Note: This article is going to use examples from AP US History. If you'd like an article with AP World History examples, click here!
What Is A Source?
This article assumes that you are familiar with the different types of historical sources and their uses. I will do a brief overview in this section, but I have a more comprehensive guide to different types of historical sources. It's a great resource if you're brand new to historical sources or if you're feeling a little rusty. You can view that guide here.
In brief, historians use sources to make sense of the past. This includes determining the facts of what happened in history. It also includes making meaning of history. For example, in AP US History you will make several kinds of connections between events and periods. For example, you may examine how one event caused other events to happen. You may also look at how two time periods are similar or different. Professional and amateur historians use a similar process.
These arguments must have evidence to back them up. Otherwise, they are works of fiction or propaganda.
There are different kinds of evidence, which historians refer to as sources. In AP classes, you may hear the term "document" or "stimulus" used instead of source. For our purposes, these words all mean the same thing. I will use source for clarity in this resource.
Finally, remember that there is some blur between categories. Some sources are clearly primary, and others are muddier. I have included examples here that I think best represent this type of source. I've also noted where you may need to use your best judgement.
What is a Primary Source?
The Basics
Primary sources are sources are made at the same time as a given historical event or period.
This means that the person who created it lived in the relevant time period and the relevant place. For historical events, we ideally want eyewitnesses.
"Primary" means first or earliest. It's a fitting name because these sources are the first ones made about any topic. Secondary and tertiary sources build on primary sources. So it's also fitting that "primary" means most important. We cannot create accurate secondary and tertiary sources without some evidence from the time period we wish to study. That doesn't make these types of sources less influential or important, but it does mean that their arguments rest on what can be known from primary sources.
Any source that is reproduced faithfully from a primary source is also a primary source. Let's say we have an original copy of the Declaration of Independence. It's a primary source. If we photocopy or photograph the Declaration of Independence, the resulting copies are primary sources. If we translate it into French, the translation is a primary source. If we record someone reading it, the recording is a primary source.
Examples
All of the following can be primary sources. I've included an example in parentheses that's relevant to the AP US History curriculum.
- Speeches (Gettysburg Address)
- Documents (US Constitution)
- Letters ("Remember the Ladies" - sent from Abigail Adams to John Adams)
- Journal Entries (John Adam's journal entry on September 15, 1777)
- Autobiographies and Memoirs (Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass - Frederick Douglass)
- Photographs (Jacob Riis Collection)
- Posters (Rosie the Riveter)
- Literature and Art (The Crucible by Arthur Miller)
- Interviews (WPA Slave Narrative Collection)
- Newspaper Articles (Front pages of US newspapers covering September 11th, 2001)
- Audio and Video Recordings (The Fireside Chats - President Franklin D. Roosevelt)
- Government Data and Official Records (Census)
Viewer Discretion is Advised
Somethings are almost always primary sources. Photographs, recordings, government data, speeches, and documents are typically primary sources. Exceptions to this rule are very rare.
Other things are primary sources in a specific context. This means you have to use your judgment in order to determine if a given resource is a primary source given your research topic.
First, literature and art often cover other time periods. I used Arthur Miller's The Crucible in my example above. It would be a mistake to use this play to study the Puritans. Arthur Miller wrote the play two hundred and fifty years after the Salem Witch Trials. He also made up parts of his story. That's okay because he wasn't trying to create a historically accurate play. He was trying to criticize McCarthyism. Miller experienced this first-hand. We can use The Crucible to understand Arthur Miller and the impact of McCarthyism. The Crucible, like all primary sources, is primary for the time and place where it was created.
Second, your research question influences what you need to know. This can make some sources primary sources that might not be otherwise. Lets say that you're interested in how Americans reacted to September 11th. Because you're interested in beliefs and feelings, then any source which which reveals these things is a primary source. That means opinion pieces and letters to the editor in the newspaper are primary sources for you. However, an opinion piece in the San Francisco Chronicle is not going to be a primary source for someone studying what happened in New York City on September 11th.
Third, some sources shape history itself. They are primary sources because they document a significant event in history. This is true even if they are based in opinion or false. For example, Spain did not blow up the USS Maine. The New York Journal and The New York World both reported that Spain was responsible. That helped start the Spanish-American War. Those articles are important primary sources, even though they don't accurately report what happened.
Fourth, some resources blur the boundaries. Interviews are a great example of how a single type of source can fit into multiple categories. In the WPA Slave Narrative Collection, interviewers recorded and transcribed words from formerly enslaved people. Because they faithfully reproduced the words of the original speaker, we consider the transcriptions and recordings primary sources. However, other interviews are summarized or heavily edited. If it doesn't faithfully reproduce the words of the person who lived through the event, it's not a primary source.
Limitations of Primary Sources
Limitation 1: Trust, but verify.
You can think of a primary source like the eyewitness in a trial.
The prosecution wants to prove the defendant is guilty. It helps their case if they have a witness who says they saw the defendant steal a car. The defense wants to prove the defendant is innocent. It helps their case if they have a witness who says the defendant was in a different state when the car was stolen.
Likewise, a historian is trying to prove something. It helps their case if their primary sources support their argument. It hurts their case if their primary sources contradict them.
But, just because someone says an event occurred doesn't mean that it did.
First, let's handle the innocuous reasons. People are not infallible or objective. They can forget things. They can misunderstand. They can jump to conclusions. They make judgements about what's important. They embellish events. They may not know that they're witnessing something important until after the fact.
Other people are simply dishonest. They lie or twist facts to suit an agenda.
This is one reason why every good courtroom drama has a dramatic cross examination scene. The eyewitness is revealed to be a liar, the defendant is free, and everyone weeps. It's also why good historians don't just take what people say at face value.
When you read primary sources, it is important to "cross examine" them. In APUSH, we call this sourcing. We shift from examining what a person said to why they said it. We may also consider where it was said and who the speaker was speaking too. This helps us detect bias and understand the writing in context.
Historians also look for other evidence to back up their claims. Let's say eight people see someone steal a car, AND the police find the defendant's fingerprints on the steering wheel. It's going to be much easier to convince the jury that the defendant is guilty. Similarly, historians compare accounts to see if they say similar things. They also look for evidence from other fields, like archaeology, literature, and science to back up their claims. It helps if other historians reached similar conclusions.
Limitation 2: Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence.
Unfortunately, history is often unfortunate. Wars, fires, pests, and time all destroy parts of the historical record. Once these things are gone, they are gone for ever.
Plus, many things are just not recorded in the first place. People don't always know that they're living through something that other people would care about. In our modern day world, we are constantly documenting our lives and the news. It can be easy to forget that in the past, most people couldn't write or take pictures of their lives. The further back you go, the fewer people were in a position to create lasting works.
Many things have happened that we cannot prove happened. History is full of gaps and things that cannot be known. At least, not until we invent time machines. Until then, its important to remember two general principles.
First, your documents often won't tell you everything you need. You may not know who wrote a document or when it was written. Part of it may have been destroyed. The meanings of specific words may not be fully understood. There may not be documents about those times. Historians work with what they have.
Second, historians can't prove a counterfactual. Meaning, we can only speculate about what could have happened if things were different. Beyond that, we often don't know what actually happened. Good historians strive to be as transparent about what we don't know as they are about what we do know.
Primary Sources in AP US History
In AP US History, you have to learn to do the work that a historian does.
This includes all sorts of fun things!
- Develop arguments that show causation, change over time, and similarities between historical events.
- Use evidence to prove your arguments are based in history and logical.
- Analyze the background of your text to strengthen your argument.
- Cite the sources you've used to develop your arguments.
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