Can you remember a time when you got into a fight with your brother or sister? When your parents demanded to know what happened, what did you tell them? Did you both say something like "they started it"? Who was telling the truth?

In the era of "fake news" it can sometimes be tough to figure out which sources to trust and whether reputable sources are telling the whole truth. There a few words that we are going to be learning about today. Please review the following terms below before continuing. 

Vocabulary

Learning About the Seminole Wars by Analyzing Two Different Sources

Yesterday we learned about the ways Cherokee used the Courts to resist westward expansion in Georgia. Today we will learn about the Seminole Wars in Florida. The Seminole Wars were three wars in Florida between the United States Army and the Seminole. The fighting occurred between about 1816 and 1858. The result of the war was that many Seminole were moved from their land in Florida. You will analyze two different sources to understand the Seminole Wars. You will use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the two sources. 

A Venn Diagram generally is a tool used to show the similarities and differences (compare and contrast) two different things. The Venn diagram below compares and contrasts birds and bats. The section on the left is for qualities that birds have that bats do not. The section in the middle is for the similarities between birds and bats, or the things that are the same about bats and birds. The section on the right is for qualities that bats have that birds do not. 

You will read through the following two sources to learn more about the First, Second, and Third Seminole Wars. You will notice that the perspective and bias are different in both the sources. Look carefully at the language used in each of the pages. 

The first source you will use is the Seminole Nation Museum's page about the Seminole Wars. You can pull up the website or download a printable version of the website below.

https://www.seminolenationmuseum.org/history/seminole-nation/the-seminole-wars/ 

The second source you will use is the Florida Department of State's page about the Seminole Wars. You can pull up the website or download a printable version of the website below. I recommend you pull up both websites so that you can easily compare the two. 

https://dos.myflorida.com/florida-facts/florida-history/seminole-history/the-seminole-wars/ 

Venn Diagrams

Look at the websites (Florida's and the Seminole's) and create a Venn diagram about one of the three Seminole Wars. Think about the following questions while creating your Venn diagram: 

Steps: 

1. Skim (read through quickly) through each of the two pages to learn a little bit about each of the wars. 
2. Decide which of the three wars (First, Second, or Third Seminole War) you would like to learn more about. 
3. Read the sections on the war you chose on each page. 
4. Compare the two pages and figure out what they agree on about the war. 
5. Write those similarities in the center section of the Venn diagram. 
6. Figure out what differences the pages have in describing the war. Write down the differences in the center section of the Venn diagram. Qualities unique to the Florida page should be written in the Florida section of the Venn diagram. Qualities unique to the Seminole page should be written in the Seminole section of the Venn diagram. 
7. If you are having trouble figuring out the similarities and differences look at some of the questions below. 

• What does each page say caused the war?
• What does each page call the different groups that fought in the war?
• Does either page talk about the impact of the war?
• Are there any words used to describe the war on either page that seem different from the other page?
• What does each page say ended the war?

Think about it...

Think about the following questions. 

• Why do you think there are differences between two official, reliable sources?
• Do you notice a difference of perspective between the two pages? 
• Is there a reason why Florida may write differently about the Seminole War than the Seminole Nation?
• How would you find out more about the Seminole War?