Study this source. Source D 'This war began as a war to preserve the Union, but it has become something far greater. With the Emancipation Proclamation, Pre...

Source analysis

Source D is a speech by Frederick Douglass, a former enslaved person and leading abolitionist, published in 1863. Douglass describes the transformation of the war from a conflict to preserve the Union into a war for freedom through the Emancipation Proclamation. He celebrates the hope it gives to 'four million people held in bondage.' However, he warns that 'freedom written on paper is not enough' and demands voting rights, land ownership, and education for formerly enslaved people. Without these, emancipation would remain 'an empty promise.' The source is powerful because Douglass himself embodies the issue: as a former enslaved person, his perspective carries unique authority on questions of freedom and its meaning.

Contextual knowledge

Douglass's warning proved prescient. The 13th Amendment (1865) formally abolished slavery, and the 14th and 15th Amendments granted citizenship and voting rights. However, Reconstruction largely failed to deliver lasting equality. Black Codes, enacted by Southern state legislatures in 1865-1866, restricted the freedom of formerly enslaved people. Sharecropping and tenant farming kept many in conditions of economic dependence. After Reconstruction ended in 1877, Jim Crow laws imposed segregation and racial discrimination that lasted for another century. Other major results of the war included the preservation of the Union, the destruction of the Southern economy, the strengthening of federal government power over the states, and the transformation of America's understanding of citizenship.

Mark scheme (Levels of Response) [7 marks]

• Level 1 [1-3 marks]: Simple agreement or disagreement. For example, 'The source says ending slavery was the main result because Lincoln freed the enslaved.' No evaluation.
• Level 2 [4-5 marks]: Uses source details to evaluate both sides. Notes that Douglass presents emancipation as transformative but also warns it could be 'an empty promise.' Recognises the source's nuance rather than treating it as straightforward evidence for one position.
• Level 3 [6-7 marks]: Evaluates using source details AND own knowledge. Uses Douglass's warning about 'empty promises' alongside knowledge of Black Codes, sharecropping, and Jim Crow to argue that the end of slavery was a crucial but deeply incomplete result. Considers other results (preservation of the Union, destruction of Southern economy, federal power) to assess whether ending slavery was the 'main' result or one of several transformative consequences.

Exam reminder: When a source's own author qualifies their argument (as Douglass does by warning about 'empty promises'), use that qualification in your answer. It shows sophisticated source analysis to recognise that the source itself contains evidence for both sides of the question.