History Primary source analysis

My first assignment is attached. Please use it to make the primary source analysis.

For the third assignment in the Research Project, you will analyze two primary sources related to your research topic. You will first search for two primary sources from an appropriate database. Once you have selected your two primary sources, you will analyze them according to the criteria in the worksheets below and write a 200-word analysis for each primary source.

What Is a Primary Source?

Primary sources are original records of the political, economic, artistic, scientific, social, and intellectual thoughts and achievements of specific historical periods. They are produced by the people who participated in and witnessed the past. Primary sources offer a variety of points of view and perspectives of events, issues, people, and places. Essentially, a primary source is an artifact created at the time in question, such as diaries, letters, newspaper articles (written at the time), original manuscripts (written at the time), government records, artworks, maps, photographs, speeches, recordings, advertisements, or political cartoons. These original sources were used or created by someone with firsthand experience of an event. To give an example, the Republic written by Plato is a primary source; an article by a historian talking about the Republic is a secondary source.

Primary Source Analysis Worksheets: The National Archives has created analysis worksheets to help you work with primary sources. These worksheets are attached below. The worksheets consist of a combination of checklists and short-answer questions that will help you focus on the most important elements of many different types of historical documents. You do not need to include these worksheets in your submission but do use them to help guide you through analyzing your particular primary sources.

Where to Find Primary Sources

There are many places online to find primary sources, especially sources related to United States history. If you already have a particular source in mind, you can simply search for it on the internet. But the first place you may wish to begin is at the . In the One Search box, search for your topic. You may have to search a few times to narrow down what you are looking for. When you get the results from your initial search, adjust the dates and the source types on the left side of the screen to find primary source materials. The guide gives some good tips on searching the library. Here are some other places you can find primary sources:

How to Analyze a Primary Source

Primary sources are the pieces of evidence that historians use to create a narrative about the past. However, they must be understood in context to your time and place. Watch this short video by the Library of Congress on . For each source, think about these questions:

• Who is the author/creator? Do they have any biases?
• What is the content? Was it created with a specific audience in mind?
• Are there any unique qualities or characteristics that makes this source stand out?
• What does it answer about the time period?
• What is the context? What is the significance at the time it was created? How does it connect to other sources you have found?
• Has it been edited or translated? Has it been altered from the original?
• What do you learn about the time period from using this source? Does your understanding of the source fit with other scholars interpretations, or does it challenge your argument?
• What are some strengths and weaknesses of this source for helping us understand history?
• How is this source relevant to your particular research topic?

Once you have found two primary sources relevant to your research topic, cite each source using and write an analysis for each that sums up these questions above, as well as the information from the worksheet. Your analysis should be about 200 words for each source.