A Boston shopkeeper kept a diary in 1774. One entry reads: "Closed the shop early today because of the crowds in the street." Who is the author of this source?

A Continental Army officer writes a letter from camp describing the cold weather and the food. He begins it "My dear wife" and mails it home. Who is the intended audience?

A colonial printer prints a handbill telling neighbors to stop buying British tea until the tax on it is repealed. What is the handbill's main purpose?

A British officer's report and a Boston colonist's newspaper article describe the same 1770 street fight, and they disagree about who started it. What best explains the difference?

A ship captain's logbook from a 1720 voyage lists the cargo loaded and the weather met each day. What can this source best tell a historian?

A book page says: "The Constitution was ratified in 1788. It is the finest plan of government ever written." Which of the two sentences states an opinion?

A historian writes: "Tobacco shipments from the Chesapeake rose every year from 1700 to 1710. This growth probably drew more settlers to the region." The second sentence is best called what?

A university professor wrote a book in 2019 about William Penn's colony, using letters that colonists wrote in the 1680s. Who is the author of the book?

At a town meeting, a delegate reads a speech aloud asking the people in the hall to vote for money for a new school. Who is the intended audience of the speech?

A pamphlet lists the steps a citizen follows to register to vote. What is its main purpose?

A 1776 journal calls the Patriots' protests "a danger to my trade" and hopes the colonies stay under the King. Whose point of view does this journal most likely give?

A Cherokee family's account passed down by speaking and a US Army officer's 1838 report both describe the same forced removal march, but they report different details. What best explains this?

A student claims that Philadelphia was a busy port in 1770. Which source would best support that claim?

Two sources about Benjamin Franklin are compared: letters Franklin wrote himself in 1776, and an encyclopedia article about him written in 2020. Which one is the primary source?

A farmer kept a diary in 1801 that records how much rain fell and when each field was planted. What was his most likely purpose in writing it?

In 1787 an essay printed in a New York newspaper argued that New York should ratify the new Constitution. Who was the intended audience?

A tax list from 1750 records each household's name and the amount of tax paid. What can this source NOT tell a historian?

An advertisement from 1785 says a shopkeeper's tea is "the best tea in the city." Why should a historian be careful about using that line as evidence?

A source's point of view is the way the person who made it saw the events he or she described.

A newspaper article written in 1776 by a reporter who watched the event happen is a secondary source.