Examples include letters, diaries, newspapers, treaties, and speeches to name a few. They have not been interpreted (although in some cases have been translated…) but are raw information from the time period which can be positive but also negative. They can be positive because they take you closer to the actual historical event and you can see what people who were really there were thinking. They also have drawbacks though, because people involved in the events undoubtedly have biases usually stronger than a historian writing hundreds of years later. Further, someone involved in an actual event is probably only seeing the event from one small perspective and may have no idea of the overall circumstances. One of the historian’s jobs is to sort through these obstacles in search of the truth – or at least what they interpret to be the truth.
Take a look at some primary documents through the “Primary Documents” tool on the course homepage. When you click on the tool it will take you to the “History Resource Center,” click on a historical category to the left and then click on “Primary Documents.” Choose one primary document that was written during the time period we are studying (1500 C.E. or later). If you are not sure whether the document you want to analyze is appropriate just email Mr. Froning. Read the document carefully and respond to the following:
1. Summarize your source.
2. What is the purpose of the source you chose? In other words, why was it created?
3. How may your source be important to historians today in reconstructing what happened?
4. What insight can we gain about the people of the time from this source including their attitudes?
5. List two ways your source can be interpreted.
6. What biases, flaws in perspective, or inaccuracies, if any, should historians take into account when they use this source?
Submit your assignment in class as a MS WORD file. Times New Roman, 12 pitch, double spaced. Assignments should be approximately 550 words in length. Be sure to list the title of your primary document at the top of your paper (as well as your name, and date). Email a copy to Mr. Froning as a backup.
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