• derivedÊfromÊtheÊGreekÊwordÊ“historia”ÊwhichÊmeansÊknowledgeÊobtainedÊthroughÊ

inquiryÊandÊinvestigation
• theÊstudyÊofÊtheÊpastÊthatÊisÊsignificantÊandÊtrue
• theÊwrittenÊrecordÊofÊwhatÊhappenedÊinÊtheÊpast

PAST
• involvesÊeverythingÊthatÊeverÊhappenedÊsinceÊtheÊdawnÊofÊtime

HISTORY
• isÊaÊprocessÊofÊinterpretingÊevidenceÊorÊrecordsÊfromÊtheÊpastÊthoughtfullyÊandÊ
informedly.ÊItÊisÊtheÊnarrativeÊthatÊgivesÊmeaning,Êsense,ÊandÊexplanationÊtoÊtheÊpastÊinÊ
theÊpresent

PREHISTORY
• theÊperiodÊofÊhumanÊactivityÊbeforeÊtheÊinventionÊofÊwritingÊsystems

PRIMARYÊSOURCESÊVSÊSECONDARYÊSOURCES
PRIMARY SOURCE SECONDARY SOURCE
• CreatedÊatÊtheÊtimeÊofÊanÊevent,ÊorÊveryÊ ○ WasÊCreatedÊafterÊtheÊevent,ÊsometimesÊafterÊ
soonÊafter somethingÊhappened.
• CreatedÊbyÊsomeoneÊwhoÊsawÊorÊheardÊ ○ OftenÊusesÊprimaryÊsourcesÊasÊexamples
anÊeventÊthemselves ○ ExpressesÊanÊopinionÊorÊanÊargumentÊaboutÊaÊ
• OftenÊone-of-a-kindÊorÊrare pastÊevent
GiveÊfirsthand,Êoriginal,ÊandÊunfilteredÊ ○ ProvidesÊaÊvaluableÊinterpretationÊofÊhistoricalÊ
information events

DISTINCTIONÊOFÊPRIMARYÊANDÊSECONDARYÊSOURCES

HISTORICAL SOURCES
• AnÊobjectÊfromÊtheÊpastÊorÊtestimonyÊconcerningÊtheÊpastÊonÊwhichÊhistoriansÊdependÊ
toÊcreateÊtheirÊownÊdepictionÊofÊthatÊpast

PRIMARY SOURCES
• CreatedÊatÊtheÊtimeÊofÊanÊeventÊorÊveryÊsoonÊafter
• CreatedÊbyÊsomeoneÊwhoÊsawÊorÊheardÊanÊeventÊthemselves
• OftenÊone-of-a-kindÊorÊrare
• GiveÊfirsthand,Êoriginal,ÊandÊunfilteredÊinformation

SECONDARY SOURCES
• CreatedÊafterÊtheÊevent;ÊsometimesÊaÊlongÊtimeÊafterÊsomethingÊhappened
• OftenÊusesÊprimaryÊsourcesÊasÊexamples
• ExpressesÊanÊopinionÊorÊanÊargumentÊaboutÊaÊpastÊevent
• ProvideÊvaluableÊinterpretationÊofÊhistoricalÊevents
Advantages of Primary Sources
• ProvideÊaÊwindowÊintoÊtheÊpast
• UniqueÊ– canÊgiveÊaÊveryÊrealÊsenseÊofÊwhatÊitÊwasÊlikeÊtoÊbeÊaliveÊduringÊaÊlongÊpastÊera
• DirectÊcontactÊwithÊoriginalÊrecordsÊ– exploreÊtheÊcontentÊwithÊactiveÊandÊdeeperÊ
analysisÊandÊtoÊrespondÊthoughtfully
• CriticalÊthinkingÊisÊdeveloped

Disadvantages of Primary Sources

• OftenÊincompleteÊandÊhaveÊlittleÊcontext
• RareÊandÊnotÊeasyÊtoÊaccess

Advantages of Secondary Sources

• CanÊprovideÊanalysis,Êsynthesis,Êinterpretation,ÊorÊevaluationÊofÊtheÊoriginalÊinformation
• BestÊforÊuncoveringÊbackgroundÊorÊhistoricalÊinformationÊaboutÊaÊtopic
• BroadeningÊyourÊunderstandingÊofÊaÊtopic
GetÊexpertÊviewsÊofÊeventsÊandÊoftenÊbringÊtogetherÊmultipleÊprimaryÊsources

Disadvantages of Secondary Sources

• ReliabilityÊandÊvalidityÊareÊopenÊtoÊquestion
• DoÊnotÊprovideÊexactÊinformation
• DoÊnotÊrepresentÊfirst-handÊknowledgeÊofÊaÊsubjectÊorÊevent

DIFFERENTÊKINDSÊOFÊPRIMARYÊSOURCES

Categories of Primary Sources

• DOCUMENTSÊareÊwrittenÊorÊprintedÊmaterialsÊthatÊhaveÊbeenÊproducedÊinÊoneÊformÊorÊ
another
• NUMERICALÊRECORDSÊincludeÊanyÊnumericalÊdataÊinÊprintedÊorÊhandwrittenÊform
• ORALÊSTATEMENTSÊincludeÊanyÊformÊofÊaÊstatementÊmadeÊorallyÊbyÊsomeone
• RELICSÊareÊanyÊobjectsÊwhoseÊphysicalÊandÊvisualÊcharacteristicsÊcanÊprovideÊsomeÊ
informationÊaboutÊtheÊpast

DifferentÊKindsÊofÊPrimaryÊSources

Literary or Cultural Sources

1. Novels,Êplays,ÊpoemsÊ(bothÊpublishedÊandÊinÊmanuscriptÊform)
2. TelevisionÊshows,ÊmoviesÊorÊvideos
3. PaintingsÊorÊPhotographs

Accounts that describe events, people, or ideas

1. Newspapers
2. ChroniclesÊorÊhistoricalÊaccounts
3. EssaysÊandÊspeeches
 4. Memoirs,Êdiaries,ÊjournalsÊandÊletters
5. PhilosophicalÊtreatiesÊorÊmanifestos

Information about people

1. CensusÊrecords
2. Obituaries
3. NewspaperÊarticlesÊ
4. autobiographies

Finding information about a place

1. MapsÊandÊatlases
2. CensusÊinformation
3. Statistics
4. Photographs
5. CityÊdirectories
6. LocalÊlibrariesÊorÊhistoricalÊsocieties

6 POINTS OF INQUIRIES to EVALUATE PRIMARY SOURCES

1. DATE:ÊWhenÊwasÊitÊproduced?
2. LOCALIZATION:ÊWhereÊdidÊitÊoriginate?
3. AUTHORSHIP:ÊWhoÊwroteÊit?

4. ANALYSIS:ÊWhatÊpre-existingÊmaterialÊservedÊasÊtheÊbasisÊforÊitsÊproduction?
5. INTEGRITY:ÊWhatÊwasÊitsÊoriginalÊform?
6. CREDIBILITY:ÊWhatÊisÊtheÊevidentialÊvalueÊofÊitsÊcontent?