Importance of Primary Sources
Primary sources provide a window into the past. It is an unfiltered access to understand and analyze political battles, religious beliefs, world wars, debates, artistic and social aspects, and different achievements. Primary sources allow you to relate to the material and relate in a more personal way to the events in the past and promote a deeper understanding of history.
National Archives - Congress established the National Archives to preserve and care for the records of the U.S. Government. This is a great primary source resource because it allows you to look into different timelines, interactive mapping, ways to research your own personal history to see where you came from, and many propaganda posters. These sources can be used in our class when I assign political cartoons for you to get an idea from, any journal entry assessments to use so that you can brainstorm different ideas and also to see the different views between the North and the South during the Civil War. There are many different outlets that you can use this website for that will help you in this class.
The National Museum of American History -This is an archives center that has collected and preserved documents throughout history including areas such as technology, consumer culture, sociopolitical environments, and popular culture. This is a great resource for us to use because it pertains directly to American history which is what we study all year long. Specifically, we will use this to find documents and journal entries from soldiers during the Civil War, families on the war front, and some from the Generals. There are also maps that track the routes that were taking during the Civil War from the North and the South that we could analyze their movements from.
National Park Service- The Civil War - This website pertains directly to the Civil War and houses many different historical archives that we can go through and analyze. For example, we are able to browse through the different soldiers, regiments, sailors, cemeteries, battles, prisoners, and monuments that have since been built. This website also offers many article pertaining to the war which would allow us to corroborate between many sources. I will use sources from this website to create close reading activities for you to complete as we move through this unit.
Virginia Military Institute - The Virginia Military Institute's historical archive website will be used in our class to read Civil War letters, diaries, and manuscripts. On this website we are able to click through and brows the many different letters and diary entries that have been preserved since the war. With this activity we are able to analyze our source and try to contextualize the information we are reading. The goal for this website is to help you visualize and understand the different letters and the people who were writing them and how that is relatable.
New York State Archives - New York State Archives is a valuable resource for this unit because many visual and audio clips to keep you engaged within the material. It also has many different newspaper articles that were published during the Civil War from both the North and the South. Students will be able to compare and contrast the different articles along with their images to get a better understanding of the events.
The National Museum of American History -This is an archives center that has collected and preserved documents throughout history including areas such as technology, consumer culture, sociopolitical environments, and popular culture. This is a great resource for us to use because it pertains directly to American history which is what we study all year long. Specifically, we will use this to find documents and journal entries from soldiers during the Civil War, families on the war front, and some from the Generals. There are also maps that track the routes that were taking during the Civil War from the North and the South that we could analyze their movements from.
National Park Service- The Civil War - This website pertains directly to the Civil War and houses many different historical archives that we can go through and analyze. For example, we are able to browse through the different soldiers, regiments, sailors, cemeteries, battles, prisoners, and monuments that have since been built. This website also offers many article pertaining to the war which would allow us to corroborate between many sources. I will use sources from this website to create close reading activities for you to complete as we move through this unit.
Virginia Military Institute - The Virginia Military Institute's historical archive website will be used in our class to read Civil War letters, diaries, and manuscripts. On this website we are able to click through and brows the many different letters and diary entries that have been preserved since the war. With this activity we are able to analyze our source and try to contextualize the information we are reading. The goal for this website is to help you visualize and understand the different letters and the people who were writing them and how that is relatable.
New York State Archives - New York State Archives is a valuable resource for this unit because many visual and audio clips to keep you engaged within the material. It also has many different newspaper articles that were published during the Civil War from both the North and the South. Students will be able to compare and contrast the different articles along with their images to get a better understanding of the events.
Analysis Tools
From Dred Scott to the Civil Rights Act of 1875 - This is a fun interactive activity that allows students to analyze multiple different resources, political battles, and court documents to help them understand just how important this case was. After each image you will write in your understanding of how each event happened, what the outcome was, who was involved and so on.
Comparing Two "Want" Ads - This is a tool to use to analyze two different military recruitment posters. Students will look at both posters to determine the purpose of each poster and who they are trying to reach across.
Comparing Two "Want" Ads - This is a tool to use to analyze two different military recruitment posters. Students will look at both posters to determine the purpose of each poster and who they are trying to reach across.
Lesson Plan Examples
I have embedded two lesson plan examples that show how primary sources can be used within any historical lesson plan. On the left there is a Pocahontas lesson plan that plays various movie clips, timeline handouts, and two primary source documents. Students then write out their claims and hypotheses to the differing viewpoints and questions placed on the board. The lesson plan on the right is in regards to slavery in the United States. That lesson plan requires students to work today and look at primary sources and answer follow-up questions such as "what is left out?", "what evidence is preserved?", "what is the purpose of the differing records?" and so on. Both lessons require students to look deeper into the content and analyze the material at hand.