Reading #4 Battle of Lexington

Before reading Document A
1a. Who is the author of the source?
1b. What kind of source is this?
1c. When was this written?
1d. Whose side does this document represent?
1e. What do you predict the soldier is going to say?
After reading Document A
1f. Describe the setting, conditions, or atmosphere in which the account takes place.
1g. How many minutemen were there according to the author?
1h. According to the author, who fired the first shot?
1i. Why could the men hear no orders?

Before reading Document B
2a. What kind of document is this? Do you trust it more or less than a diary entry?
2b. When was this written?
2c. Whose side does this document represent?
2d. What do you predict they will say?
After reading Document B
2e. What story do the minutemen tell?
2f. How does this differ from Barker’s account?
2g. What is the significance of the phrase “to our knowledge?”
2h. Which account do you find more reliable? Why?
2i. Are there any facts that both accounts agree on?

Which of the two images is more accurate?
Who do you think fired the first shot?  Why?