what are some of the sources of information that can be used to help us understand material culture?

This week you have the option of  reading a chapter from After the Fact called, Material Witness. This chapter deals with the changing situation with material goods in the first half of the 19th century (1800s).

In this chapter the authors of the book want to address:  what are the challenges that historians’ face when working with physical objects when trying to reconstruct the past?

So first you need to read the Material Witness chapter, and then answer the following 3 questions:

1. Besides the objects themselves, what are some of the sources of information that can be used to help us understand material culture?
2. How did the changes to buildings, discussed at a number of points in the chapter, reflect social and cultural changes that the US was going through in the late 18th and early 19th centuries?
3. How is the idea of a “consumer revolution” as described on page 13 (last page) reflected in the differences between the two major paintings Quilting Frolic (pg. 5) and the parlor engraving (pg.11)?

Each answer should be a few paragraphs long and fully answer all parts of the question.  Once you are done with your answers the file can be uploaded to me.

• The After the Fact assignments are graded credit/no credit
• If your answer(s) are either inaccurate or are not sufficiently through you may be allowed to do a redo depending on the quality of your attempt
• This assignment is due on Saturday and no late work is accepted.

Please read the instructions carefully.