I've attached a copy of a letter from Increase Mather, Congregational minister in Boston, MA, and President of Harvard during the second half of the 17th century. Writing from Boston in Nov. 1683, Mather sent the letter to Abraham Kick, an English coffee merchant operating out of Holland, in Amsterdam, the center of 17th c. world trade.
The letter is Mather's request for Kick to publish (and distribute) another 50 copies of his
Diatribe: de Signo Filii Hominis, et de Secundo Messiae Adventu. How might 21st century educators such as ourselves use primary sources such as these in our classrooms? And for what purpose(s)?
This is really cool man! Being a fellow history buff I really appreciate viewing and looking at these seemingly "windows into the past." I think if you integrate primary sources like this one into your class it will really help your kids better understand history. Furthermore, I think it helps show the kids how "real" history is and that it is not just a culmination of abstract events.
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