In your social studies, history, or civics class, your teacher may ask you to answer a historical question or analyze a certain event or time period using primary sources. If you were asked to undertake this assignment, would you know where to begin? What types of primary source are available? How can you tell a primary source from a secondary source? And how do you evaluate primary sources?
Understanding Primary versus Secondary Sources
A primary source is an original document that was created by a person or group who participated in or witnessed a particular event. In other words, the creator of a primary source had firsthand knowledge of an event. There are many types of primary sources, including historical documents, visual sources, artifacts, and audio recordings.
●Historical documents include court decisions, government documents, laws, letters, diaries, notes, and written records of oral traditions.
●Visual sources include photographs, original art, drawings, maps, and films.
●Artifacts include coins, stamps, ceramics, textiles, furniture, tools, and buildings.
●Recordings include speeches, interviews, oral histories, and music.
Today, many visual primary sources and artifacts are accessible through digital images.
A secondary source is a work that comments on, explains, or discusses an event. The creator of a secondary source provides an account or interpretation of events based on information gathered from primary sources. A secondary source may have been created long after the event took place and is a secondhand version of events.
Secondary sources include textbooks, nonfiction books and biographies, book reviews, encyclopedias, and criticism.
In general, if the primary source you are studying was created by a person or group who took part in an event or witnessed it, the document is a primary source. If it was written by someone who is discussing the event, but did not take part in it or witness it, the document is a secondary source. For example, President Barack Obama's inaugural addresses are primary sources. An article that discusses President Obama's inaugural addresses and political views is a secondary source. The Code of Hammurabi, a collection of Babylonian laws inscribed in Akkadian cuneiform on a stela in the second millennium BCE, is a primary source. An encyclopedic article written in the 21st century that summarizes ancient Babylonian laws is a secondary source.
Visual sources, such as drawings and documentaries, can be either primary or secondary sources, depending on whether the creator of the source was an eyewitness. A documentary film might combine primary and secondary sources by including both interviews with eyewitnesses and commentary on an event by a journalist or researcher.
Similarly, newspaper and magazine articles can be either primary sources or secondary sources. The issue of time is important when deciding whether a newspaper or magazine article is a primary or secondary source. For example, a newspaper article from 150 years ago might be considered a primary source because at that time participants' versions or eyewitness accounts of events were often included in newspapers. However, a recent newspaper article (unless it is an eyewitness account) is usually considered a secondary source.
The Importance of Primary Sources
So, if you learn about an event using a secondary source, why use primary sources? The following are just some of the reasons why primary sources are important:
1.Primary sources help to make history come alive. Primary sources connect us to the past, and they allow us to reach back and touch that past. By walking inside a building created hundreds of years ago or studying a map drawn long before the invention of modern navigational tools we can step into the past and ponder the worldview of those who created these artifacts. By reading the words of an individual or group that took part in or witnessed an event, or by listening to a recording of a speech or eyewitness account, we gain a more immediate understanding of the event.
2.Using primary sources helps you to learn how to interpret material. Remember that all secondary sources—even your textbook—are accounts or interpretations of events. While most secondary sources aim to be objective, some may have been influenced by the time in which they were written or may reflect their author's particular viewpoint. For example, pretend that a friend of yours just read a great book and wrote a summary of it for you. The book is the primary source, and the summary is the secondary source. Even though your friend's summary may be very detailed, it might be missing information that you think is interesting or relevant, and you would probably want to read the book to form your own interpretation of it. In the same way, by studying primary sources (probably the same sources that the author of the secondary source used in his or her research), you can form your own interpretation of an event, judging for yourself whether you agree with the interpretation of an event by the author of the secondary source.
3.Primary sources can help you to understand more about an event. Studying several types of primary that have been created from different viewpoints will help you to understand an event much more thoroughly. For example, pretend that a friend of yours was involved in a car accident. Very likely, your friend has one version of the accident while the driver of the other car has a different version. If you wanted a thorough, complete account of events, you would listen to both versions of the accident, not just one. In the same way, the creator of a primary source is relating an event, but it is the author's viewpoint only, and another individual or group might have a very different opinion. For example, U.S. Supreme Court justices hear the same evidence and material but often have different opinions on a case. If you were to read the majority decision, but not the dissenting opinion, you would not have a complete and balanced understanding of the case. Similarly, when studying the 16th century Spanish conquest of Mexico, it is helpful to read the eyewitness accounts left by the Spanish conquistadors, such as Hernán Cortés's expedition. However, you will gain a more thorough and nuanced understanding of the events if you also consider the voices of those who were conquered, some of which are preserved in the Florentine Codex, a 16th century work written in Nahuatl and Spanish under the supervision of a Franciscan friar, but thought to represent authentic witness accounts told by survivors of the conquest.
