Working with Primary & Secondary Sources
Aligned to C3.D3.1 — C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.
What this lesson teaches
Historians build arguments from evidence. A primary source comes from the time being studied, such as a letter, photograph, or speech, while a secondary source is a later analysis, such as a textbook or article. Good historians ask who made a source, why, and whether other evidence corroborates it.
Worked example
The Gettysburg Address, delivered by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, is a primary source: a firsthand text from the event itself. A historian's book explaining what the speech meant to the Civil War is a secondary source built by interpreting that primary evidence.
Practice questions
- Define primary source and secondary source, and give an example of each.
- Explain why it matters to know who created a source and why.
- Analyze how comparing several sources can make a historical argument stronger.
Watch the lesson
Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.
▶ Watch this lessonEn español
Trabajo con fuentes primarias y secundarias
Los historiadores construyen argumentos a partir de evidencia. Una fuente primaria proviene de la época estudiada, como una carta, una fotografía o un discurso, mientras que una fuente secundaria es un análisis posterior, como un libro de texto o un artículo. Los buenos historiadores preguntan quién creó una fuente, por qué, y si otra evidencia la corrobora.
Ejemplo: El Discurso de Gettysburg, pronunciado por Abraham Lincoln en 1863, es una fuente primaria: un texto de primera mano del propio acontecimiento. El libro de un historiador que explica lo que significó el discurso para la Guerra Civil es una fuente secundaria construida al interpretar esa evidencia primaria.
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