01 Oct US History since 1865 Analyzing Primary Documents
US History since 1865
Analyzing Primary Documents
Question 1Who is the author of this document?
Booker T. Washington
Louis R. Harlan
History Matters
W.E.B. DuBois
Question 2If you read a speech by an individual in a book of great speeches published 75 years later, what date for the primary source (the speech) should you use in your analysis of the document?
the date the speech was given
the date the speech was published in the collection of documents you are reading
the date the speech was first published in any form
the date you accessed the collections of speeches from an Internet website
Question 3The date you should use for the document you are evaluating is
1895
1974
2005
2017
Question 4Who is the audience for this speech?
White Southerners
Black Southerners
White and Black Southerners
White and Black Southerners and immigrants to the South
Question 5Where a speech is given is an important element to consider when analyzing the document. Where does the action in this document take place?
an international exposition promoting trade, technology, and the products of the South
at the Tuskegee Institution
before a gathering about business and trade called by President Grover Cleveland
before the state legislature in Atlanta, Georgia
Question 6Which is the most correct analysis of the role of bias in analyzing documents.
Since all authors have innate biases, it is the historians role to better understand the motivations of the author to place his/her comments in context.
If a document has bias, it cannot be used in historical research. Historians should seek out neutral observers.
