EIGHTH GRADE TRAINING GUIDE

1994 Social Studies Rubric - Eighth Grade - Item 2

FORM F

9. Read the following quote and answer the question.

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

---President Abraham Lincoln, second inaugural address, March 4, 1865.F

If Lincoln had lived to implement the ideals expressed in his second inaugural address, how do you think Reconstruction and life in the South might have been different? Explain your answer using specific examples.

ITEM SCORE SCALE

0	Answer is unresponsive, unrelated, or inappropriate.
1	Answer explains how Reconstruction and life in the South might have been different had Lincoln lived to implement the ideals expressed in his second inaugural address. The explanation provided is sparse or confusing. *(Answers must be logical, defensible, and may include, for example, "that under Lincoln's political leadership, there may not have been Radical Reconstruction or Black Codes; Southern resentment toward the North may not have been as severe, Southerners may have been allowed to run their own state governments; etc.")
2	Answer explains how Reconstruction and life in the South might have been different had Lincoln lived to implement the ideals expressed in his second inaugural address. The explanation provided may be brief or have minor errors. *
3	Answer explains how Reconstruction and life in the South might have been different had Lincoln lived to implement the ideals expressed in his second inaugural address. The explanation provided is clear and developed.*

Study the following question and student responses and decide for yourself the student's score (0-3) based on the grading rubric provided above. Then briefly print out this page, use the lined spaces below and indicate why you chose this score, including what the student should have and should not have included in their answer. When you have completed this part, choose the answer section to compare your results with the state scorers.

STUDENT RESPONSES

QUESTION

9. Read the following quote and answer the question.

---President Abraham Lincoln, second inaugural address, March 4, 1865.F

STUDENT RESPONSE NUMBER ONE

If Lincoln had lived we would be in a lot better shape than we are now.

Like the people with no food would have food.

RUBRIC SCORING

STUDENT RESPONSE NUMBER TWO

I think that there would have been a big difference because Lincoln was a great president and kept all of his promises. Lincoln would have seen to it that slaves received the proper treatment and that the South was to rebuild itself fromt he Civil War. I think we would have been a much better country.

RUBRIC SCORING

STUDENT RESPONSE NUMBER THREE

I think that if Lincoln had lived he would have been more charitable to southerners. I also think he would have done more to help free slaves. An example of that is freedmen were promised 40 acres and a mule. Some of the land they received was not farmable. I think Lincoln would have had congress do something about that. What I mean by more charitable to sotherners is that he wouldn't have had carpetbaggers come in and raise taxes after the war. I think Lincoln would have been more faire.

RUBRIC SCORING

STUDENT RESPONSE NUMBER FOUR

Lincon would have treated the South different if he had lived. Reconstruction would have been quicker and the South would have recovered sooner. He thought it was his duty to bring the country back together as soon as possible. He would not have kept the Confederate states from government like they did in Radical Reconstruction. The Confederate leaders could have helped the South to recover. Then the carpetbaggers and Scalywags might not have been able to take advantage of the South like it did. Radical Reconstruction wanted to punish the South for the Civil War. Lincon did not. He wanted us to be one nation again and would have helped the South recover economically by letting the states honor their war debts.

RUBRIC SCORING

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