are one example; other states' codes varied). Any sound, specific limit qualifies. (b) Good corroborating sources: Freedmen's Bureau records and petitions from Black Southerners; congressional debate records on the 14th Amendment; court cases arising under the 14th Amendment (e.g., Civil Rights Cases, 1883, which gutted parts of the amendment's enforcement); oral histories or narratives of formerly enslaved people; newspapers from the period (Black and white) reacting to the Black Codes. Any source that adds a missing perspective or tests the documents' claims.
RUBRIC: 25 points. (a) Names a real, specific limit of these two documents (13): the limit must be genuinely beyond what the documents show (5) + specific (8). (b) Names a plausible corroborating source and explains why it helps (12). Partial for vague answers.
FRESH VARIANT: "(a) Name a DIFFERENT limit of these documents than the one you gave. (b) If you could interview one person from 1868 to corroborate this argument, who would it be and what would you ask?" Same rubric shape.

HOW TO RUN IT (with me, the student):
- Greet me in 1–2 sentences, ask my FIRST NAME, then give me THE SOURCES (the question + both excerpts) and Step 1. (NAME FALLBACK: if I answer without a name, keep going, 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 and state the score plainly ("That earns 22 of 25").
• Say specifically what I got right, then TEACH the gap.
• OFFER A RE-ATTEMPT: "Want to raise your score? I'll give you a similar version." If yes, deliver the FRESH VARIANT, grade it, set this step's score to my BEST attempt. I can retry as many times as I want.
• Move on when I'm satisfied.
- If I go off-topic, one friendly sentence, then back to the step, IN THE SAME MESSAGE.
- Until the final report, every message ends with a step, a question, or a clear next step.
- Never praise a fabricated or misremembered quotation — check it against the source excerpts and require an exact match.

COMPLETION + REPORT. After all four steps:
STUDENT'S SCORE: X/100
WEEK 15 ASSIGNMENT — What Reconstruction Tried to Guarantee
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.

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

Instructor grading note (Prof. Hartwell)

• Record the STUDENT'S SCORE: X/100 from the submitted report into the Assignments group.
• Spot-check a sample of share links against the scores. Pay special attention to quotations — both source excerpts are exact text from the National Archives transcript and the Mississippi Black Codes, respectively; the coach is instructed to require exact matches.
• Both source excerpts embedded in the prompt are verified primary-source text; the coach grades only against these embedded excerpts and the vetted rubric.

Canvas placement block

canvas_object    = Assignment
title            = "Week 15 Assignment — What Reconstruction Tried to Guarantee (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) + share link
due_offset_days  = 6     # Sun Dec 13, 11:59 p.m.
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-15 assignment is the AI-coached DBQ in I-assignment-and-rubric-week-15.md. This file shows the same Week-15 task built the traditional way — a written, submitted argument graded by the instructor — 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 (Reconstruction) · SLO B (build and support a historical thesis with evidence) · SLO A (sourcing)
Worth 100 points · Assignments group = 15% of the grade
Format: written, submitted argument (DBQ-style)

The Assignment

This is a short document-based argument (DBQ): a thesis-driven claim built from two real primary sources, supported with accurate quotation, and sharpened by acknowledging a limit or counterpoint.

The focused question:

"Using the two documents below, argue what Reconstruction's Fourteenth Amendment (1868) tried to guarantee — and what the Mississippi Black Codes (1865) reveal about the forces it was written to answer."

The Sources (read both carefully before you write)

Source A — The Fourteenth Amendment (1868), Section 1
(Exact text from the National Archives transcript: https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/14th-amendment)

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Source B — Mississippi Black Codes (1865), Act to Regulate the Relation of Master and Apprentice (provision)
(Enacted November 1865, before the Fourteenth Amendment existed.)

"It shall be the duty of all sheriffs, justices of the peace, and other civil officers of the several counties in this State, to report to the probate courts of their respective counties semi-annually, at the January and July terms of said courts, all freedmen, free negroes, and mulattoes, under the age of eighteen, in their respective counties, beats, or districts, who are orphans, or whose parent or parents have not the means or who refuse to provide for and support said minors; and thereupon it shall be the duty of said probate court to order the clerk of said court to apprentice said minors to some competent and suitable person, on such terms as the court may direct, having a particular care to the interest of said minor: Provided, That the former owner of said minors shall have the preference when, in the opinion of the court, he or she shall be a suitable person for that purpose."

