“Serving Time in Virginia” endeavors seeks to explainshow the importance of perspective and point of view in the reading and writing of history. A historian has to determine ask the question of whether a source’s claims and explanations are biased by the author, even if not done so on purpose. The author explains, through an investigation into the downfall of Virginia Colony, how a historian must remove this layer of perspective from the information to discover history’s secrets.
First, the author critiques the commonly known story of John Smith, a man supposedly saved by Pocahontas from execution. Captain Mr Smith wrote his own version of the Virginia Colony’s history titled A Generall Historie of Virginia which was based on his personal experiences in the colony. In the account, he claims he was abducted by Powhatan Indians and then was nearly executed, if not for his charming seduction of the sachem’s daughter. This incident provides an example to a reminds a historian that his accounts could be flawed by his own personal emotions,ego if not by lack of situational knowledge. Knowing the tribal customs of the Chesapeake Indians, (who humiliate captives in a sort of “initiation” process to emphasize obedience to the chief) which few people from Europe would have been aware of, Smith could have been trying to fabricate a love story to build …show more content…
TI think this allows us to slowly ease into a new method of thinking that teaches us all of the skills of being a historian. If I was just simply handed a primary source document and told to evaluate it, I would be confused as to how to go about the assignment. However, with After the Fact, I am being exposed to the same types of documents but I am learning the skills I need to evaluate them so I can do so properly in the future on my
First, the author critiques the commonly known story of John Smith, a man supposedly saved by Pocahontas from execution. Captain Mr Smith wrote his own version of the Virginia Colony’s history titled A Generall Historie of Virginia which was based on his personal experiences in the colony. In the account, he claims he was abducted by Powhatan Indians and then was nearly executed, if not for his charming seduction of the sachem’s daughter. This incident provides an example to a reminds a historian that his accounts could be flawed by his own personal emotions,ego if not by lack of situational knowledge. Knowing the tribal customs of the Chesapeake Indians, (who humiliate captives in a sort of “initiation” process to emphasize obedience to the chief) which few people from Europe would have been aware of, Smith could have been trying to fabricate a love story to build …show more content…
TI think this allows us to slowly ease into a new method of thinking that teaches us all of the skills of being a historian. If I was just simply handed a primary source document and told to evaluate it, I would be confused as to how to go about the assignment. However, with After the Fact, I am being exposed to the same types of documents but I am learning the skills I need to evaluate them so I can do so properly in the future on my