Analysis
African Americans
1800 ~ 1870

Library of Congress Learning Page: The Historians’ Sources: Analysis of Primary Sources

          "Historians analyze historical sources in different ways. First, historians think about where, when and why a document was created. They consider whether a source was created close in location and time to an actual historical event. Historians also think about the purpose of a source. Was it a personal diary intended to be kept private? Was the document prepared for the public? Some primary sources may be judged more reliable than others, but every source is biased in some way. As a result, historians read sources skeptically and critically. They also cross-check sources against other evidence and sources. Historians follow a few basic rules to help them analyze primary sources."
         
The above link to the Library of Congress Learning Page will explain the Time & Place Rule, Bias Rule and provide questions to help you Analyze Primary Sources

Dispelling Myths

          It is often a difficult task to distinguish fact from fiction and as time passes, folktales and myths are interpreted as truth by misguided individuals. Two articles below dispel the recent theory that quilt patterns were used as a code to help slaves escape on the Underground Railroad.

Rocky Road to Analysis: Interpreting Quilt Patterns
Barbara Brackman ~ Quilt Historian
Keynote Address at American Quilt Study Group, Dallas TX, 10 Oct. 2003

Young Readers at Risk: Quilt Patterns & the Underground Railroad
Deborah Foley ~ Information Literacy Instructor
Article for Crafting Freedom Project 2004


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