The purpose of this document being created was to cement this important historic moment into history. This event in 1803 directly influenced the 1916 Rebellion to free Ireland from an oppressive ruler. Emmet also desperately wanted his countrymen to hear him and hear his call to action. This source is important to historians because if there was only the court record of the event there is a chance that Emmet’s speech might not have even made it into the documents. This is also helpful in piecing together the event’s of Ireland’s bloody history.

Having been to Ireland recently I find this particularly interesting due to the amount of history that is seen all over the country and the 1916 Rebellion is represented in many of the cities throughout the country. This speech really gives insight on how the people of that time were feeling. They were down and Emmet wanted them to know they weren’t alone. It was slow going, but they did make it to freedom.

My source could be interpreted as I have done in this essay as a call to action and a strong word in a time when a country needed courage. On the other hand it could also be seen as the rantings of a soon to be dead man who rambles quite a bit. I do feel that biases could come into account in two ways. First, that the court may have been the one to transcribe this, in which case they may have lightened the language to try and lessen the impact. On the other hand, if an activist had been the one to transcribe they could have also altered the writing to fit their agenda better. Either way, in any case, this was an extremely powerful speech and clearly had an impact on the way a nation was formed. Unfortunately, no headstone has been found for Robert Emmet, but there are many memorials in his honor.
