First, we’ll find out the basic facts about a source — the who, what, when, and where.
What is the nature of this source?
This source is a letter — personal correspondence. What does that tell us? We can probably assume that it wasn't intended for immediate public readership and that it wasn't as carefully thought-out as a public statement like a speech or a published essay might have been. We might also guess that personal correspondence would contain a more intimate, personal view of the author than more public documents.However, the things that a letter writer might choose to reveal or the "spin" they might put on things could be very different depending on the audience. Think, for example, about emails that a first-year college student might write. The kinds of things she would email her best friend at another college about might be very different from what she would write to her parents, her grandmother, or her high school guidance counselor. So just because it's a personal letter, we can't assume that we're getting the whole story from this person's perspective.
Who created this source, and what do I know about them?
This source was created by John Adams. Adams, a lawyer from Massachusetts Bay Colony, served in the Continental Congress at the time of this letter and took a leadership role in encouraging American Independence. He later served as George Washington's vice president and as the second President of the United States. He and his wife Abigail were married for over fifty years and shared a relationship marked by mutual love, trust and respect. They corresponded regularly when his duties took him away from their family farm and historians have found their letters to be a rich source of information for a wide range of topics.
When was the source produced?
The letter was written July 3, 1776. This date stands out because it's the day before Independence Day in 1776, the year that independence was declared. Already, you might assume, from the date of this letter and from its author, that there will be something about American independence in its contents.
Where was the source produced?
This letter was written in Philadelphia. The Continental Congress was meeting in Philadelphia in 1776, so we can probably assume that Adams was there serving as a delegate from Massachusetts, which is why he was away from home and therefore writing to his wife. Since the location is related to the Continental Congress and since we’ve already decided that the date was significant in terms of what was going on in Congress, we might predict that the contents of the letter will refer to some notable political events.