Evaluating Sources Questions

1. Historical Question: Was a 1933 labor strike in a New Jersey factory effective in
getting better conditions for workers? (A labor strike is when workers join together
and refuse to work unless their demands are met by their employer.)

Source: An interview from 1994 with a worker who helped lead the strike in 1933.

Strengths (What about the source makes it good evidence for answering this
historical question?):
Why was this specific worker chosen for being the leader of the strike? Because he
had experienced the strike first-hand, what did he do/see?

Limitations (What about the source might limit its usefulness as evidence for
answering the historical question?):
They only interviewd one person. The person was interviewd 60+ years ago, se he
maybe lost some memories of what happened/what he did. They only asked a
person ON the strike side, not anyone AGAINST the strike for the employs demands.

2. Historical Question: Why did the Qin Dynasty end? (The Qin Dynasty lasted from
221-206 BCE in territory that is today China.)

Source: A 1974 article from a Chinese newspaper saying that the Qin Dynasty fell
because it did not punish its critics severely enough. The Chinese government was
punishing its own critics at the time and it controlled what newspapers could publish.

Strengths:
China has the acces to the proper education to the orginal artifacts to right a good
article.

Limitations:
The Chinese goverment controls the newspaper in 1974, so they could be
mis-leading, lying, and censor in their news so they make themselves look/sound
better than they are. They could also think they are doing the right thing.

STANFORD HISTORY EDUCATION GROUP sheg.stanford.edu

3. Historical Question: What role did John Adams play in the American Revolution?

Source: A 2009 television mini-series about John Adams’s life and political career.
The show was based on an award-winning book by historian David McCullough.

Strengths:
its bias to someone that studies every day.

Limitations:
The show was meant for entertainment, so the accurasy to past history will be a
issue.

4. Historical Question: What was the Union Army’s strategy at the Battle of Antietam?

Source: A diary entry from a low-ranking Union soldier describing the battle.

Strengths:
Its coming from someone who experienced it first hand, so we can hear from him
what he did, saw, & what happened at the Battle of Antietam.

Limitations:
because it was a low-ranking Union soldier he could mis-lead information, or not
know all the details of the Union Army's strategys.

5. Historical Question: What was life like in ancient Mesopotamia?

Source: Fragments of a poem from ancient Mesopotamia that tells the adventurous
tales of a heroic king.

Strengths:
it was written in the same place and time period. Because this poem fragment
survived from Ancient Mesopotamia,

Limitations:
The poem is most likely bias becausde it is written about a king, who usually make
everything taht is recorded about them positive & good about themselves. Because
it's fragments, its not the full poem.

STANFORD HISTORY EDUCATION GROUP sheg.stanford.edu