WHAT ARE HISTORICAL SOURCES?

The materials on the History 10 web site have been designed to help you learn history by exploring some of the thousands of online historical sources that can be found on the Web. Many are primary sources--that is, they are first-hand sources drawn from people who lived in the past. Most of the time, the primary sources used by historians are written: letters, diaries, newspapers, govern- ment reports, or books written at the time the historian is studying. Most of the documents you will find in the History 10 and 11 web site, and many of the assignments in the online Modern History Reader, are primary sources. This means they are taken from as close as we can come to the history itself--to the experience of people who lived through the period we are studying. Of course, we can never duplicate the precise experience of someone who lived fifty or a hundred years ago, in a very different time and place. But when used carefully, primary sources allow us to come closer to the history we are learning, and to ask better questions about the events and actions and ideas that transpired in the past. Before we are able to ask those questions, though, we need a method for evaluating the sources themselves.

How Realiable is a Source?

There are a few ways we can judge the reliability and value of a primary source. Here are some questions to ask as you read a source document. Your instructor may ask you to answer these for class or in writing. These questions can be also be used when reading assignments for this course.

• Who is the author of the source? What was the author's motivation? Why did they take the trouble to write it?
• Was it created spontaneously (for example, a letter written in response to a sudden change of circumstances)? Was it a routine transaction (for example, a government report)? Is the source the result of a long, deliberate, thoughtful process, or was it written quickly?
• Did the author or authors of the source have first-hand knowledge of the event described? Or did they report what others saw and heard?
• What was the intended audience of the source? Was it personal (a letter or diary)? Was it public (a published book or article)? Was it "official" (the work of a government, a political party, a state functionary or office)?
• What was the author's intention in writing the source?  Was it intended to persuade others of its point of view? Look closely at the language used. Try to find key words that will tell you if the author wanted to persuade, or if she wanted to be objective.
• When was the source written in relation to the event described? Was it written at the same time? Immediately afterward? Several months or years later?

Remember: Every source should be read critically and skeptically. Know the author's identity and point of view whenever possible.