American Revolution

A key part of a historian’s work is to analyze primary sources. If you remember from your first week, primary sources are sources that originate from the time being investigated — letters, diaries, government documents, etc. For this assignment, read the attached document (beginning with the bottom of the first page where it is labeled “Set A: Exercise 4”). It includes a number of documents related to the investigation of what actually happened in Lexington, Massachusetts the morning of April 19, 1775. If you remember from your reading in Chapter 7, this is where hostilities began between Great Britain and the colonies and marked the beginning of he American Revolution.

Note the questions listed on the second page of the document. Do not answer these in any formal fashion, but instead ask them to yourself as you read each piece. Once you have finished reading this, answer the following questions with at least 250-300 words (total, not each):

1. Which piece of evidence do you find most convincing? Least convincing? Why?

2. On which “facts” does there seem to be general agreement?

3. What are the central points of agreement?

document_analysis_lexington