At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, James Madison sat in the room and wrote notes each day as the delegates debated. For a study of that convention, what are Madison's notes?

A history textbook published in 2019 prints a colonist's 1776 letter inside a chapter that explains the American Revolution. For a study of the Revolution, what is the textbook itself?

In 1845 Frederick Douglass wrote the story of his own life, describing his years in enslavement and his escape to freedom. For a study of enslavement in that period, what is his book?

An encyclopedia article explains what the Louisiana Purchase was and why it mattered. It was written recently by editors who read older records. For a study of the Louisiana Purchase, what is the article?

A woman traveling west on the Oregon Trail in 1846 wrote in her diary each evening about the weather, the wagons, and the miles her family covered. For a study of that journey, what is the diary?

A film company made a documentary in 2010 about the Civil War, using historians to explain the battles. For a study of the Civil War, what is that documentary?

Paul Revere made and sold an engraving showing the Boston Massacre in 1770, only weeks after the shooting in Boston. For a study of how colonists viewed that event, what is the engraving?

A fifth grader reads letters and newspapers from 1773 and then writes her own report explaining the Boston Tea Party. For a study of the Boston Tea Party, what is her finished report?

In 1873, after she was arrested for voting, Susan B. Anthony gave speeches across New York arguing that the Constitution already gave women the right to vote. For a study of that argument, what is a printed copy of her speech?

An author published a biography of George Washington in 2015 after reading his letters and army records. For a study of Washington's life, what is the biography?

William Bradford was governor of Plymouth Colony and wrote an account of the colony while he was living there. That account is a primary source about early Plymouth.

An artist drew a picture of a Revolutionary War battle one hundred years after the battle happened. That drawing is a primary source about the battle.

A farmhand who could not read told a neighbor what to write in a letter about the 1863 harvest, and the neighbor wrote it down. What makes that letter a primary source?

Historians sort sources into two groups. What makes a source a secondary source?

A class studies the 1963 March on Washington. Their teacher offers film recorded at the march that day, a 2001 textbook chapter, a 1990 biography of Martin Luther King Jr., and an encyclopedia entry. Which one is the primary source?

For a study of life in Jamestown in 1608, a historian has an account John Smith wrote at Jamestown in 1608, a 2016 magazine article, an encyclopedia entry on the Virginia Colony, and a novel written today. Which one is the primary source?

A museum displays a wooden plow that a farmer built and used on his own land in the 1840s. What makes the plow a primary source for a study of farming in the 1840s?

A soldier wrote a letter home describing a battle he fought in. Why should a historian check other sources before trusting every detail in the letter?

A Boston newspaper printed a report of a 1775 battle three days later, and a British officer who fought there wrote his own report that same week. What do these two sources together give a historian?

A class wants to read the colonists' own words saying why they were separating from Britain in July 1776. Which source gives them those exact words?