Historians see themselves as detectives searching for evidence among primary sources to a mystery that can never be completely solved. Each primary source is a piece to a puzzle.
Historical research is about making discoveries.
Primary sources will help students think like historians, to think historically, and to create history.
Document analysis allows for active learning of the documents. Examining the documents and making inquiries allows for deeper revelations about them. Each document holds a lot more information than is assumed at first glance – by looking deeply at a document, asking questions, making observations, you can mine an enormous amount of information to make historical discoveries.
Historical thinking involves learning how to approach sources, criticize assertions, corroborate evidence, examine the intent of the author/creator, consider the audience, observe artifactual clues and contextualize documents.
Primary sources are not neutral; primary sources have a point of view; primary sources may not give an accurate account of a historical moment or trend.
The work that historians do is not to read and report back the facts of history. They are detectives and their work focuses on mining primary sources, using them to discover history.
Primary sources make us realize that all accounts of the past are subjective. They are subjective at the time they occurred as well as to us studying about them.
Primary sources provide multiple perspectives in history. These perspectives are necessary to get a full view of a historical event or trend.
Your unique set of biases or prejudices, as well as your cultural or ethnic background, colors or distorts your perception and interpretation of an event. No two individuals see or interpret an event in the same way.
Even if you aren’t a historian or intend to be a history teacher or professor, learning to think historically allows you to tolerate complexity and adapt to new situations, and resist the first answer that comes to mind or jump to conclusions.