"The training of the intellect was meant to produce an intrinsic pleasure and satisfaction but it also had practical goals
of importance to the individual and the entire community, to make the humanistically trained individual eloquent and wise,
to know what is good and to practice virtue, both in private and public life."
~ Donald Kagan, In Defense of History. NEH Jefferson Lecture, 2005.
Interrogating Sources
Sourcing ⇒ Considering a document's author and its creation
Contextualizing ⇒ Situating the document and its events in place and time
Close Reading ⇒ Reading carefully to consider what a source says and the language used to say it
Corroborating ⇒ Checking important details across multiple sources to determine points of agreement and disagreement
By carefully questioning and reading, one can begin to form an argument, supported by evidence, about what happened and why
Introduction
HIS 110 and 120 classes require that students investigate historical events
and arguments through critical analysis of primary and secondary sources.
The goal is to learn and to apply methods and practices professional historians use to develop an interpretation and/or understanding of a historical event.
By careful questioning and close reading, one can begin to form an argument - supported by evidence - about what happened and why.
1) Find and interpret primary and secondary sources using disciplinary norms
2) Construct an interpretation of a historical problem, issue, or event using:
a) primary text(s)
b) the arguments, disagreements, and conversations of scholars found in secondary sources.
• Student distinguishes types of credible sources historians use to investigate a historical problem, issue, or event.
• Student uses appropriate research tools to identify and locate a variety of credible primary and secondary
sources relevant to the investigation of an historical problem, issue, or event.
• Student cites specific textual evidence to support an analysis of primary and secondary sources.
"Without history we are prisoners of the accident of where and when we were born." ~Donald Kagan, historian
Products of Scholarship--Journal articles, books
In developing your own interpretation of documents and texts, we must be aware of and
evaluate competing interpretations of documents
Challenge for us is to develop engaged reconstruction of the world/events referred to in a text
Evaluate interpretations of documents and events
Revise and improve our own interpretations by repeated reference back to original document(s)
Students who are familiar with a topic and its vocabulary demonstrate:
when you use a reference source, it’s like getting a research roadmap from an expert on the topic
Suggested Reference
Garraty, John A., and Mark C. Carnes. American National Biography. 28 vols. Oxford University Press, 1999. CT213 .A68 Reference Fl. 1
Boyer, Paul S., and Melvyn Dubofsky. The Oxford Companion to United States History. Oxford University Press, 2001. E 174 .O94 2001 Reference Fl. 1
Dictionary of American History. New York: Scribner, 1976. E 174 .D52 1976 7 vols. Reference Fl. 1
Mobile Public Library - Local History and Geneology
Dora Franklin Finley African American Heritage Trail
National African-American Archives and Museum (Collection scope and contact information)
Historic Mobile Preservation Society (digital collection from Alabama Mosaic)
Historic Mobile Preservation Society
Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library (University of South Alabama)
Digital photos from the McCall Library (from Alabama Mosaic)
Alabama Mosaic
Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. AI 3 .R48 REFERENCE (begins 1925- )
Making the Most of the Online Catalog
Library of Congress Subject Headings
°Primary Sources
Person is the Author
Jefferson, Thomas
Washington, George
Examples:
au: Washington, George
au: Stanton, Elizabeth Cady
Primary Sources for a topic, time period (or person)
Syntax: [topic or person, etc.] Sources
su: Puritans Sources
su: Suffrage Sources
su: Elections Sources
su: United States Colonial period Sources
su: United States Revolutionary period Sources
su: United States Civil War Sources
n.b. remember you can find primary sources when you know the title at sites like
http://www.masshist.org/online/
°Patterns for Focusing (persons and topics)
Syntax: [topic] Political aspects
Syntax: [last name] Political and social views
Syntax: [topic] Law and legislation
Examples:
su: Slavery Political aspects
su: Jefferson Political and social views
su: Slavery Law and legislation
°Patterns for Social, Economic and Political Climate
Syntax: United States [one of the subdivisions below] [time frame]
Politics and government
Social conditions
History Time frames
1775-1783
1783-1789
1783-1815
1809-1817
1815-1861
To 1865
Colonial period
Revolutionary period
Constitutional period
Examples:
su: United States 1783-1815
su: United States 1815-1861
su: United States Politics and government 1815-1861
su: United States Social conditions to 1865
° Additional Helpful Hints
Events (and things) have specific subject headings
su: Bacon’s Rebellion
su: War of 1812
su: Trail of Tears
su: United States Constitution
su: Bacon’s Rebellion
su: Amendments 14th
su: Constitution Amendments 1st-10th (use for Bill of Rights)
