Period 2 Primary and Secondary Sources Analysis
APPARTS
Author
Who created the source? What do you know about the author? What is the author's point of view?
Place and time
Where and when was the source produced? How might this affect the meaning of the source?
Prior knowledge
Beyond information about the author, and the context of the document's creation, what do you know that would help
you further understand the primary source? For example, do you recognize any symbols and recall what they
represent?
Audience
For whom was the source created and how might this affect the reliability of the source?
Reason
Why was this source produced and how might this affect the reliability of the source?
The main idea
What point is the source trying to convey?
Significance
Why is this source important? Ask yourself, "So what?" in relation to the question asked.
Period 2 Primary and Secondary Sources Analysis
Document #1
“In excelsis gloria.
Within a lodge of broken bark
The tender babe was found
A ragged robe of rabbit skin
En-wrapped His beauty round
But as the hunter braves drew nigh
The angel song rang loud and high
[Refrain]
Jesus your King is born
Jesus is born
The earliest moon of wintertime
Is not so round and fair
As was the ring of glory
On the helpless Infant there
The chiefs from far before Him knelt
With gifts of fox and beaver pelt
[Refrain]”
Huron Carol or “Twas in the moon of wintertime," composed by Jean de Brébeuf in the Native
American language of the Huron people in 1643, translated by Jesse Edgar Middleton
"Jesous Ahatonhia (The Huron Carol)" in Canadian Poetry in English, compiled by Bliss
Carman, Lorne Pierce, and V.B. Rhodenizer (Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1954).
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Period 2 Primary and Secondary Sources Analysis
Document #2
“And it is further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that…no sugars, tobacco, cotton-wool,
indigo, ginger, fustic or other dying wood, of growth, production, or manufacture of any English
plantations in America, Asia, or Africa, shall be shipped, carried conveyed or transported, from
any of the said English plantations to any land, island, territory, dominion, port or place
whatsoever, other than to such other English plantations as do belong to his Majesty…under the
penalty of the forfeiture of said goods, or the full value thereof, and also the ship, with all her
guns, tackle, apparel, ammunition and furniture.”
The Navigation Act of 1660
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Period 2 Primary and Secondary Sources Analysis
Document #3
“Objection 5: But what warrant have we to take that land, which is and has been of long time
possessed of others, the sons of Adam?
“Answer: That which is common to all is proper to none. This savage people rule over many
lands without title or property; for they enclose no ground, neither have they cattle to maintain it,
but remove their dwellings as they have occasion, or as they can prevail against their neighbors.
And why may not Christians have liberty to go and dwell amongst them in their waste lands and
woods….Secondly, there is more than enough for them and us. Thirdly, God has consumed the
natives with a miraculous plague, whereby the greater part of the country is left void of
inhabitants. Fourthly, we shall come in with good leave of the natives.”
John Winthrop, General Considerations for the Plantation in New England with an Answer to
Several Objections…, 1629
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Period 2 Primary and Secondary Sources Analysis
Document #4
Map of British- and American-controlled trade, 1750
Henretta et al., America’s History, Seventh Edition, Bedford/St. Martin's, p. 95. Reprinted by
permission.
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Period 2 Primary and Secondary Sources Analysis
Document #5
“In the early part of the seventeenth century the Ojibways had already commenced the customs
of yearly visiting Quebec, and afterwards Montreal, taking them packs of beaver skins and
returning with firearms, blankets, trinkets and firewater of the whites….It was many years before
the…traders located a permanent trading post among the Ojibways…this tribe became supplied
with firearms, and killed off the beaver in vicinity…they radiated out westward and
southward…this was the country of the Dakotas and Foxes, bravely did they battle to beat back
the encroaching Ojibways from their best hunting grounds, but in vain; for the invaders, besides
having increased in numbers, had become possessed of fearful weapons, against which they
feared to battle with their primitive bow and arrow.”
William Warren, History of the Ojibway People, 1885
William W. Warren, History of the Ojibway People, Second Edition (St. Paul: Minnesota
Historical Society Press, 1984).
