Assignment

After reading the Openstax chapters on Slavery and the New South and having read "Kindred. First analyze 4 of this unit's sources with the worksheet below, keeping in mind the efficacy of these sources to explain the life of a slave, the violence of the institution and their capacity to affect empathy in their audience.

Analysis of a primary source

What is the source?

1) Identify the source (type of source, title, who produced it, when, where...) and briefly describe it and how effective it is in examining slavery.

2) Identify the source's p point of view using (a) knowledge about the person or persons who produced it, (b) the intended audience, and (c) reason it was produced. If there are gaps in what you know, address what you would need to find out, if you were using this as a research source. How effective is the source at eliciting empathy for the plight of slaves?

Interpret the source:

Speak to the most important information it provides. How does it handle slavery, what message does it offer about the condition of slaves and the institution of slavery and what is its thesis or central message.

What questions for further research does the evidence in this source suggest?

Evaluate the source:

What (if any) legitimate historical questions can this source (fully or partially) answer? What additional types of primary and secondary sources would you need to consult in order to balance the biases and fill in the gaps that you have identified?