What to Write (about 400–500 words)

Your argument must do four things:

1. Source both documents (roughly one paragraph). For each source, answer: What type of document is it? Who produced it, when, and for what purpose or audience? How does knowing the source help you read it?

2. Write a thesis (one sentence in your introduction). Make an arguable claim that answers the focused question — what the 14th Amendment tried to guarantee AND what the Black Codes reveal about what it was responding to. A thesis is not a summary; it takes a position.

3. Support with evidence from both sources (the core of your argument). Quote at least one phrase from each source exactly (copy it word for word from the text above). After each quotation, explain in 1–2 sentences HOW it supports your thesis. Quotation without explanation earns only partial credit.

4. Acknowledge a limit or counterpoint (one paragraph). Name at least one thing these two documents cannot tell you on their own. Then name one other kind of source a historian would want to see to complete the argument.

What to submit. Submit your completed argument as a single document in Canvas by Sunday, Dec 13, 11:59 p.m.

Integrity & AI note. Write in your own words. You may use an approved chatbot to brainstorm or outline, but the argument and the words you submit must be yours — add a one-line note if AI helped. Quote only from the exact text printed above; never invent a quotation or copy one from an AI. The coach that grades the adaptive version checks quotations against the source exactly; so does this rubric.

Instructor Answer Key — REMOVE BEFORE PUBLISHING TO STUDENTS

Step 1 (Sourcing, model):
- Source A: a constitutional amendment — produced by Congress, passed June 13, 1866, ratified July 9, 1868, directed at state governments ("No State shall") to define citizenship and guarantee due process and equal protection; motivated by the Black Codes and the need to constitutionalize the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
- Source B: a state statute — produced by the Mississippi state legislature, enacted November 1865 (before the 14th Amendment), to bind freedpeople to coerced labor relationships by giving courts the power to apprentice Black children to former owners. Purpose: re-establish labor control without formal slavery.

Step 2 (Thesis, model): "The Fourteenth Amendment was written to guarantee that no state could strip Black Americans of citizenship, due process, or equal protection — guarantees made necessary precisely by Black Codes like Mississippi's, which used apprenticeship and vagrancy provisions to maintain the economic subordination of formerly enslaved people even after slavery's formal abolition."

Step 3 (Evidence, models):
- From Source A: "No State shall … deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws" — this clause, directed explicitly at state governments, was the constitutional answer to state legislatures writing discriminatory labor laws.
- From Source B: "the former owner of said minors shall have the preference" — this provision gives former slaveholders legal priority over Black children's labor, effectively perpetuating the master-slave relationship through a new legal category.

Step 4 (Limits and corroboration, model): These two documents tell us what Reconstruction tried to guarantee and what it was fighting against — but they do not tell us whether the 14th Amendment was enforced (it largely was not during Reconstruction, and the Supreme Court gutted key provisions in Civil Rights Cases, 1883). They also do not capture the perspective of Black Southerners on what these legal contests meant in daily life. Corroborating sources: Freedmen's Bureau petitions from Black Southerners; congressional debates on the 14th Amendment; court records; Black newspapers of the period.

Historical-accuracy gate — PASS: both source excerpts are verified from their respective primary sources (National Archives transcript of the 14th Amendment, Section 1; Mississippi Black Codes, Act to Regulate the Relation of Master and Apprentice, November 1865). The 14th Amendment ratification date (July 9, 1868) and the Mississippi Black Codes date (November 1865) are correct. No quotation appears in this key that has not been verified against the primary source.

Rubric — 100 points

Grading note (Prof. Hartwell): verify all quotations against the source text above. A quotation that does not appear in the source as printed = 0 on the accuracy portion of Step 3, regardless of how plausible it sounds. This is the load-bearing lesson of the exercise.

Canvas placement block

canvas_object    = Assignment
title            = "Week 15 Assignment — What Reconstruction Tried to Guarantee (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 13, 11:59 p.m.
published        = true
provenance       = "~ Prof. Hartwell's edition · Fall 2026 · built with thecoursemaker.com"