Students need to be encouraged to evaluate and analyze information from historical data and documentary evidence. A curriculum that engages students in historical inquiry empowers them to obtain the most meaningful information from a piece of data. It teaches students to evaluate multiple perspectives when looking at primary and secondary resources.
Investigate the historical questions, who wrote it, and when? Does time between the event and the data matter in the analysis? Is a primary source more reliable than a secondary source? What is the purpose of the written or visual source? These are essential questions to ask to assess sources of evidence.
The painting, “Washington Crossing the Delaware,” created in 1851 by German-American artist Emanuel Leutze was painted seventy-five years after the actual event. Leutze conceived the painting in 1850 after the European Revolutions of 1848-1849; it was painted to inspire fellow Europeans by the American Revolution’s idealism. His artistic representation includes some misconceptions: the boat is too small (the artist wanted to focus on Washington); the flag that James Madison is holding did not exist until June 14, 1777; and there is some question if Prince Whipple was at the Delaware crossing with Washington. Leutze took some liberties within the painting.
William C. Nell, Colored Patriots of the American Revolution (1855), was a leading African American abolitionist who documented hundreds of African American patriots. Nell relayed the story of Prince Whipple crossing the Delaware with Washington, and Whipple’s service at the Battles of Saratoga and Rhode Island. Nell’s portrayals of the integrated Continental Army are essential to our history. William C. Nell’s book was written fifty-nine years after the Delaware crossing.
Leutze was making a broader point that an integrated group fought for America’s freedom, while Nell documented the many black heroes of the American Revolution. Both the artist and author illustrated the importance of the event; both are secondary resources.
Which is more compelling?
Sources:
Painting analysis
Colored Patriots of the American Revolution, by William C. Nell, published 1855
This Day in History
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/washington-crosses-the-delaware