Like the Slave Quarters assessment, this question requires students to consider the relative strengths and weaknesses of a document as historical evidence. Students with a sophisticated understanding of how to source a document will be able to explain that Thomas's testimony is useful as a first-hand description by a man who experienced how the South changed. They will also recognize, however, that the document is limited as evidence of the period. Students may understand that the author had an incentive to embellish his memoirs, which could limit the reliability of the account. Students might also point out that the document is limited because it was written decades after the events it describes.
