Expressive Writing and History
Historians learn about the past from public documents, such as newspapers and treaties, as well as from private documents, such as letters and journals. In the following journal entry, a trader described a meeting with a group of American Indians in Texas in 1808. As you read the entry, look for details about the events, people, and places that were part of the trader's experience. Remember that the year is 1808. Some of the spelling and capitalization will seem strange to you.
August 11th
The Messenger we sent to the Village returned early this Morning accompanied by six Indians, and we were met by fifty men on Horseback, who Escorted us into the Village when in the sight of the town we hoisted our flag, and they immediately raised a similar one that they had received of Dr. Sibly of Mackintosh. A man met us with an Invitation to the Chief's house, but we preferred encamping near the great spring and were conducted thither where I pitched my tent and hoisted my flag in front of it. About fifty yards from the Chief's house. A band of Women came immediately and pulled up and cleared away the grass and weeds from about the camp and also made a path down to the spring. I then waited on the Great Chief and was received with every token of Friendship. I informed him I would wait on him again the next day and told him for what purpose we had come to his Country and returned to my tent; we found our Camp filled with a quantity of Green Corn, Beans, Water, and Mus Melons.
~Anthony Glass, Journal of an Indian Trader
An autobiographical incident you write about one day may become an important document about life today. Choose an event you remember--perhaps a severe storm or memorable trip--that might tell people a hundred years from now about life today. Write about how you experienced the incident. Include details that would help explain your experience to someone at a later time.
What are Primary Sources?
Primary sources are the raw material of history. They are original documents and objects created at the time under study. They are different from secondary sources, accounts or interpretations of events created by someone without first-hand experience.
By examining primary sources, students gain a powerful sense of history and the complexity of the past. Analyzing primary documents is a higher-order thinking skill. Analyzing primary documents will lead to better critical thinking skills.
Here are some questions to ask when analyzing primary sources:
- Who created this primary source/
- When was it created?
- Where does your eye go first?
By using primary sources in the social studies classroom, you will be meeting the following literacy standards:
- Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
- Determine the central ideas or information of a primary source.
- Provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge.
When students look at a primary source, they should do the following:
- Observe
- Reflect
- Question
- Investigate
What does it mean to observe? First, describe what you notice. Are any words unfamiliar to you? What do you notice that you didn't expect? What do you see that you can't explain? What do you see right now that you didn't notice before? Check out this presentation for students to practice observing.
What does it mean to reflect? Reflecting on a primary source means to have students generate and test a hypothesis about the source. Here is a presentation for students to practice reflecting.
When students question a primary source, they will observe and reflect on that source even more.
Further Investigation
TLW identify questions appropriate for further investigation and develop a research strategy for finding answers. Sample Question: What more do you want to know and how can you find out?
Some Follow-Up Activities:
- Students cmpare two related primary souces.
- Students expand on a textbook explanation using primary sources.
- Students discuss how a primary source challenges history.
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