This assessment reveals students' ability to source a document. Historical documents do not provide perfect windows into the past. Rather, each source has relative strengths and weaknesses as evidence about the past. This HAT gauges whether students can see not only how a document provides evidence about the past but also its limitations.
Students with a sophisticated understanding of historical evidence will be able to explain how an image created by Paul Revere is useful evidence of what happened at the Boston Massacre. They will also see why Paul Revere’s involvement in anti-British activities limits the usefulness of the source as evidence of what actually transpired at the Boston Massacre.
