Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: Website Analysis
Black vs White assessment task
Digital usefulness and reliability: what to look for
Evaluate the usefulness and reliability of a website that is designed to inform the public about the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
The eyewitnesstohistory website on the slave trade: the African connection is useful because the information on this website shows the events that carried through during 1788 in Africa and it also shows what they slaves had to go through throughout their journey across the Atlantic Ocean. This essay will evaluate the usefulness and reliability of this resource of this website for learning about the trans-Atlantic slave trade: the African connection. The reason why it is important to evaluate the websites we use as sources is to …show more content…
make sure the information is true and accurate.
Authority
It’s important to find who the author is and if they have any qualifications discussing or writing about a specific topic or if they were a primary source and just writing down their experiences. Either way it is important to find this information so we know how accurate the information is going to be. Alexander Falconbridge was a British surgeon who was a part of four slave ship voyages. He later then became an abolitionist, which is someone who is against the slave trade and tries and to stop it from continuing. He had written his experiences and the process in which the Africans were taken away and were being sold as slaves. Alexander was one of the references that were listed at the bottom of the page. Since he is a primary source his opinions and story count. He was able to be involved with the slave trade and he knows the truth. Phillip D. Curtis was another person who contributed to the information on the site. He was a professor at Johns Hopkins University and a historian of the African slave trade. He has realised a book all about the slave trade. ‘The …show more content…
Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census’ is about how many people were shipped across the Atlantic Ocean. He analyses shipping contracts and data from ports that have enabled them to arrive in Brazil, United States and Spanish America. On the site it shows that they have won a number of awards from other websites for example eyewitnesstohistory.com has won an award for being one of the best history websites on the internet and a lot of organisations that support and sponsor the website like money.co.uk. This website is a good website to use because it has a primary source telling us what he has experienced when he worked as a surgeon on a slave ship, a professor who is also a historian that released books on the African slave trade and organisations who sponsor and give out awards to the website because it is reliable.
Objectivity
The objectivity of the website is if the information on the website is accurate, if it is influenced by emotions and opinions or just fact. It is also to find out what the purpose of the text is. It’s important to know these things because if a person wrote something they are passionate about they would exaggerate to persuade you because they are absolutely sure of their opinions and they might not even use true facts. Alexander Falconbridge was an abolitionist as said in the first paragraph. Even though Alexander was an abolitionist he wasn’t bias in his text, he just stated what happened during his stay in Africa. The purpose of the text is to inform the reader that most of the Africans were kidnapped then sold as slaves and what the slaves had to go through.
Currency
Currency is how often the website updates. If the site is updated regularly it is usually a dependable site. Updating is important because if you haven’t updated in a while and new information or evidence has come out to prove your point wrong, then all your information on your website is inaccurate. To show that the eyewitnesstohistory website updates regularly it has the date of when it last updated on the bottom of the home page. The website last updated on the 29th of August 2013, which shows this website has everything we need to know about the slave trade: the African connection in 1788. Another way they show they update regularly is by having picture of the week. This shows that they at least go on the website once a week to update the webpage to put a new picture.
Accuracy
The information on the website has to be accurate otherwise it won’t be true.
Anyone can publish anything on the internet that’s why we always have to check if the information is reliable and correct. Alexander Falconbridge was a primary source because he was there when the slave trade happened, but we can never know one hundred precent if was telling the truth or if he was lying. Although we cannot find the exact truth we still have evidence and other websites, for example learnnc.org,1’ there is great reason to believe, that most of the Negroes shipped off from the coast of Africa, were kidnapped.’ The information on the slaves being kidnapped on the learnnc.org website is the exact same on the eyewitnesstohistory website because they both used Alexander Falconbridge as a source. As well as that website the inmotionaame.org’s website, they suggest that most of the African slaves were also kidnapped,2’ Africans were also kidnapped, though kidnapping was a
crime.’
Coverage
Coverage is how much of the information they cover and detailed it is. The information on this website is about the slave’s experiences, what the traders forced them to do and the process of slave trading. The text on the site is very in depth because it was told by someone who saw what the traders did to the Africans, he saw them suffer and he knows everything that happened because he was there. The site has a different variety of sources which can give you more insight on the slave trade for the reason that you have more information and it’s not just text that is on the site. It has quotes, images and text so the reader can understand better.
In conclusion the eyewitness to history website is reliable and a dependable source to use that can be used to inform people about the events that carried through during 1788 in Africa and what happened during the voyages from Africa to the place where the salve were being sold. We can rely on this website because the authors are a primary source and a professor and historian, furthermore the information on the website is not bias, it is up to date and it is also accurate.
