Recording the American Experience with Historical Narratives

If you wanted to know what life was like for someone 400 years ago, where could you get the information? History books could give you a general account, but what if you wanted to know the details of someone's daily life or what it was like to actually be at an important historical event? In American literature, there are many personal accounts that have been published and passed down through the centuries that give unique perspectives on the events of the past.

Recording the American Experience

/Europeans began voyages by ship to the Americas in the late 15th century and reported news of their explorations and settlement. These historical narratives of the survivors told gripping adventure stories, written down in journals and letters, of the first Europeans' experiences of coming to America. Historical narratives are accounts of real-life historical experiences, written by either a person who experienced those events or someone who studies or observed them. In many cases, the narratives became important historical documents that now exist as our principal record of events.

 Historical narratives are divided into two categories:

Primary Sources are materials written by people who were either participant in or observers of the events written about. Letters, diaries, journals, speeches, autobiographies, and interviews are all primary sources.

Secondary sources are records of events written by people who were not directly involved in the events. Two typical examples of secondary sources are biographies and histories.