History project part 3

Source Investigator Worksheet

An important part of being an historian is acting as a detective and investigating your sources before using them in a paper. In this activity, you are the detective! To use a source effectively, you will need to understand everything you can about it, including author, the relation of the author to the subject he or she is writing about, what the source says, and so on.

Answering these questions below is an important first step in writing your final paper!

Some are names of people of so in case it brings non originality then we can’t change.

Part I: Primary Source Investigation!

Instructions: Choose one of your primary sources and answer the questions below in your own words. With the exception of Question 1, all answers should be at least 100 words.

1. What is the name of your source and when was it produced?

A loyalist poem known as Patriots of North America

2. Who was the author/creator of this document and how is the author related to the event he/she is writing about?

Rev. Myles Cooper, He was one of the loyalists who were driven by the sentiments of the people. This kind of people can be described as those patriots who claimed that the patriots in the in US were turning what they described as paradise into hell. These events took place in the 1770s.the patriots were of the opinion that the enlightenment inspired and gentle rule encouraged by the British was not good enough contrary to the loyalist who even viewed as the beginning of good life. In general he tried to bring the sentiments of each of the groups to disposal through a poem.

3. How credible is the author on his/her subject and what are some potential biases the author may have had?

I believe it is because the author was one of them players involved in the friction between the loyalists and the patriots. In most poems even when considering his work, they tend to be providing more evidence than our books or articles. The poem tends to explain so much on the potential causes of political divide in the 1775, does not drop a hint on any source of unity. He also goes ahead to lament on the tragedies that were caused by the war. At least he could have mentioned the good part of the conflict or some of the positives accrued due to the conflicts.

 4. List three things in the document that is important to your topic’s focus.

The poem mentions the in general some people who in general came up with revolutionary ideas, hence it will assist me in acknowledgement of those who centrally focused on the revolutionary ideas.

Secondly the poem also mentions some of the ideas that paved way to a revolutionized state in North America between the 1775- 1776.

Thirdly the poem outlines the connection between the people and ideas of the revolution, and even the progress towards the achievement of revolution.

The points explained above are derived from the poem and every line was written by a different writer but the compilation was done by Rev. Myles Cooper .

5. Why do you think the document was written?

The document was out rightly written in attempt to explain the war that conflict that existed between British Empire and some its colonies on the issue of power within the colonies. The author tries to reflect the internal issues that posed a challenge in the running of the colonies and even among the people themselves. From this aspect, the author brings in the conflict between the loyalists and the patriots. He also brought the poem to bring out the sentiments of the patriots to disposal and how some of the leaders misguided the colonial power that could have affected the welfare of other citizens.

6. How will this source contribute to your paper’s focus?

As mentioned earlier on the three important things that can be derived from the source. Through the connection between and people and ideas of revolution we can obtain some important information the arguments or ideas brought forward by patriots and the contrary opinions described by the loyalist.

Secondly the ideas given that paved way towards a revolutionized state assist in obtaining some significant information that will assist in coming in a clear contrast between the loyalists and the patriots in North America.

Thirdly, through the mentioning of some general people, what they stood for, what they were against, then we can formulate the similarities and difference between the loyalists and patriots in terms on what they were all thinking about.

Part II: Secondary Source Investigation!

Instructions: Choose one of your secondary sources and answer the questions below in your own words. All answers should be at least 100 words.

1. What is the name of your chosen document?

“Tar, Feathers, and the Enemies of American Liberties, 1768-1776”

2. Who was the author of this document and why is the author qualified to write about this topic?

Benjamin A. Irvin

The author was qualified in the sense that he had gathered a range of evidence relation to the relation to the main ritual called as tarring and feathering in the American colonies during the end of 1760s.

In most cases to be successful one has to be in the environments and have information on the where he or she stays. Benjamin A. Irvin grew in England, so with this as an advantage hew grew how his mother country treated the colonies.

The author is learned too, a professor, so he made a lot of investigations before documenting his work described above. In other words to be successful in many works like his, It needs expertise and somebody already in the system.

3. What historical event/topic is the author writing about and what is his/her main argument?

In his work he describes the various incidents of tarring and feathering that took place in North America between 1766 and 1769. This ritual was used in several ways described later. The concept of tarring and feathering traced back to the American colonies during the end of 1776. It was recognized as ritual of political protest. As time went by the ritual changed hence leading to proper tracking of the events. At the first place, punishment was distributed to be against informants and custom officers, those collected taxes on good which were imported. Thereafter the colonies changed and implemented no consumption and the non-importation campaigns. Also the campaigns were utilized in the intimidation of people who went to against boycotts. In other places these ritual was used in the punishment of people who went against the continental congress or spoke negative of towards the reason for independence.

4. List three things in the document that is important to your topic’s focus.

In approach of my paper I will be asking myself several questions. I will ask myself if the change in the ritual contributed towards the American Revolution. In attempt to explain the revolution ideas topic I should know or a have an idea of changes that contributed towards it.

Secondly, the persons who were responsible in the process of tarring. If I know the people I could have background information on their ideas.

Thirdly I can obtain information on the person whom tarring was done. I would explore the reasons as to why they were tarred and even the locality where tarring was being done.

5. How will this source contribute to your paper?

If the paper is properly reviewed it can bring out the similarities and differences between the loyalist and patriots. Let’s view it this way, I can obtain information on those who were being tarred and those responsible, come up with something common and different between them hence constructing the focus. Secondly, if we can obtain the reasons as to why tarring was being done we can draw several conclusions which are significant in our topic. If I can obtain information regarding the locality of these events relate it to other places, then I will be good. The knowledge of the impact of the British perceptions on the revolution aspect and the transforming ritual is also part of knowledge extraction.