Bibliography http://artcles.washingtonpost.com http://spartacus20c.comblogsopt.com.au http://en.wikipedia.org/wikki/alexander_falconbridge http://wysinger.homestead.com www.besthistorysited.net www.money.co.uk/broadband.htm www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/9104 www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-colonial/1904
Digital usefulness and reliability: what to look for
Evaluate the usefulness and reliability of a website that is designed to inform the public about the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
The eyewitnesstohistory website on the slave trade: the African connection is useful because the information on this website shows the events that carried through during 1788 in Africa and it also shows what they slaves had to go through throughout their journey across the Atlantic Ocean. This essay will evaluate the usefulness and reliability of this resource of this website for learning about the trans-Atlantic slave trade: the African connection. The reason why it is important to evaluate the websites we use as sources is to …show more content…
make sure the information is true and accurate.
Authority
It’s important to find who the author is and if they have any qualifications discussing or writing about a specific topic or if they were a primary source and just writing down their experiences. Either way it is important to find this information so we know how accurate the information is going to be. Alexander Falconbridge was a British surgeon who was a part of four slave ship voyages. He later then became an abolitionist, which is someone who is against the slave trade and tries and to stop it from continuing. He had written his experiences and the process in which the Africans were taken away and were being sold as slaves. Alexander was one of the references that were listed at the bottom of the page. Since he is a primary source his opinions and story count. He was able to be involved with the slave trade and he knows the truth. Phillip D. Curtis was another person who contributed to the information on the site. He was a professor at Johns Hopkins University and a historian of the African slave trade. He has realised a book all about the slave trade. ‘The …show more content…
Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census’ is about how many people were shipped across the Atlantic Ocean. He analyses shipping contracts and data from ports that have enabled them to arrive in Brazil, United States and Spanish America. On the site it shows that they have won a number of awards from other websites for example eyewitnesstohistory.com has won an award for being one of the best history websites on the internet and a lot of organisations that support and sponsor the website like money.co.uk. This website is a good website to use because it has a primary source telling us what he has experienced when he worked as a surgeon on a slave ship, a professor who is also a historian that released books on the African slave trade and organisations who sponsor and give out awards to the website because it is reliable.
Objectivity
The objectivity of the website is if the information on the website is accurate, if it is influenced by emotions and opinions or just fact. It is also to find out what the purpose of the text is. It’s important to know these things because if a person wrote something they are passionate about they would exaggerate to persuade you because they are absolutely sure of their opinions and they might not even use true facts. Alexander Falconbridge was an abolitionist as said in the first paragraph. Even though Alexander was an abolitionist he wasn’t bias in his text, he just stated what happened during his stay in Africa. The purpose of the text is to inform the reader that most of the Africans were kidnapped then sold as slaves and what the slaves had to go through.
Currency
Currency is how often the website updates. If the site is updated regularly it is usually a dependable site. Updating is important because if you haven’t updated in a while and new information or evidence has come out to prove your point wrong, then all your information on your website is inaccurate. To show that the eyewitnesstohistory website updates regularly it has the date of when it last updated on the bottom of the home page. The website last updated on the 29th of August 2013, which shows this website has everything we need to know about the slave trade: the African connection in 1788. Another way they show they update regularly is by having picture of the week. This shows that they at least go on the website once a week to update the webpage to put a new picture.
Accuracy
The information on the website has to be accurate otherwise it won’t be true.
Anyone can publish anything on the internet that’s why we always have to check if the information is reliable and correct. Alexander Falconbridge was a primary source because he was there when the slave trade happened, but we can never know one hundred precent if was telling the truth or if he was lying. Although we cannot find the exact truth we still have evidence and other websites, for example learnnc.org,1’ there is great reason to believe, that most of the Negroes shipped off from the coast of Africa, were kidnapped.’ The information on the slaves being kidnapped on the learnnc.org website is the exact same on the eyewitnesstohistory website because they both used Alexander Falconbridge as a source. As well as that website the inmotionaame.org’s website, they suggest that most of the African slaves were also kidnapped,2’ Africans were also kidnapped, though kidnapping was a
crime.’
Coverage
Coverage is how much of the information they cover and detailed it is. The information on this website is about the slave’s experiences, what the traders forced them to do and the process of slave trading. The text on the site is very in depth because it was told by someone who saw what the traders did to the Africans, he saw them suffer and he knows everything that happened because he was there. The site has a different variety of sources which can give you more insight on the slave trade for the reason that you have more information and it’s not just text that is on the site. It has quotes, images and text so the reader can understand better.
In conclusion the eyewitness to history website is reliable and a dependable source to use that can be used to inform people about the events that carried through during 1788 in Africa and what happened during the voyages from Africa to the place where the salve were being sold. We can rely on this website because the authors are a primary source and a professor and historian, furthermore the information on the website is not bias, it is up to date and it is also accurate.
Bibliography http://artcles.washingtonpost.com http://spartacus20c.comblogsopt.com.au http://en.wikipedia.org/wikki/alexander_falconbridge http://wysinger.homestead.com www.besthistorysited.net www.money.co.uk/broadband.htm www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/9104 www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-colonial/1904