4. What really happened?
• The football game is a primary source
• Two different people can watch the same
game and have different opinions about why
one team won or why one player was more
significant than another
• People bring their own personal history,
perspective, and biases to their opinions
• But they must have evidence to back up their
opinion in order to be valid
5. Objectives
1. Students will learn to analyze secondary
source opinions based on a primary source
document
2. Students will comprehend different possible
motivations behind the creation of the
Declaration of Independence
6. Analyze the opinions
• Historians have different opinions about the same
historic event using the same primary source as
evidence. For example Bailyn and Zinn.
VS
7. Ideological Reasons
• Definition of Ideological: of or pertaining to or
characteristic of an orientation that
characterizes the thinking of a group or
nation.
• Examples
– Freedom
– Equality
– Enlightenment Ideals
8. Selfish Reasons
• Theories of human nature often assume
people are selfish
• Examples
– Preserve power of rich and upper class people
– Preserve privilege
– Preserve exclusion - who get left out
– Status, wealth, occupations, political connections
9. 56 Signers of the
Declaration of Independence
• Occupations Listed – some signers had more
than one type of job
– 25 Lawyers
– 17 Merchants
– 14 Plantation Owners
– 4 Physicians
– 3 Scientists (Franklin, Jefferson)
– 2 Land Speculator, 2 Farmers, 2 Ministers
– 1 Surveyor, 1 Printer, 1 Musician, 1 Military
10. Directions
Step 1
• Read views of Bailyn and Zinn
• Take notes and annotate on the sides
• Discuss within your group for 5 minutes
• Be prepared to explain one of the historian’s
viewpoint
11. Directions
Step 2
• Discuss with your group the handout
containing the list of grievances
• Complete handout individually
• Follow directions
– “O” = only for rich people
– “A” = for all people
– “?” = not sure
• Answer Two Questions at the bottom
12. Class Discussion
• Quick vote on grievances
• Overall vote on the motivations of Declaration of
Independence
– Benefit and concern primarily rich people or all
people?
– What additional information do they need to answer
the question?
• Which historian is more accurate in his
interpretation/theory?
• How valid are #23, #24, and #27
13. Closure
• Think about human nature
• Could a brilliant document like the Declaration
of Independence come from the highest ideals
or real world economics and politics?
• Could it be a combination of both ideals and
real world values?