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Period 2 Primary and Secondary Sources Analysis
Document #6
“…Whereas the enforcing of the conscience in matters of religion has frequently fallen out to be
of dangerous consequence in those commonwealths where it has been practiced, and for the
more quiet and peaceable government of this Province, and the better to preserve mutual love
and amity among the inhabitants thereof. Be it therefore enacted that no person or persons
whatever in the Province…professing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall from henceforth be any
ways troubled, molested, or discountenanced for or in respect of his or her religion nor in the free
exercise thereof within the Province…nor in any way compelled to the belief or exercise of any
other religion against his or her consent, so [long] as they not be unfaithful to the Lord
Proprietary, or molest or conspire against the civil government established in this Province under
him…”
Maryland Act Concerning Religion, 1644
William Hand Browne, ed., Archives of Maryland (Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society,
1883).
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Period 2 Primary and Secondary Sources Analysis
Document #7
“Not to look back further than the troubles that were between the Colony of New Plymouth and
Philip, sachem [tribal chief] of Mount Hope, in the year 1671, it may be remembered that…[he]
was the…offending party; and that Plymouth had just cause to take up arms against him; and it
was then agreed that he should pay that colony a certain sum of money, in part of their damage
and charge by him….But sometime last winter the Governor of Plymouth was informed by
Sassamon, a faithful Indian, that the said Philip was undoubtedly endeavoring to raise new
troubles, and was endeavoring to engage all the sachems round about in a war against
us.…About a week after John Sassamon had given his information, he was barbarously
murdered by some Indians for his faithfulness to the interest of God and of the English.…Philip
and his men continued constantly in arms, many strange Indians from several places flocked in to
him…earnest for a war…given leave to kill Englishmen’s cattle and rob their houses…on 14th
June our Council wrote an amicable friendly letter to Philip therein showing our dislike of his
practices; and advising him…not to suffer himself…concerning us, who intended no wrong or
hurt towards him…thus slow were we and unwilling to engage ourselves and our neighbors in a
war; having many insolencies almost intolerable from them, of whose hands we had deserved
better.”
Josiah Winslow and Thomas Hinckley, Commissioners of the Plymouth Colony, 1675
Francis Baylies, An Historical Memoir of the Colony of New Plymouth (Boston: Hilliard, Gray,
Little, and Wilkins, 1830).
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Period 2 Primary and Secondary Sources Analysis
Document #8
“Loving and kind father and mother:
“…this is to let you understand that I your Child am in a most heavy case by reason of
the nature of this Country [which] is such that it causeth much sickness.…And when we are sick
there is nothing to comfort us; for since I came out of the ship, I never ate anything but peas, and
loblollie (that is water gruel)….There is indeed some fowl, but we are not allowed to go, and get
it, but must work hard both early and late for a mess of water gruel, and a mouthful of bread, and
beef.…[I]f you did know as much as I, when people cry out day, and night—Oh that they…
would not care to lose any limb to be in England again….And I have nothing to comfort me…I
have nothing at all—no, not a shirt to my back but two rags, nor no clothes but one poor
suit….My cloak is stolen by one of my own fellows, and to his dying hour [he] would not tell me
what he did with it; but some of my fellows saw him buy butter and beef from a ship, which my
cloak, [no] doubt, paid for….And he [Mr. Jackson] much marveled that you would send a
servant to the Company; he saith that I had been better knocked on the head. And indeed so I
find it now, to my great grief and misery; and saith if you love me you will redeem me suddenly,
and for which I do entreat and beg. And if you cannot get the merchants to redeem me for some
little money, then for God’s sake get a gathering or entreat some good folks to lay out some little
sum of money in meal and cheese and butter and beef.”
Letter from Richard Frethorne, indentured servant, to his parents in England, 1623
Susan Myra Kingsbury, ed., The Records of the Virginia Company of London, Volume IV
(Washington: Government Printing Office, 1935).
