10 Questions
What are primary sources in history?
Materials produced by people directly involved in the event or topic being studied, such as eyewitness accounts, diaries, letters, official documents, and photographs.
Give an example of a primary source that may reflect social conditions of historical realities and everyday life.
Photographs
According to Gottschalk, how does he define secondary sources?
The testimony of anyone who is not an eyewitness, that is, of one who was not present at the event of which he tells.
What is an example of a secondary source?
Books, articles, and scholarly journals that interpret primary sources or discuss historical subjects.
What type of primary source involves the use of space and geography to emphasize trade routes and structural build-up?
Old maps
What are primary sources in history?
Materials produced by people or groups directly involved in the event or topic being studied.
What is an example of a primary source that may reflect social conditions of historical realities and everyday life?
Photographs
According to Gottschalk, how does he define secondary sources?
The testimony of anyone who is not an eyewitness - that is of one who was not present at the event of which he tells.
What type of primary source involves the use of space and geography to emphasize trade routes and structural build-up?
Old maps
Give an example of a primary source that involves the use of space and geography to emphasize trade routes and structural build-up.
Old maps
Study Notes
Importance of Sources for Historians
- Historians use various materials beyond books to study and write history.
- These materials are sourced from:
- Museums for archeological, epigraphical, or numismatical materials.
- Archives, courthouses, government libraries for official records.
- Private papers from business houses, ancient castles, autograph collectors, and parish churches.
- A historian's delimitation of persons, areas, times, and functions (economic, political, intellectual, diplomatic, or occupational aspects) involved in a subject helps to:
- Identify relevant materials with a bearing on those persons in that area at that time.
- Increase the precision of sources, making them more relevant.
Characteristics of Sources
- Sources are materials that have a bearing on a specific subject or topic.
- The more precise the delimitation of persons, area, time, and function, the more relevant the sources are likely to be.
- Historical sources are essential for studying and writing history.
Learn about the importance of sources for historians' work as discussed in Gottschalk's work, Understanding History. Explore the various types of materials historians rely on, from archaeological and epigraphical to official records and private papers.
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