Primary and Secondary Sources Mr. Davis 7th Grade

What’s the Source? What are primary sources? First hand information is written or produced by a person who: Lived to tell the experience and is telling US about it!

What’s the Source? What is a secondary source? Second hand information It comes from someone who researches and then write about another person’s first hand experience. Usually written after an event occurs.

Examples: Primary sources: Diaries: Anne Frank lived during the Holocaust and WWII, she kept a diary of the events that she witnessed. Autobiographies: A written account of someone's life written by that person. Speeches: Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address”, Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech.

Primary continued: Historical documents: The Deceleration of Independence and the Constitution. They were drafted then singed! Paintings, drawings, sculptures, songs, poems, and letters!

Secondary Sources: Biographies: A story written about someone. Almanacs, and encyclopedias. History textbooks, and textbooks in general. Why is this?

But wait! They can be Both!? How can you tell the difference? Was it created during the time? Most likely if it is after the event, then it is secondary.

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#4 Written in 2001

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