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Period 2 Primary and Secondary Sources Analysis
Document #8
“It is proposed that humble application be made for an act of Parliament of Great Britain, by
virtue of which one general government may be formed in America, including all the said
colonies, within and under which government each colony may retain its present constitution,
except in the particulars wherein a change may be directed by the said act as hereafter
follows….That they make such laws as they judge necessary for regulating all Indian
trade….That they raise and pay soldiers, and build forts for the defence of any of the Colonies,
and equip vessels of force to guard the coasts and protect the trade on the oceans, lakes, or great
rivers; but shall not impress men in any Colony, without the consent of the Legislature. That for
these purposes they have power to make laws and lay and leavy such general duties, imposts, or
taxes as to them shall appear most equal and just…and such as may be collected with the least
inconvenience to the people…”
Albany Plan of Union, 1754
Documents Illustrative of the Formation of the Union of the American States, ed. Charles C.
Tansill. (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1927) House Document No. 398.
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Period 2 Primary and Secondary Sources Analysis
Document #9
“The Negroes are very numerous, some gentlemen having hundreds of them of all sorts, to
whom they bring great profit…though some masters, careless of their own interest or reputation,
are too cruel and negligent….Several of them are taught to be sawyers, carpenters, smiths,
coopers, etc…yet they are by nature cut out for hard labour and fatigue, and will perform
tolerably well…and those Negroes make the best servants, that have been slaves in their own
country; for they that have been kings and great men are generally lazy, haughty, and obstinate;
whereas the others are sharper, better humored, and more laborious…[indentured] servants are
but an insignificant number, when compared with the vast shoals of Negroes who are employed
as slaves…with only this difference, that the Negroes eat wholesomer bread and better pork with
more plenty and ease; and when they are sick, their owners interest and purse are deeply engaged
in their recovery, who likewise are obligated to take all the care imaginable of their slaves for
their own great profit; so that the Negroes, though they work moderately, yet can live plentifully,
have no families to provide for, no danger of beggary, no care for the morrow.”
Hugh Jones, The Present State of Virginia, 1724
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Period 2 Primary and Secondary Sources Analysis
Document #10
“As soon as we landed, our Indians began to run some two hundred yards towards their enemies,
who stood firm….Our Indians began to call me with loud cries…and I marched ahead until I was
within some 30 yards of the enemy when I saw them make a move to draw their bows upon us, I
took aim…and shot straight at one of the chiefs, and with this shot two fell to the ground….The
Iroquois were much astonished that two men should have been killed so quickly, although they
were provided with shields made of cotton thread woven together and wood, which were proof
against their arrows. This frightened them greatly…seeing their chiefs dead, they lost courage
and took to flight, abandoning the field and their fort, and fleeing into the depth of the forest,
whither I pursued them and laid low still more of them. Our Indians also killed several and took
ten or twelve prisoners….After we had gained the victory, our Indians wasted no time in taking a
large quantity of Indian corn and meal belonging to the enemy, as well as their shields, which
they had left behind, the better to run. Having feasted, danced, and sung, we three hours later set
off for home with the prisoners.”
Samuel de Champlain, Les Voyages, 1613
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Period 2 Primary and Secondary Sources Analysis
Document #11
“It is now fourteen weeks since the revolution of government here. Future consequences we are
ignorant of, yet we know that, at present we are eased of the great oppressions that we groaned
under…making the arbitrary commission of Sir Edmund Andros null and void in the
law;…although some could not advise to [recommend] the enterprise, yet [all] are hopeful that
we shall not be greatly blamed, but shall have a pardon granted for any error the law will charge
us with in this matter. We do crave that the circumstances of our case and condition…may be
considered. Nature has taught us self-preservation….Our great remoteness from England denies
us the opportunity of direction for the regulation of ourselves in all emergencies, nor have we the
means to know the laws and customs of our nation….We have always endeavored to prove
ourselves loyal to the Crown of England…and we are not without hopes but that we shall receive
from Their Royal Majesties the confirmation of our charter, with such addition of privileges as
may advance the revenue of the Crown, and be an encouragement to Their Majesties’ subjects
here.”
Letter from Thomas Danforth of Massachusetts to a colleague in London, 1689
Thomas Danforth to the Rev. Increase Mather, 30 July 1689, in Thomas Hutchinson, A
Collection of Original Papers Relative to the History of the Colony of Massachusetts-Bay
(Boston, 1769).
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