"Anne Hutchinson vs Mass" Compared to the Mass Bay Colony Case Against Anne Hutchinson

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Jackie Wade Feb. 11, 2015 Primary and Secondary historical sources can be identified based on varying factors. However, they may both be beneficial to the reader depending on the purpose of ones research. Primary and Secondary sources differentiate in three major ways: the time period in which the source was written, the author, and the dialogue within the source. A prime example of a primary versus secondary source would be “The Massachusetts Bay Colony Case Against Anne Hutchinson (1637)” versus “Anne Hutchinson versus Massachusetts”. “The Massachusetts Bay Colony Case Against Anne Hutchinson (1637)” being the primary source, while “Anne Hutchinson versus Massachusetts” being the secondary source, due to three of many differentiating factors. One of the few differentiating factors of a primary and secondary source is the time period. The time period in which a piece is written can greatly affect the credibility and dialogue of the script. Primary sources are often written during or close to an event or significant time in history, making the lingo and dialogue make more sense to a reader of that time period. Primary sources are also able to offer an inside perspective on things. In comparison secondary sources often analyze primary sources and are written in a much later date. For example, Thomas Hutchinson’s view on The Massachusetts Bay Colony Case was written in 1767, nearly one hundred and thirty years after the case in Massachusetts, opposed to Wellington Newcombe’s view of the case, which was written over three hundred years later in 1974. Saying so, Thomas Hutchinson was able to provide first-hand evidence of the case, while Newcombe interpreted the primary historical source, making his source less factual. The second determining factor between the primary and secondary source is the author. Thomas Hutchinson is a direct descendant of Anne

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