Spring 2025      Volume 53, Number 2

The “Bates” Shop: Fishing for Primary Source Documents: Revolutionizing Historical Perspective-Taking
By David Bates

Document: Column  

Introductory Paragraph:  Would you have supported American independence in 1776? Like many questions we ask in the classroom, this one is seemingly straightforward and simple but belies layers of complexity. For most students, the answer will be simple: Of course! Speaking from our perspective today, it is impossible to imagine a world without an independent United States. And whatever its shortcomings, Americans of all political leanings tend to share a sense of pride and patriotism. In 2023, the Pew Research Center found that more than 70% of Americans felt that the U.S. either “[stood] above all other countries in the world” or “is one of the greatest countries” (Hartig, 2023). In reality, of course, the decision to support independence (or not) was an extremely fraught one, and exploring this question through the exercise of historical perspective-taking can help students analyze complex and diverse documents from the period.

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.33600/IRCJ.53.2.2025.68

Page Numbers:   68-75