3.1 Primary Source Analysis

Learning Target: Contextualizing Period 3 (1754-1800)

Overarching Goal:

• I can explain the historical context of Period 3 (1754-1800) by analyzing the perspectives and ideas presented in a variety of primary sources.

Specific Skills:

• I can analyze visual and written primary sources to draw conclusions about the attitudes and events of a historical period.

• I can summarize the main arguments of historical texts, such as excerpts from Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence.

• I can explain how Enlightenment ideals, like those presented by John Locke, influenced revolutionaries and foundational American documents.

• I can determine the purpose and intended audience of a primary source to understand its historical significance.

• I can infer the beliefs and perspectives of different groups during Period 3, including Native Americans and American colonists, by examining their writings and depictions.

Period 3

In Period 3 (1754-1800), the American colonists developed a strong sense of unity and independence. Revolutionaries attempt to adopt the writings and ideals of the Enlightenment. The social contract theory inspires nearly one third of American colonists to engage in rebellion against the mother country. However, the Declaration of Independence was not signed until 1776. Although England tightened its grip on the colonies soon after the French and Indian War, the colonists did not declare independence for nearly 20 years later. After the Revolutionary War, the Americans are tasked to build the foundation of a new and experimental government. The debate over state and federal authority causes rifts among key and influential figures.

Analyze the primary sources below in order to gain a better understanding of the context of

Period 3. Summarize each source and make conclusions/inferences.

Source 1: 1777 cartoon entitled, “Poor old England endeavoring to reclaim his wicked American children” Image Source: Library of Congress

1. What do you see in this cartoon? Who are the characters? What are they doing? What are their emotions?

2. What is the perspective of the cartoonist? Why do you think that?

3. What does this cartoon suggest about the attitudes of individuals during Period 3?

Source #2 Excerpt from Common Sense written by Thomas Paine (1775)

“Small islands, not capable of protecting themselves, are the proper objects for kingdoms to take under their care; but there is something absurd, in supposing a continent to be perpetually governed by an island. In no instance hath nature made the satellite larger than its primary planet.”

1. Summarize this excerpt.

2. How might this document influence other Americans during Period 3?

Source #3 Excerpt from The Second Treatise on Government written by John Locke (1690) 

Note that this source is not from Period 3, but it still has influence on the time period.

“The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions… (and) when his own preservation comes not in competition, ought he, as much as he can, to preserve the rest of mankind, and may not, unless it be to do justice on an offender, take away, or impair the life, or what tends to the preservation of the life, the liberty, health, limb, or goods of another.”

1. Summarize this excerpt.

2. How might this document influence Americans during Period 3?

Source #4 Excerpt from the Declaration of Independence (1776)

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

1. What events or ideals may have influenced the creation of this document?

2. How does this document represent American attitudes during Period 3?

Source #5 Writing by an Ottawa war chief named Pontiac (1763), Source: American Yawp Reader

“Before those whom you call your brothers come on your lands, did you not live by bow and arrow? You had no need of gun nor powder, nor the rest of their things, and nevertheless you caught animals to live and clothe yourselves with their skins, but when I saw that you inclined to the evil, I called back the animals into the depths of the woods, so that you had need of your brothers to have your wants supplied and I shall send back to you the animals to live on. I do not forbid you, for all that, to suffer amongst you the children of your father. I love them, they know me and pray to me, and I give them their necessities and all that they bring to you, but as regards those who have come to trouble your country, drive them out, make war on them. I love them not, they know me not, they are my enemies and the enemies of your brothers. Send them back to the country which I made for them. There let them remain.”

1. Who is the intended audience of this source?

2. What is the purpose?

3. What does this source suggest about the attitudes or beliefs of some Native Americans during Period 3?

Source #6 1792 “Wha wants me” cartoon depicting Thomas Paine, Source: Library of Congress, Note: You may want to zoom in to see the image better.

1. What is the message of this cartoon?

2. Who is the intended audience of this cartoon?

3. What does this source suggest about the attitudes of Americans during Period 3?