Instructions
In the writing assignment for this unit, you will be undertaking the main skill of a historian–interpreting a primary source. Primary sources are the raw materials of history–original documents which were created at the time under study.

This activity will help prepare you for the primary sources you will encounter throughout this course. After reading the guide on interpreting primary sources (linked below), you will read an excerpt from the Journal of Christopher Columbus, and respond to a series of questions about the document. This is the process that historians use in order to draw conclusions about the past. That is, by asking questions of the sources, historians can begin to understand the past and its meaning.

-https://go.view.usg.edu/content/enforced/1131818-eCoreD2L_Dev_HIST2111_CO/Revised%20Units/Unit%201/Reading%20Primary%20Sources.pdf?_&d2lSessionVal=AYWJCyA4C6ce1EnA9mSSigmNl&ou=1131818

Now you are ready to interpret the document. For the essay, you are to provide a detailed analysis of the Journal. You may not be able to offer an answer to all the questions listed in the guide, but you should work through the guide as completely as possible, addressing as many of the issues associated with the questions as you can.

Christopher Columbus’s Journal can be found here: http://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/columbus1.asp

Be sure to adhere to the Guidelines for Writing Essays found in your course syllabus. Consult the course calendar for this assignment’s due date.

Your essay must include the following:

An Introduction
Conclusion
Bibliography
Write only 2 pages in 1.5 spacing and 12 font size.