Review - Historical Evidence

Review - Historical Evidence

LEARNING OBJECTIVE:

• To be able to identify the four main types of historical evidence.

• To be able to identify primary and secondary sources of historical evidence.

Open Ended

Mention one type of historical evidence.

Multiple Select

Which of the following is not a type of historical evidence?

• Natural evidence

• Physical evidence

• Artificial evidence

• Oral evidence

TYPES OF HISTORICAL EVIDENCE

WRITTEN EVIDENCE

ORAL EVIDENCE

PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

VISUAL EVIDENCE

WRITTEN EVIDENCE

Some historical evidence are written. There are two kinds of written evidence, namely, published documents and unpublished documents. Published documents are created for large audiences and are distributed widely. Published documents include books, magazines, newspapers, government documents, non-government reports, literature of all kinds, advertisements, maps, pamphlets, posters, laws, and court decisions.

WRITTEN EVIDENCE

Unpublished documents are not created for large audiences and are not distributed widely. They include personal letters, diaries, journals, wills, deeds, family histories and school report cards.

WRITTEN EVIDENCE

Strengths:

Provides a lot of detail. Even if biased, it can still be useful.

Weaknesses

History can be re-written, exaggerated or lied about.

Multiple Select

Identify the two kinds of written evidence.

• Unpublished document

• Public document

• Published document

• Private document

ORAL EVIDENCE

Oral evidence provides another way to learn about the past. Before the invention of writing, information passed from generation to generation through the spoken word. Oral evidence may take the form of firsthand experience, folklore, nursery rhymes, songs, poetry, memories, interviews and recordings.

ORAL EVIDENCE

Strengths

It is easy to pass on

Weaknesses

It may be passed on inaccurately

Multiple Choice

Oral evidence may be passed on inaccurately. This is a...

• Strength

• Weakness

PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

Another type of historical evidence is one that can be touched. This is referred to as physical evidence. Buildings, ornaments & jewelry, pottery, archaeology, implements (tools), tombstones and currency are examples of physical evidence.

PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

Strengths

It is tangible, one that you can put your hands on. It allows for interpretation.

Weaknesses

It is not always useful on its own. It doesn’t provide good detail

Multiple Choice

Physical evidence is tangible, one that you can put your hands on.

• True

• False

VISUAL EVIDENCE

Historical evidence that can be seen are visual evidence. These capture moments in time; they can also provide evidence of changes over time. Aerial Photographs, Maps, Old photographs, Paintings, Monuments, Video Recordings are forms of Visual evidence.

Multiple Choice

Aerial photographs, paintings and video recordings are forms of...

• Virtual effect

• Visual effect

• Visual evidence

• Virtual evidence

All the types of evidence can further be classified as Primary or Secondary Sources

PRIMARY SOURCE

Primary sources are original records/evidence of history from the time of the event, individual, idea, etc. itself.

They were created or recorded by someone with firsthand experience of an event and by people who participated in and witnessed the past.

PRIMARY SOURCE EXAMPLES

• Diaries or Journals

• Autobiographies and Letters

• Sound Recordings and Interviews

• Memoirs and Art 

• Photographs and Videos

• Speeches and Music

• Court documents and Weather records

  
  

  
  

ADVANTAGES OF PRIMARY SOURCE

It is an original, first-hand account of those who experienced historical events.

It allows for personal interpretation.

It provides a window into the past—unfiltered access to a specific period under study, produced by people who lived during that period.

It can give a very real sense of what it was like to be alive during a long-past era.

DISADVANTAGES OF PRIMARY SOURCE

The account could be false, exaggerated, completely one-sided or biased.

Primary sources are often incomplete and have little context. Students must use prior knowledge and work with multiple primary sources to find patterns.

In analyzing primary sources, students move from concrete observations and facts to questioning and making inferences about the materials.

Multiple Select

Which of the following are examples of primary sources?

• Music

• Memoirs

• Magazines

• Speeches

Multiple Choice

Writing a story or book about yourself is known as...

• biography

• first person narrative

• autobiography

• letter

SECONDARY SOURCE

A secondary source is a material created after a historical event has taken place.

Usually the author of a secondary source will have studied the primary sources of an historical period or event and will then interpret the "evidence" found in these sources.

You can think of secondary sources as second-hand information.

SECONDARY SOURCE EXAMPLES

• Articles in newspapers

• Biographies

• Magazines

• Books or articles found that evaluate or criticize someone else's original research.

ADVANTAGES OF SECONDARY SOURCE

Secondary sources can provide interpretation of the original information.

Secondary sources are best for uncovering background or historical information about a topic and broadening your understanding of a topic by exposing you to others’ perspectives, interpretations, and conclusions.

Allows the reader to get expert views of events and often bring together multiple primary sources relevant to the subject matter.

DISADVANTAGES OF SECONDARY SOURCE

Their reliability and validity are open to question, and often they do not provide exact information.

They do not represent first hand knowledge of a subject or event.

Multiple Choice

Secondary sources can be termed as...

• First hand information

• Second hand information

Multiple Select

Identify the secondary source examples from the following...

• Magazines

• Memoirs

• Articles

• Biographies