In this lesson, students explore how historians use primary sources to discover information about people of the past and draw conclusions about their lives. Using the case study of Matthew Ashby, a free mulatto man who lived in Williamsburg prior to the Revolutionary War, students investigate primary sources and build a profile of this unique Williamsburg resident.

NOTE: To further apply the methodology of this lesson, there is also an associated packet (Through Different Eyes Packet: Biographies of 18th-Century Williamsburg Residents) containing a collection of biographies of 18th-century Williamsburg residents and related primary source materials.