Looking Behind the Sources. What is this picture?

Looking Behind the Sources

What is this picture?


In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, Tin Man, Lion, and Scarecrow all sought to find the

Wizard. Dorothy wanted to go home; Lion wanted courage; Tin Man wants a heart; and Scarecrow wants a brain. They all go and ask the Wizard for these things – but they soon discover that *SPOILER ALERT* the Wizard is actually just a man behind

the curtain.


What they learn is that the Wizard does not actually grant you your wish – it was always inside you. But Dorothy and the others had

to look behind the curtain in order to get the truth.


JUST LIKE DOROTHY, YOU MUST LOOK BEHIND THE CURTAIN OF THE SOURCE IN

ORDER TO FULLY UNDERSTAND THE TRUTH BEHIND THE SOURCE.


How to Read Primary Sources When we are reading primary sources – or any type of source– we must be aware of BIAS. What is BIAS?


EXAMPLE 1:

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness...


Thoughts... What do you think this source means?


Now, do you know who wrote this source?


It was Thomas Jefferson, and the example comes from the Declaration of Independence, written in 1774. The Declaration was a massively important document in American history; it signalled the break between the United States and Great Britain and stated that the United States was headed towards independence.


It has a very important line, “that all men are created equal,” – but where all men

treated as equal? Do you think that Jefferson wanted all men to be equal in the

United States at this time?


EXAMPLE 2:

According to historian Stephen Ambrose: “Jefferson, like all slaveholders and many others, regarded Negroes as inferior, childlike, untrustworthy and, of course, as property.” He believed they were inferior to whites in reasoning, mathematical comprehension, and imagination. Jefferson thought these “differences” were “fixed in nature” and was not dependent on their freedom or education. He thought such differences created “innate inferiority of Blacks compared to Whites.” In Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson claimed that blacks prefer the beauty of whites over other blacks, and cited “the preferences of the Orangutan for the black woman over those of his own species.”


What was it like to be black in the United States during the 1700s and 1800s?


At the time that the Declaration of Independence was written – 1774 – blacks in the United States faced a very difficult life.

Slavery was legal throughout the country; while there were certain people who believed that blacks should be free, there were still many more who believed that they should only be

slaves. Even among those people who thought they should be free, many did not believe that

they should be equal to whites.


Here is the tricky part:

Jefferson owned slaves – but later in his life, he wrote and discussed how we could free

all of the slaves in the United States. He was very conflicted, as were other slave-

owners in this period.


WHAT DO YOU THINK JEFFERSON MEANT WHEN HE SAID THAT “ALL MEN ARE

CREATED EQUAL”?


In order to fully understand the primary source that you are reading, you must have

an understanding of many things that surround the source.


TIME – the time period that people are writing in greatly influences what is written.

When Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, slavery was active in the

United States, and there was a great belief that blacks were inferior to whites.


BELIEF – personal beliefs also greatly impact what is written; it is important to know the

background and beliefs of the person writing the source – this knowledge will give

you great insight into what they meant in their writing.


GOAL – often times, people have a goal they look to achieve in their writing. This goal

will greatly influence what they write and, importantly, HOW they write.


WHAT DO YOU THINK SOME OF JEFFERSON’S BIASES WERE?


HOW WOULD JEFFERSON’S BIASES AFFECT HIS WRITING AND WHAT HE MEANT?


How to Read Secondary Sources

Just like primary sources, you also have to be aware of BIAS when you read secondary

sources. Just as those people who write the primary sources are trying to influence the

reader (or listener) towards a particular point of the view, those people who write secondary sources are trying to do the same – perhaps

even more so.


Now remember – BIAS is not always something negative, it is usually a point of view that the author is trying to persuade the reader (who

happens to be you) to also believe. There are a number of things that can help you identify BIAS

in secondary sources:


AUTHOR’S LANGUAGE: does the author present certain people or events in a particular way? Is this author overly

negative or overly positive towards these people or events?


AUTHOR’S IDEAS: does the author believe that a certain event happened because of

events that other author’s say were influenced by other things?


AUTHOR’S PREVIOUS WRITINGS: what else has the author written? What is their

background? You can find this information through biographies that exist on most

historians through Internet and print-based searches.


It is very important to recognize BIAS in historical writing, namely because what you read will influence you own way of thinking.

It is important to try and gain a broad understanding of a topic or event before

you make up your mind on how that event really took place.


EXAMPLE 3:

What, if any, BIAS do you pick up on in the author’s writings?


EXAMPLE 4: In the above passage, what do you think is the author’s thesis? Write your thoughts

below:


The passage that you just read was written by H.W.

Brands, an economic historian from the University of Texas. He has written well over 20 books, most of which

deal with the economic impact of money and finance

on the development of the United States. Throughout most of his works, he has

written that money and the economy are driving factors

in all forms of development.


With that in mind, we are going to read another passage from Brand’s book, The Money Men; this passage, however, does not necessarily

deal with the overall thesis of the book – rather, it looks at the American Civil War, which most

historians believe was caused by a combination of state’s rights, the issues concerning slavery,

and the ongoing conflicts that had been occurring in the United States since the 1700s.


The result of the Civil War was that slavery was abolished, the South was brought back into the Union, and the rights that had once

belonged only to whites were now extended to all races in the United States.


EXAMPLE 5: In the passage on the next page, pay attention to what Brand says about the Civil War, and then answer the following questions: What does Brand say was a reason for the Civil War?

For Brand, what helped the North win the Civil War?

What BIAS does Brand show in his discussion of the Civil War?

Documents

Looking Behind the Sources. What is this picture?