How do we know what we know
about history?
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
“And I will do everything that I can as long as I am President of the United
States to remind the American people that we are one nation under God, and
we may call that God different names but we remain one nation.”
President Barack Obama, quote from a speech on Sept.10th, 2010.
What are Primary Sources?
• A primary source is a piece of living
history. It may be defined as any artifact that
provides first hand or direct information
about the past. Primary sources may include
first person accounts (e.g. oral histories,
diaries, memoirs, correspondence),
documents (e.g. correspondence, treaties,
laws, speeches), images (e.g. maps,
photographs, drawings, paintings), or
historically gathered data.
Questions to Consider When You
Analyze Primary Sources:
(a) Written Primary Sources:
•
Who created the source and why?
•
What sorts of information does the source supply?
•
Under what circumstances was the source created? How would this influence the
content of the source?
•
For who was the source created?
•
Was the source meant to be public or private?
•
Did the creator wish to inform, persuade, or deceive his or her audience? What did
the creator hope to accomplish by writing the source? Can you trust the source's
content at face value?
•
What were the opinions, motivations, or interests of the creator? How does his or her
point of view compare to other writers of the period? What kind of impact would this
have on the content of the source?
Questions to Consider When You Analyze
Primary Sources:
(b) Visual Primary Sources (images)
•
Why was the image created?
• What does the image reveal about its subject?
• What is the point of view of the image? Whose story is it telling?
• What is the setting of the image? What sorts of details does it include
or emphasize? What sorts of details does it exclude?
• What are the underlying messages of the image and motives of the
artist?
• How long after the event was the image created? How does this
influence the image's content or perspective?
How to Keep All Those Critical
Questions in Mind?
•
ACRONYM 1:
T – Time Period (when doc.
was produced)
A – Author (any info. about
him/her)
P – Purpose (intended
purpose/tone of the
document)
T – Type of document (ex:
legal (contract, law),
informal (diary))
A – Argument(s) (main idea(s)
in the doc.)
B – Bias (prejudice/favoritism
expressed in the doc.)
•
ACRONYM 2:
A – Argument (main idea expressed in the doc)
H – Historical Context (circumstances of
time/place)
I – Intended Audience
P – Purpose (private/public; inspire/vilify/mock
/persuade/reflect, etc.)
P – Point of view (the author’s perspective)
When You Interpret Primary Sources,
The Challenge is to Figure Out Answers
to the Following Questions:
• (1) What does the document say?
(meaning of the document)
• (2) WHY would the author of this
document have this particular opinion?
(Reasons behind the Author’s Point of
View (POV))
BE CRITICAL and PERCEPTIVE!!!
Scrutinize everything!!!
“This barbarous usage of those unfortunate wretches, makes it appear, that the
fate of such as are bought and transported from the coast to America, or other
parts of the world, by Europeans, is less deplorable, than that of those who end
their days in their native country; for aboard ships all possible care is taken to
preserve and subsist them for the interest of the owners, and when sold in
America, the same motive ought to prevail with their masters to use them well,
that they may live the longer, and do them more service. Not to mention the
inestimable advantage they may reap, of becoming Christians, and saving their
souls, if they make a true use of their condition....”
Source: John Barbot, an agent for the French Royal African Company,
made at least two voyages to the West Coast of Africa, in 1678 and 1682.
Remember This:
People are Products of Their Time,
Upbringing, and Environment !!!
Insert
your Pic
here 
Consider This!
1095
2007
"All who die by the way, whether by land or by sea, or in battle against
the pagans, shall have immediate remission of sins. This I grant them
through the power of God with which I am invested. O what a disgrace if
such a despised and base race, which worships demons, should
conquer a people which has the faith of omnipotent God and is made
glorious with the name of Christ! With what reproaches will the Lord
overwhelm us if you do not aid those who, with us, profess the Christian
religion!
Pope Urban II’s Call for the Crusade
Consider This!
• What is wrong with this picture?
This photograph shows the
famous boxer Jack Johnson and
his wife on the opening night of
their night club, "The Showboat,"
Los Angeles, California, 1931.
If you were reading an
editorial about this event in,
let’s say, a Southern
newspaper, and the author
was outraged, would you be
able to explain his/her
reasons for having such an
opinion?
Consider this!
Source: Twelve Tablets, excerpts, Ancient Roman
Code of Law, 450 B.C.E.
• V. 1 "Our ancestors saw fit that "females, by
reason of levity of disposition, shall remain in
guardianship, even when they have attained
their majority."
• VI. 2 Marriage by `usage' (usus): If a man and
woman live together continuously for a year,
they are considered to be married; the woman
legally is treated as the man's daughter.
Consider this!
• "America has been hit by Allah at its most
vulnerable point, destroying, thank God, its
most prestigious buildings."
Osama bin Laden’s speech on October 7, 2001, after the
September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and
the Pentagon.
So, in summary…
• When dealing with primary (and secondary) sources, it is
important to:
(a) Figure out the meaning of a text or an image
(What is the message of the source?)
(b) Determine factors that might have influenced /
shaped that message.
(author’s status, religion, race, prevalent views of that
time period, type of the document, intended audience,
etc.)
When you are analyzing the author’s
perspective, you are saying:
MADE
Work Cited:
• Slide 1:
http://questgarden.com/81/41/7/090425122417/images/photo05.jpg
http://www.safepassageohio.org/photos/COFFIN3.jpg
http://foolocracy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Anti_American_propaganda_9636x1024.jpg
• Slides 2-4:
• Slide 7:
http://www.si.umich.edu/spies/lounge-sources.html
http://photos2.fotosearch.com/bthumb/FSA/FSA302/x16998564.jpg
http://techpaul.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/skeptical-face.jpg
• Slide 8:
http://www.ashridge.org.uk/website/content.nsf/FileLibrary/
B486E07E6D471E01802575C300611E52/$file/Gen-Y-ExternalInfluences_49.gif
• Slide 9
: http://www.osce.org/files/imagecache/small/images/web/d/e/7662.jpg?1269002138
• Slide 10
: http://www.historynyc.com/prodimages/5460s.jpg
• Slide 14:
http://www.saqibonline.co.uk/images/content/slider_image_01.jpg