Primary sources are the raw materials from which histories are made. Reading and evaluating such sources is a difficult but also exhilarating task. They also afford a rare opportunity for the historian to come into direct contact with the past. By giving the historian this "access," the primary source helps him/her to experience the past imaginatively, an essential step toward the recreation of it using the content of the primary source.
Suggested questions for the evaluation of primary sources:
1. What kind of source is it?
A Formal Treatise, such as Adolf Hitler' Mein Kampf;
A Contemporary Formal History, such as Eusebius' Life of Constantine;
A Public Record (records of government and of
operation and administration; records
of legislative debates; judicial cases and decisions; statutes, laws, and proclamations; and public
letters or statements made by statesmen, politicians, and executives), such as diplomatic
documents relating to the outbreak of war;
Private Letters and Journals, such as the diary of a president;
Literary Sources, such as a novel or a poem;
Nonverbal Sources (including art, architecture, music, photography, and so on);
2. Is the source/document genuine? How do you know? Is the
original or is it a
reprint? What is the physical condition of the source? Does this give you clues as to its intended
use? its interpretation? What does its physical condition tell you the past?
3. What is its date of origin? Is it contemporary with the events it
relates to? More distant in time?
4. Who is the author? Did the author have firsthand information
If not, what is the source
of his/her information? Is the author reliable? What is the relationship of the author to the event
5. Who is the audience? How do you know? If the source was delivered, how was it done?
6. Read through the entire document quickly; from this overview you
should have a sense of the
whole source, an appreciation of its importance for your study, and an inkling of the problems
that remain to be overcome before the source can be used. Are their biases that need to be taken
into account (in the source or in you as a reader)?
7. Read the document carefully, isolating the content you can
that sources/documents were created/written by particular men or women for a specific purpose.
You must accordingly be able to identify the time period, the author, the reason for writing and/or
creation, and the audience; you should also be able to ascertain the impact of the source/
document on the audience.
Time and place;
Personalities and roles (be able to identify every person
mentioned in the document and his/her role);
Meaning and Purpose of the source/document;
Content (be sure you understand all words and
phrases, especially those that might have meant
something different for the author);
Allusions (events, etc. the author takes for granted
the audience will understand);
Assumptions and/or Bias.
8. Do the contents of the document/sources seem reasonable or
given what you already
know or common sense?
9. Are there other documents/sources that provide corroborating
or information? Place
the source/document in the context of the other documents you are studying and answer any
questions that might arise: Does the source/document confirm what other sources or documents
have told you? Does it contradict them? etc.
10. Also place the document in the larger historical context of the
events you are studying. How
does your interpretation of the document fit in with what others have said or written (in secondary
As you conduct this study, also note any of the above that you can not immediately identify; each of these will have to be looked up in a reliable reference work.
Once you have completed these steps, you are ready to use your source/document.
Reading Primary Sources
These accompanying primary sources deal with the propaganda campaign organized by the United States government to mobilize the nation following America’s entry into World War I. We will spend two class periods working with them. In the first, students will present their written responses to questions #1-7 (on one of the four major types of propaganda: songs, newspaper and magazine advertisements, posters, and speeches by the Four Minute Men) and be prepared to discuss them in class. For the second class, students will write a brief analysis of this propaganda campaign using the questions in the handout (see #8 below). We will then discuss these analyses in class.
1. What kind of source is each document? Are these sources genuine? How might you establish their authenticity?
2. What is the date of each document? Where and under what circumstances did it originate? Of what importance for a historian is this information?
3. Who is the author/speaker in each document? What do we or what should we know about each of these persons? Are these authors/speakers reliable? What is the audience for each document? Of what importance is this knowledge for a historian’s analysis of the document?
4. What is the content of each document? Is the content biased? How should the historians compensate for such bias? How might the historian as a reader of these documents be biased?
5. Is the content of each document reasonable or probable? Is there a subtext? What do you need to know to understand the subtext?
6. Do the documents corroborate each other? In what way? Do they contradict each other? In what way?
7. What additional or specialized information is needed to read and understand each document? Be specific and make a list. Where might such information be found?
8. Write an analysis of the examples from one of the four major types of war propaganda. In your analysis, answer the questions on pp. 135-136 of the handout. Use specific evidence from the documents and other sources (including the explanatory material that accompanies the documents). Also take into consideration earlier class discussion on the nature of history, research questions, etc.
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