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WorksheetsCredibility and Evaluating Sources
Total questions: 8
Worksheet time: 6mins
Historical Question:
Who was present at the signing of the Declaration of Independence?
Which source do you trust more? Which source is more credible?
Source 1: Hollywood movie about the American Revolution made in 2001.
Source 2: Book written by a famous historian who is an expert on the American Revolution, published in 1999.
Historical Question:
What was slavery like in South Carolina?
Which source do you trust more? Which source is more credible?
Source 1: Interview with former slave in 1936. The interviewer is a black man collecting oral histories for the Federal Writer's Project.
Source 2: Interview with former slave in 1936. The interviewer is a teenager collecting oral histories for the Federal Writers' Project.
Historical Question:
What was the layout of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz?
Which source do you trust more? Which source is more credible?
Source 1: Interview with 80 year-old Holocaust survivor in 1985.
Source 2: Map of concentration camp found in Nazi files.
Historical Question:
Why were Japanese Americans put in internment camps during WWII?
Which source do you trust more? Which source is more credible?
Source 1: Government film explaining internment from 1942.
Source 2: Government report on Japanese internment from 1983 based on declassified government documents.
Historical Question:
Did American soldiers commit atrocities during Vietnam War in 1969?
Which source do you trust more? Which source is more credible?
Source 1: Sworn testimony by American Sergeant in Congressional hearings in 1969.
Source 2: Speech by American General touring the United States in 1969.
Historical Question:
What happened at the Battle of Little Bighorn?
Which source do you trust more? Which source is more credible?
Source 1: High school history textbook from 1985.
Source 2: Newspaper account from the day after the battle in June 1876.
Neither source is credible.
Historical Question:
How do the principles of the Constitution prevent tyranny?
Which source do you trust more? Which source is more credible?
Source 1: An article from a database, with the following citation, "Federalism." American Government, ABC-CLIO database, 2020, americangovernment.abc-clio.com.
Source 2: A movie produced in 2011 by an expert who has extensively researched the time period of the Constitution.
Can a secondary source be a credible, trustworthy source?
Yes, a secondary source interprets, summarizes, and analyzes primary data. Also, secondary sources include findings based on primary studies.
No, since a secondary source does not include a first-hand account of what happened during the time period it would not be considered credible or trustworthy.
