Think Like a Historian: Working with Primary Source Evidence

Documents are usually what people think of when they hear “primary source evidence.” For a long time, written documentation or physical objects were considered our only means of corroborating historical facts. Historians now recognize that other forms of evidence, such as oral histories, are just as important. Like all types of historical evidence, documents must be analyzed and their context understood. Knowing who wrote the document and why are key steps in understanding the historical context. Historians should not rely on documents from only one source to come to conclusions, but rather use many different types of primary sources to create a fuller picture of history.

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