Teaching History with Original Source Documents

 

Utilizing original documents in historical research can be extremely helpful when attempting to analyze the various elements of a particular period or event. This is especially true when researching social and cultural aspects within the micro-history of specific chronological events. Using original documents, however, necessitates corroboration, which means that information in documents must be replicated in other, similar sources in order to draw valid conclusions.

 

Kinds of Original Documents

 

Original documents can come from a variety of sources. Anyone familiar with the national Advanced Placement examinations will know that the primary “document based question” or DBQ utilizes numerous examples that include a selection of different sources. These can include:

 

Diaries

Memoirs

Newspaper articles from the time period

Political cartoons

Letters and other forms of correspondence

Pictures and photographs

Official documents such as legislative bills and proclamations

Speeches

Newsreel items

Music lyrics

Wills and other public documents like court records

Census figures

 

Consistency and Corroboration

 

Research on the attitudes and daily lives of American soldiers training for military action in Europe in 1917 and 1918 might rely heavily on soldiers’ diaries and letters sent to family members. Using popular song lyrics such as “Over There” or recruitment posters will merely present a one-sided view, often created by government propaganda serving the war effort.

 

Thus, in order to draw valid conclusions, researchers must analyze dozens – if not hundreds, of letters. It is not enough to base conclusions on letters sent by new recruits. A more complete picture may emerge after reading letters as well as official reports from the officers conducting the basic training exercises. Post-war memoirs as well as first-hand newspaper accounts may also either corroborate or refute conclusions drawn from analysis. Basing a conclusion on one or two accounts can reflect typical as well as atypical attitudes.

 

Integrating Original Documents with Known Facts

 

Research focused on the civilians at Gettysburg in 1863 must include factual background knowledge of the battle itself. Understanding the social structure of Puritan New England can only be fully comprehended with some knowledge of Calvinist theology. American slavery represents a research area inundated with many fine scholarly works. Additionally, internet projects, many sponsored by universities and reputable research organizations, provide the researcher with an abundance of drawings, personal histories, and repeated accounts of the time of oppression.

 

Students availing themselves of these sources, however, must begin with general background reading on the Southern slave institution in order to first see the “big picture” before using specific documents to prove a thesis. Documents must be as current as possible in terms of their accessibility. For example, fifty years after the 1915 sinking of the Lusitania by a German U-boat, previously sealed documents altered many of the assumptions made in World War I histories relative to the disaster.

 

Questions to ask when Handling Original Documents

 

Can the information found in the document be replicated?

How objective is the source?

Does the bias in the document affect the analysis?

Do the documents allow the researcher to draw general conclusions?

Do the documents affect previously held assumptions?

Is the documentary evidence fully inclusive?

How does the researcher account for contradictory evidence?

 

Other dangers include allowing present attitudes to taint the evidence. American imperialism was supported by men like Teddy Roosevelt but decried by critics such as Mark Twain. Unless the final product is a position paper, the study should not interject personal opinion if it is to be fully objective. In the case of imperialism, it might be proper to conclude that, “imperialism dramatically affected American foreign policy, often with negative results…” Original documents must be taken at face value and serve the best purpose when corroborated by other, similar documents.

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