Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Lesson Essential Question: What makes a historical document

trustworthy and reliable?

Primary Sources

• Primary sources are the ORIGINAL sources of information recorded at the time an event occurred.

–First-hand accounts of events–Data collected for scientific studies–Historical documents Image found at:

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwjc.html

Why use primary sources?• To get feelings and emotions from people who

witnessed an event or time period.• To obtain details such as people’s actual words

or objects.• To get as close as possible to what actually

happened during an historical event or time period.

Primary Source Examples

• Diaries • Speeches• Interviews• Original Government

Documents (birth certificate, house deed, etc)

• Original Newspapers• Autobiographies• Photographs• Artifacts

Image taken from: http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/DeclarInd.html

Examples of Primary Sources:•Baseball Cards•Photos•Editorial Cartoons

Image taken from: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/images/cychas.jpg

Image taken from: http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/dspolitic/Frame.htm

Image taken from: http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/ppprs/00200/00200v.jpg

Secondary Sources

• Secondary sources give information written or created at a LATER time by someone who was NOT present/witnessing the event

• Secondary sources of information are created FROM primary sources– Summaries of primary sources– Interpretations of primary sources

Why use secondary sources?

• To get expert opinions in order to evaluate what really happened.

• To gain understanding by examining the same event from different perspectives.

• To get a neutral point of view.• To save time by reading information collected

from a number of different sources.

Secondary Source Examples

• Dictionaries• Encyclopedias• Articles that review other sources• Textbooks• Biographies• Atlas

Examples of Secondary Sources: •Biographies •Textbooks•Encyclopedias•Historiographies Image taken from http://www.doriskearnsgoodwin.com/

Image taken from http://sundown.afro.illinois.edu/liesmyteachertoldme.php

Secondary Source Example

The image on the right shows a snippet of a review of the book Lies My Teacher Told Me.

Book reviews are secondary sources.

Image taken from: Lay, Suzanne. "Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong." Library Journal 132.18 (2007): 76-81. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 17 Dec. 2010.

Primary or Secondary Sources?Primary or Secondary Sources?

• Newspaper and Magazine articles can be BOTH a primary or secondary source. – If the article was written at the time

something happened, then it is a primary source.

– Example: The articles written on Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009 are primary sources.

– However, if a reporter in 2009 wrote about George Washington’s inauguration using information written by someone else (1789), that would be a secondary source.

Both Primary and Secondary sources may have a slant or bias

Primary Source Bias Example:John Adams Personal PapersIn his personal diaries, John Adams said he was the main author of the Declaration of Independence. He claims that the gave the ideas and many of the wordings to Thomas Jefferson. But, Thomas Jefferson signed the Declaration of Independence so he gets much of the credit in history textbooks.

Secondary Source Bias Example:

History TextbooksA history textbook is a secondary source. Because there is so much history to cover, much of what is discussed shows the positives and not the negatives. Some countries might want to leave out “bad events” from their history that they are embarrassed by, such as slavery.

You need to look at both primary and secondary sources carefully to see if the information they give lines up (is consistent). Bias (when one person takes one side; favoritism) can come up in either type of source so it is important to double check.

Summing Up

It is important to determine the type of information you are looking at. – Primary sources are original sources of

information– Secondary sources summarize, analyze, or critique

primary sources– Both primary and secondary sources can be good

sources of information, but you need to critically evaluate them.

You Try!

• Click on this link and try and identify if the source is primary or secondary-http://www.quia.com/pop/46290.html

• Click on this link and play a game similar to who wants to be a millionaire–http://www.quia.com/rr/107632.html