To answer the question correctly, students must identify and explain a weakness of congressional testimony from Robert E. Lee as evidence of the treatment of African Americans in the postbellum South by former Confederates. Students should understand that Lee’s loyalties may have still been with the Confederate cause, making him unlikely to candidly report white Southerners’ attitudes and actions toward African Americans to Congress, especially at a time when Congress was considering punitive actions toward states that had been part of the Confederacy.
Level: Proficient
Student explains that Lee’s testimony is limited as evidence of the treatment of African Americans because Lee is a former Confederate leader whose loyalty may not have been forthright with Congress about the treatment of African Americans by white Southerners, especially because Congress was debating punishment for former Confederate states at the time.
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Level: Emergent
Student sees that the source has limitations but provides an incomplete explanation about why the source is limited in its usefulness as evidence.
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Level: Basic
Student does not identify or explain a relevant limitation of the source as evidence.
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