First of all, I found this article to be very interesting. I have always had an interest for learning about Indians. The problem that Tompkins encountered was whether or not she could believe the perspective’s of others and pass them off as truth in her research. She researched the views of many authors such as Perry Miller, Alden Vaughn, Francis Jennings, James Axtell, Norman Heard, and Calvin Martin. After reviewing all of these views, she realized that she hadn’t come to a point where she felt she had the “correct” information on the Indians and their relations to the Puritans. What really happened? Which point of view do you agree with? How are they positioned above all others? Her struggle with believing the “perceptions” of others brought her to not take any into account with her research.
To resolve her issue, Tompkins pieced together the information the best she knew how, including her own views on what happened. She believed that the author’s perspectives were a product of their time and many have misunderstood what actually happened between the Indians and Puritans in the 17th Century.
It is hard to believe everything you read. Even if the article is a scholarly article, there still may be some bias. The decision of what sources to use are solely the writer’s. As I get further into my research topic, which I hope will be soon, I know there will be many that I do not agree with. Therefore, I am going to look at both sides of the issue, and decide which articles I agree and disagree with and why.
2 comments:
I have always had an interest with Indians too. When I was younger we would go to this reservation and we would get to see how they got to live for the weekend.
glad you all are really getting into this; I can tell you really "got" this Amanda - it's a difficult article; congratulations
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