Gathering Sources

What kinds of documents should I look at?

I want to use sources that will show me the different sides of the story.  I also want to look at different kinds of sources, like paintings, testimony or diaries.  I know that there is evidence for what happened in more than just printed documents!

My Sources

 

I have chosen three types of sources to use to help answer my question—

  1. A poster of the Boston Massacre, made by Paul Revere
  2. Captain Preston's deposition, given at his own trial 
  3. Depositions from the trials of the British soldiers who shot into the crowd
image of sources
Description | Source
A poster, the cover of the trial depositions and trial testimony of Boston Massacre
From left to right, this shows a poster of British soldiers shooting into a group of Boston men; the front page of trial depositions entitled, "A Fair account of the late unhappy disturbance at Boston in New England extracted from the depositions that have been made concerning it by persons of all parties ; with an appendix containing some affidavits and other evidences relating to this affair, not mentioned in the narrative of it that has been published at Boston;" and a page entitled, "The Trial of William Wemms, James Hartegan, William McCauley, Hugh White, Matthew Killroy, William Warren, John Carrol, and Hugh Montgomery for the Murder of Crispus Attucks, Samuel Grey, Samuel Maverick, James Caldwell and Patrick Carr."Digital Sources: Library of Congress viewed 9/15/09; http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?pp/app:@FIELD%28NUMBER%283b51693%29%29; MA Historical Society Digital Collection viewed 9/15/09 http://www.masshist.org/database/images/fairacc_1_ref.jpg; Library of Congress viewed 9/15/09 http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/images/vc006708.jpg

When you choose sources, think about including:

  • written accounts
  • diaries
  • court testimony
  • newspapers
  • political cartoons or posters
  • maps
  • songs
  • images
  • places
  • videos
  • movies

What other kinds of documents can you think of to investigate a historical question or problem?

_____________________________

Take Action:
Gather your sources

Choose sources that you think will tell different sides of the story or that tell the story in different ways.  Be creative—images, songs or cartoons and text are all good historical sources.

 

Terry's Tips

Use multiple means of representing information

Support students' differing styles of understanding information by representing information in multiple forms.  Here, the author uses a bulleted list as well as visual 'thumbnails' of the sources.  Providing clear lists and alternate representations of material gives students various ways to access and understand information.