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Primary and Secondary Sources

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18 views15 pages

Primary and Secondary Sources

Uploaded by

Matthewmachera
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Finding out about the Past:

Evidence from the


past and Primary
and Secondary
Sources
There are three main ways a HISTORIAN finds
information about the Past:

1.Archaeology ( Through the work of an


Archaeologist). Always P.S.

2.Written Evidence from the past. Always P.S.

3.Oral Tradition. Always S.S.

4.Other information about the very far past can


be gathered through the work of
Palaeontologists- fossil remains. Always P.S.
But there are some problems:

Problems with Written • Problems with Oral


Evidence: P.S. Tradition: S.S.

• Authors can be biased and • Stories retold can be/are


can lie/ exaggerate/ omit inaccurate
details and information.
• Info can be
• Documents can be forged omitted/exaggerated/
changed
• Documents could be in
translation or ancient • Not very useful after 3 or 4
scripts- difficult to decipher generations.
Primary and Secondary
Sources
It’s from these that
Historians gather information
about the past.

What are they?


Primary sources

• A Primary source is an
original object or document;
first-hand information.

• A Primary source is material


written or produced in the
time period that you may be
investigating.
Primary Source
• Diaries and journals

▫ Example: Anne Frank was a


teenager during World War II.
▫ She kept a diary or journal the
years before she died in a
concentration camp. Her diary
was later published as the “Diary
of Anne Frank”.
▫ This is a Primary source.
Primary Source
• Autobiographies

▫ An autobiography is when you


write a story or book about
yourself.

Example: Nelson Mandela


wrote his autobiography about
events in his life called “Long
Walk to Freedom”
Primary Source

• Speeches are
considered Primary
Sources.
Primary Source
• Historical documents such as the Declaration of
Independence or the Constitution are Primary documents.

• Other Primary Sources would be


• Birth Certificates
• Government records
• Deeds
• Court documents
• Military records
• School reports
• Census records
• Art
Primary Source

• Sound Recordings
and interviews are
considered
primary resources.
Primary Source

• Photographs and
videos are
primary sources.

NOTE: ANYTHING
ARCHAEOLOGICAL
is PRIMARY!
Primary Source
• Letters are considered
primary documents.
Secondary Source
• Think about it like this:

• If I tell you something,


I am the Primary source.
If you tell someone else
what I told you, you are
the Secondary source.

• Secondary source
materials could be
History articles in
newspapers, magazines,
books or articles.
What is a Secondary Source?
• A secondary source is something
written about a primary source.
• Secondary sources are written
"after the fact" - that is, at a later
date.
• Usually the author of a secondary
source will have studied the primary
sources of an historical period or
event and will then interpret the
"evidence" found in these sources.
• You can think of secondary sources
as second-hand information.
Secondary Source
• Encyclopedias, history books (textbooks),
models, replicas, etc. are all Secondary
sources because they were written “after”
events occurred.

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