4.Analyzing primary sources teaches you to question where information comes from and the validity and reliability of those sources. When you begin to study and evaluate a primary source, you will ask yourself several questions, including, "Who is the author?" and "Is this individual or group neutral?" Suppose you were reading a participant's account of a battle during the American Revolution (1775–83). How might the account be shaped by whether the participant was fighting for the Continental or British army? Whether the participant was a soldier or a general? Whether the participant was free or enslaved? Similarly, when you view a 1949 news reel of the signing of the treaty that established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization you might ask questions about the origin and purpose of the film. How might the presentation be shaped by the country in which the news reel was created? Was the presentation objective or did it convey a particular viewpoint? What information was included and what was left out? It is vital to understand the author's background and purpose in creating a primary source, and to consider as many accounts of an event as possible.
5.The use of primary sources shows that you have conducted thorough research. As a student, you are not expected to rely solely on primary sources, but the use of some primary source material shows that you have researched your topic and that you understand the importance of primary sources.
Evaluating Primary Sources
Once you have chosen a primary source that you would like to study, you will need to study it and then evaluate it.
Historic Documents
If you are considering a historic document, read through the document to gain a general understanding of what it is about. Some historical documents—such as court decisions or laws—are written in a formal or very technical style and may be difficult to comprehend. Do not be concerned if you do not understand the complete document after one reading.
Read carefully through the document a second time. A close reading will help you gain a better understanding of the document's context and meaning. As you read the document, keep the following questions in mind:
1.Who created the document? If it was written by an individual, what is the background and social status of that person? Is the person neutral, or might he or she have had opinions or beliefs that influenced his or her writing? If the document was written by a government body or corporation, you should also question whether that organization is neutral or not.
2.How does the author know what happened? Did the individual or group take part in or witness the event? Or is the document based on what others saw and heard? What does the answer imply about the document's credibility?
3.When and where was the document created? Historians judge historical documents according to the time and place rule—the closer in time and place an author and source were to an event, the more reliable that source might be. A historical document created during the event or immediately after it is usually more reliable than a document created many years after the event took place.
4.In what historical context was the document created? It is important to know this because the author might have been influenced by the beliefs and attitudes of that time. Is the historical document similar to or different from other primary sources created at that time?
5.What is the main point that the author is discussing? What evidence does the author use to support this point? What is the tone of the document? Remember that authors may use sarcasm or jokes or exaggeration in their writings.
6.Why was the document created? Did the author want to inform or persuade others? Remember that the author of a document is writing about an event from his or her viewpoint or may even be trying to convince you that something happened or needs to happen.
7.As you read, keep the bias rule in mind, which states that every source is biased, or writing about an event from his or her viewpoint, in some way. Read the document carefully and critically. Are there any words that lead you to believe that the source is biased? After you have finished reading the historical document, compare it against other primary and secondary sources to determine whether the information is reliable and accurate. Remember that even though an author may be biased, the historical document can still contain much valuable information.
8.If the document is a translation from a different language, ask yourself similar questions about the translator: Does the translator have a particular viewpoint or agenda? What are his or her credentials? When was the translation created? Are other translations of the same original text available for comparison?
9.What was the purpose of the original historic document? Was it meant for a large audience, like a law or a court decision? Or was it a personal source meant for a very small audience, like a letter or a diary? Remember that even a published document may not be accurate. An unpublished document may provide crucial and fascinating details about an event because the author assumed it would never be seen by the public.
10.Who was the intended or likely audience? What do you know about the audience?
11.How is this document interpreted today? Does your knowledge of the event affect your interpretation of the document?
12.How will this document help you answer a historical question or support
“Analyzing Primary Sources.” The Facts On File Guide to History Research, Facts On File, 2015. African-American History, online.infobase.com/Article/Details/367514. Accessed 2017.