Evaluating Sources

Source ~ an interview from 1994 with a worker who helped

lead the strike in 1933

What are its strengths? (What about the source makes it
good evidence for answering this historical question?)

What are its limitations? (What about the source might
limit its usefulness as evidence for answering the historical
question?)

Was a 1933 labor strike in a New

Jersey factory effective in getting

better conditions for workers?

Source ~ a 2009 television mini-series about John Adams’

life and political career; the show was based on an
award-winning book by historian David McCullough

What are its strengths? (What about the source makes it
good evidence for answering this historical question?)

What are its limitations? (What about the source might
limit its usefulness as evidence for answering the historical
question?)

What role did John Adams play in

the American Revolution?

Source ~ a diary entry from a low-ranking Union soldier

describing the battle

What are its strengths? (What about the source makes it
good evidence for answering this historical question?)

What are its limitations? (What about the source might
limit its usefulness as evidence for answering the historical
question?)

What was the Union Army’s

strategy at the Battle of

Antietam?

Source ~ fragments of a poem from ancient Mesopotamia

that tells the adventurous tales of a heroic king

What are its strengths? (What about the source makes it
good evidence for answering this historical question?)

What are its limitations? (What about the source might
limit its usefulness as evidence for answering the historical
question?)

What was life like in ancient

Mesopotamia?

Source ~ a 1974 article from a Chinese newspaper saying

that the Qin Dynasty fell because it did not punish its critics

severely enough

(The Chinese government was punishing its own critics at the time and it controlled what newspapers could publish)

What are its strengths? (What about the source makes it
good evidence for answering this historical question?)

What are its limitations? (What about the source might
limit its usefulness as evidence for answering the historical
question?)

Why did the Qin Dynasty end?