April 16 Issues for the 21st century. Think of it as if you were getting ready to write an eight to ten page primary source research paper. In case you haven't yet encountered the idea of primary sources previously, the following should make the definition of a primary source clear. Primary sources are those documents or artifacts produced by the eyewitnesses of, or participants in, the events the historian is attempting to reconstruct. These are the sources the historian uses to create an account or interpretation of the past . . .
Secondary sources are the accounts written by historians.
Secondary sources are works of reconstruction and interpretation based on the primary sources . . . . Most simply, secondary sources are the books, articles, and essays through which we learn most of the history we know. Remember, the basic question to ask is when the materials originated , not when they were published or reprinted. The Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence printed in a textbook are still primary sources for the revolutionary period of American history, even though the textbook itself is not. So, simply, if you were thinking of writing about the experiences of late 19th century settlers on the Great Plains, you need to use the writings of those early settlers as the basis of your research.