Evaluating Sources

Directions: Read the following historical question and chose what source you believe is more reliable in answering this historical question.

Historical Question: Who was present at the signing of the Declaration of Independence?

• Source 1: Hollywood movie about the American Revolution made 2001.

• Source 2: Book written by a famous historian who is an expert on the American Revolution, published in 1999.

Directions: Read the following historical question and chose what source you believe is more reliable in answering this historical question.

Historical Question: What was slavery like in South Carolina?

• Source 1: Interview with former slave in 1936. The interviewer is a black man collecting oral histories for the Federal Writers’ Project.

• Source 2: Interview with former slave in 1936. The interviewer is a white woman collecting oral histories for the Federal Writers’ Project.

Directions: Read the following historical question and chose what source you believe is more reliable in answering this historical question.

Historical Question: What was the layout of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz?

• Source 1: Interview with 80-year-old Holocaust survivor in 1985.

• Source 2: Map of concentration camp found in Nazi files.

Directions: Read the following historical question and chose what source you believe is more reliable in answering this historical question.

Historical question: Did American soldiers commit atrocities during the Vietnam War in 1969?

• Source 1: Sworn testimony by American Sergeant in Congressional hearings in 1969.

• Source 2: Speech by American General touring the United States in 1969.