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Sources for Historical Analysis
Whatever the assignment, all historical writing depends on
sources. Once scholars have located a topic and formulated
a set of historical questions, they turn to sources to begin
answering them. Sources essentially come in two varieties:
s Primary sources are materials produced in the time
period under study; they reflect the immediate concerns
and perspectives of participants in the historical drama.
Common examples include diaries, correspondence,
dispatches, newspaper editorials, speeches, economic data,
literature, art, and film.
s Secondary sources are materials produced after the
time period under study; they consider the historical
subject with a degree of hindsight and generally select,
analyze, and incorporate evidence (derived from primary
sources) to make an argument. Works of scholarship are the
most common secondary sources.
Note that many sources can serve as either primary or
secondary sources, depending on your topic and particular
frame of reference. Edward Gibbon’s History of the Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire, for instance, can represent a second-
ary source (if your topic is imperial Rome in the first millen-
nium) or a primary source (if your subject is imperial Britain
in the eighteenth century, when Gibbon wrote his master-
piece). Regardless of such categorization, you should treat any
source with a critical eye. Sources do not answer
historical questions on their own; they yield evidence only
after a process of interrogation and analysis.
A Historian’s Use of Evidence
Students unfamiliar with historical analysis often confuse
sources with evidence. Sources, at best, provide raw
materials (metaphorical straw and clay) that scholars
fashion into evidence (bricks) to assemble a historical
argument (structure). In order to collect this evidence,
historians interrogate sources by reading closely and asking
critical questions:
Who produced this source? Is the author’s biography
(i.e., viewpoints and personal background) relevant to
understanding this source? Was the author biased or dishonest?
Did he or she have an agenda?
When was this source created? Where? Is it representative
of other sources created at the same time? In what ways is it
a product of its particular time, place, or context?
Why did the author produce this source? For what audience
and purpose? Did the author make this purpose (or argument)
explicit or implicit? Was it intended for public or private use?
Is it a work of scholarship, fiction, art, or propaganda?
How does this source compare with other sources you
have analyzed for this assignment? Does it privilege a
particular point of view? Incorporate or neglect significant
pieces of evidence? Structure its argument according to
similar (or different) time periods, geographies, participants,
themes, or events?
Although your teachers will expect a persuasive thesis
statement, they will ultimately judge your argument’s success
on the collection, organization, and presentation of its
evidence. Once again, selection is essential. Because of space
and time constraints, you will not be able to marshal an
exhaustive body of evidence. (Don’t worry! Even if you
had a lifetime to devote to this project, you could never
be exhaustive.) Instead, think carefully and critically about
what evidence to include, what to exclude, and how to frame
your analysis. Because issues of selection and interpretation
are at the heart of most historical disagreements, make sure
to consider reasonable counterarguments to your thesis.
Effective essays anticipate the reader’s likely responses and
address (if not reconcile) contradictory pieces of evidence,
rather than simply ignoring them.
Because of space and time con-
straints, you will not be able to
marshal an exhaustive body of
evidence. Instead, think carefully
and critically about what evidence
to include, what to exclude,
and how to frame your analysis.
Make sure to consider reasonable
counterarguments.