Collecting Evidence from Visual Documents:

What information have I collected from my source?

 

poster of the Boston Massacre
Description | Source
A poster showing British soldiers shooting into a crowd of American colonists.
Poster showing a crowd of men and boys from Boston on the left, arranged in a disorganized group. Two men are laying on the ground, bleeding and a third man is being carried away. On the right side of the poster, British soldiers, dressed in bright red jackets, stand in two lines and are firing their long guns into the crowd. A commanding officer, slightly behind the soldiers, raises his sword. Buildings from the town of Boston can be seen in the background.Digital Source: Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division viewed on 9/15/09; http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?pp/app:@FIELD%28NUMBER%283b51693%29%29

Click here if you want to view an online version of the poster.

Evidence from the poster:

  • Two separate groups--colonists on left, British soldiers on right
  • Colonists are in an unorganized crowd
  • Soldiers are in tight military formation
  • Colonists leaning backward, away from soldiers
  • Soldiers lean forward, toward group of colonists
  • The highlighted sections show British officer holding up his sword, leaning forward. May be giving order to soldiers?
  • Two colonists bleeding on the ground. The red color of the blood matches the red of the soldiers' uniforms
  • Text calls event 'Bloody Massacre'
  • Poem below image calls action of British soldiers 'murderous'
  • writing below image calls colonists killed in the event the 'unhappy Sufferers'

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Take Action:
Collect Evidence

Look through one of your visual sources --a poster, photograph or cartoon--and record all the things that you notice, including details and specifics from your source.  You can use one of the document analysis worksheets at the links below to guide you in collecting your evidence. 

Terry's Tips

Engage and support students in using multiple forms of media as historical documents

Students are more engaged when they see that history is more than 'names and dates.'  Art museums, audio libraries, and online maps are all 'unconventional' sources that can bring history alive, and most institutions have online collections.  

For practice and support for teachers and students in learning how to approach political cartoons as historical documents, see: History Matters:  Making Sense of Political Cartoons and, at the Library of Congress, It’s No Laughing Matter:  Analyzing Political Cartoons