Making History: A Guided Exploration of Historical Inquiry

Evaluating the Evidence from Visual Documents: 

What "story" does my source tell me about my topic?

I've collected evidence and considered the bias in my source.  Now I want to step back and think about what this information says to me about the Boston Massacre.  I will use the evidence from the document as the basis of my  interpretation, or evaluation, of the source.

My evaluation of the poster: 

The organization of the British soldiers and disorganization of the American colonists seems really important in this poster.  The British soldiers are shown as an organized army, deliberately stepping forward together toward the crowd of colonists. The soldiers stand in a military formation with an officer, who seems calm and controlled, motioning forward. The Americans, in contrast, are shown as an unorganized crowd of simple people. I believe that any viewer of this poster would ask themselves, "how could this be a fair fight?  How could a small bunch of disorganized colonists provoke this well-disciplined army?" 

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Take Action:
Evaluate your visual document

You've collected data from your visual document, now add meaning to it with your evaluation, or interpretation.  Base your evaluation on the facts as well as your understanding and experience.  Make sure to tie your evaluation to evidence in the document.