Were the slaves freed by Abraham Lincoln or did they free themselves?

Guidelines

1. This is an argumentative paper.
a. For the paper to be argumentative it should either be an original claim about a person, event, series of events, institution, etc. that has taken place in history, or if not original it would need to take a side/position on a historical debate.
b. The thesis statement should be presented towards the end of the introductory paragraph and it should follow the counter-claim.
c. Counter-claim = the counter claim is the other side of the argument. If your argument is original the counter-claim would be the mainstream/popular claim about your subject. If you argument is one side of an ongoing historical debate, your counter-claim would be the other side of the debate.
d. Your introduction should consist of a hook, background information, counter-claim, then the claim/thesis statement in roughly that order.
2. Clear and original thesis statement that is supported by your evidence throughout your paper.
3. Write 8 pages.
4. Use at least 6 source…A mixture of books and scholarly articles.
5. I recommend you use the college’s database. Everything found through the database is considered scholarly/credible.
6. Avoid websites where the articles do not have authors.
7. Work Cited Page on the Final Paper (bibliography on the prior submissions)
8. Footnote citations
9. Citation Style: Turabian or Chicago. (MLA is the format…font, margins, page numbers, etc.)
10. Avoid first person in your paper. Don’t say, “I think that….” Or “I am a believer in…”, etc.
11. Avoid using contractions such as: Don’t, can’t, didn’t, etc.
12. Avoid personal anecdotes such as: “I saw one day in the store that this immigrant was being mistreated by a employee…”
13. Try to be less opinionated, and let the evidence speak for itself.