1. Intro to History 12
The Study of History

2. What are Primary and Secondary Sources?
Primary Sources are:
Materials created by participants or witnesses of the event(s) under study
Original records created at the time the historical events occurred
Raw data for the historian
Secondary sources are:
Works that discuss a subject, but which are after the time that the event(s) occurred by someone other than an eyewitness
Works that contain explanations/judgments of past events
Works that explain or interpret primary sources

3. What are Examples of Primary Sources?
Official records:
newspapers
cabinet papers
Speeches
diplomatic dispatches
Autobiographies
Laws
Pamphlets
parish records
parliamentary debates
Private sources:
ambassador's reports
letters
Treaties
diaries
Printed sources:

4. Reliability
Time and Place Rule The closer in time and place a source and its creator were to an event in the past' the better the source will be. Based on this rule, better primary sources (starting with the most reliable) might include:
Direct traces of the event
Accounts of the event, created after the event occurred, by firsthand observers and participants

5. Bias Rule Every source is biased in some way
Bias Rule Every source is biased in some way. Documents tell us only what the creator of the document thought happened, or perhaps what the creator wants us to think happened. As a result:
Every piece of evidence and every source must be read or viewed skeptically and critically
No piece of evidence should be taken at face value. The creator's point of view must be considered
Each piece of evidence and source must be cross-checked and compared with related sources and pieces of evidence

6. Corroborating Evidence
Corroborating evidence is evidence that tends to support a proposition that is already supported by some evidence. For example, W, a witness, testifies that she saw X drive his automobile into a green car. Y, another witness, testifies that when he examined X's car later that day, he noticed green paint on its fender.

7. Conflicting Evidence
Conflicting evidence is evidence that does not support a proposition that is already supported by some evidence. For example, W, a witness, states that she saw drive his automobile into a green car. Z, another witness, testifies that X's car was at home at the time of the accident.

8. Cause and Effect Tree
This strategy helps students identify cause and effect relationships. It is important to stress that sometimes one cause may have several effects, or several causes may lead to one effect. There is not always a one-to-one relationship in cause and effect.

9. Visualize a tree with a trunk and branches
Write the cause on the trunk of the tree
On each branch write the effects of the cause.
Examples: WW1, Bush's Middle East Policy