Understanding Primary Sources
A Grade 10 Social Studies worksheet on identifying, analyzing, and evaluating primary sources.
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Understanding Primary Sources
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Read each question carefully and provide thoughtful answers. This worksheet will test your understanding of primary sources in historical research.
1. Which of the following is the best definition of a primary source?
A document or object created after the event by someone who did not witness it.
An original document or object created at the time of an event by someone who experienced it.
A secondary analysis of historical events by an expert.
A fictional account of historical events.
2. Which of the following is NOT an example of a primary source?
A diary entry from a soldier during World War I.
A photograph of a historical event.
A textbook chapter about the American Civil War.
A speech delivered by a historical figure.
3. Historians use primary sources to gain firsthand information and to understand events from the perspective of those who them.
4. The credibility of a primary source can be affected by the author's and the purpose for which the source was created.
5. All primary sources are objective and free from bias.
True
False
6. A secondary source is always less reliable than a primary source.
True
False
7. Briefly explain the difference between a primary source and a secondary source, providing an example of each.
8. Why is it important for historians to corroborate information from multiple primary sources?
9. Read the excerpt below and answer the questions that follow:
"Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."
— Franklin D. Roosevelt, Address to Congress, December 8, 1941
a) Is this excerpt a primary or secondary source? Justify your answer.
b) What can a historian learn about the event from this specific source?