Definition of Primary Source Document

A primary source document is a written account of a historical event by someone who witnessed it first-hand or participated in the event.

Types

Primary source documents include journals, letters, newspaper articles, political cartoons and internal memos that were written at the time of the event.

Purpose

Historians use primary source documents to get as close as possible to the actual event rather than relying on what was said or written years after the event occurred.

Effects

By using primary source documents, historians try to eliminate the biases of later writers. For example, a letter from an explorer may show that members of a native group were not savages, even though a colonial power later attempted to characterize them in that way.

Considerations

The further back in history you are studying, the harder it is to find primary source documents.

Alternatives

When primary source documents are not available, historians turn to other types of primary sources include artifacts like ruins, tools and clothes.

References

• University of Illinois: A Definition of Primary Soure
• U.C. Berkley: What is a Primary Source
• Library of Congress: Why Use Primary Sources