Two useful tip sheets on working with primary documents
A primary document is any document written by the historical figures themselves. It is distinct from a secondary document (though sometimes the line blurs), which is written, almost always in the third person, by another person about a historical figure.
So, if we’re just reading the words of the historical figures themselves, then that’s pretty straightforward, right? The writers are just giving eyewitness, first-hand accounts of what they have experienced. And we just read them, and then we know what “really happened” in history, right?
Of course, it’s not that simple. If we are really going to learn from primary documents, we must bring to them a prepared mind. Inattentive, unprepared reading will result in skewed, caricatured–or, frankly, dead wrong–ideas about what “really happened,” or even about what the writer was trying to tell us (the two are not always the same thing!)
But don’t despair: with some basic direction to show you which tools you’ll need to bring to the job, any non-historian can begin mining primary sources for the real gold and gems they contain. And that’s when the real fun of learning history begins.
First, you will feel much closer to the life of the past when you read such sources. There is no substitute for hearing those voices from the past resurrected in vivid power as you read.
Second, many students find the historical detective work you need to do when reading a primary source stimulating–even addictive!
To get you started, here are two useful “tip sheets” on how to work with primary documents:
Using Historical Sources (North Park)
How to Read a Primary Source (Bowdoin)
Enjoy!
