Common Sense 1776 image of original cover page American Treasures: Thomas Paine’s Common Sense Plain truth; addressed to the inhabitants of America, containing, remarks on a late pamphlet, entitled Common sense signed “Rationalis” image of original cover page The American crisis (No. 1) transcription image of original cover page More Thomas Paine writings Thomas Paine National Historical…
Today in History–July 14–TPS-Barat Primary Source Nexus features Bastille Day, which commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille in Paris, France on July 14, 1789. This action marked the beginning of the French Revolution. Find out more about these events by investigating a variety of primary and secondary sources linked to…
Read the headline and the four lines of text just under the headline. Then look at the footer text at the bottom of this page. Who do you think was the audience for this broadside? Explain the reasoning behind your conclusion. (Hint: If you need help answering this, there is one particular word that you should…
Library slavery collections Slave narratives Frederick Douglass primary source set Frances Ann Kemble primary source set Books Correspondence & early texts Other texts Legislation Slavery newspapers Slavery maps Slave song recordings Slavery sheet music Slavery image set Slavery political cartoons PSN curated primary source collections related to slavery Library blog posts related to slavery Primary Source…
Look closely at the illustration. What can you determine about this broadside from the art? What more do you learn from the summary of this primary source? Do you think the illustration supports the summary? Why or why not? Look at both the front and back of this broadside. How does each stanza end? Why…
What contradiction does this broadside illustrate and discuss? Support your conclusion using specific details from the source. Who created this broadside? Using details from the source to support your responses, explain the purpose of this broadside and the intended audience. Review the bibliographic record for this source, in particular the summary. What more did you…
Reverse side What can you discover about the content of this broadside just by looking at the illustrations? Explain your discoveries using specific details from the images to support your responses. front side larger image | back side larger image Now review the bibliographic record, paying particularly close attention to the summary. In what ways were your discoveries…
Review this synopsis of the fugitive slave law. Choose one of the synopsis points and find which part(s) of the fugitive law text the author drew from to create the summary. Use the text from the fugitive slave law to create your own synopsis using modern-day language. In the objections, the author states that the fugitive…
Reverse Take a close look at the text features and illustrations on both sides of this leaflet. What information do you think the author wanted to highlight? What do you think readers would walk away remembering? Compare and contrast the information provided by the illustrations and bold text with the narrative text on the reverse side of…
Today in History–January 14–the Library of Congress features the Treaty of Paris, ratified by the Continental Congress on this day in 1784, nine months after the preliminary articles of peace were approved and over four months after the actual treaty was signed in Paris. Find out more by visiting the Today in History section (also see treaty signing entry),…
Today in History–September 25–the Library of Congress features writer William Faulkner, born on this day in 1897. Faulkner spent much of his youth in Oxford, Mississippi, later transforming what he knew into great literary works. A writer of deep insight, Faulkner also experimented with form and format; he won the 1949 Nobel Prize for Literature and two subsequent Pulitzer Prizes. Learn more about…
