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Student Workbook Page

Lesson 1: E~aluating Evidence & Primary Sources

OBJECTIVES FOR THIS LESSON:

1. To learn to evaluate the reliability, the bias, and the usefulness of primary source documents. 2. To use your history background knowledge to understand and make inferences about primary source documents.

Evaluating Evidence & Primary Source Documents

The primary source documents for this lesson are displayed on the next three pages. All of the exercises for this lesson are based on these primary sources and the background information provided here.

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INTRODUCING THE LESSON THE PRIMARY SOURCES . AND THE EXERCISES Nine primary sources are provided for this lesson. Some of the sources are drawings and editorial cartoons. Others are brief written passages . All of these sources are from the late 1800s. All of them deal with the aftermath of the Civil War. All of them are about the problems of Reconstruction and the question of what role African Americans would play in the nation's life. No document-based question (DBQ) is provided here to help you focus on all nine of these sources. You will deal with DBOs and other essay questions in later lessons. The aim of this lesson is to help you think more carefully about primary sources themselves. Learning to understand and work with such sources is a skill. It takes time to get good at doing this. The exercises for this lesson will help you get used to working with primary sources and better understand what you can and cannot learn from such sources.

KEY CONCEPTS AND LEARNING STRATEGIES

Basically, the exercises will focus your attention on the following concepts and strategies in analyzing primary sources:

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1. You need to decide how reliable or trustworthy a primary source is. That is, how accurate it is or how dependable the information or evidence in it is. 2. You need to decide how biased or one-sided a source is - and whether or not it is still useful in spite of, or because of, its bias. 3. You need to use all your background history knowledge in interpreting, or making sense of, any primary source. 4. You need to make reasonable about sources.

inferences, or logical conclusions,

5. You need to deal with and use sources that often conflict with one another.

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Student Workbook Page

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Lesson 1: Evaluating Evidence & Primary Sources_~

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The Era of Reconstruction

Document 1
Fondly do we hope - fervently do we pray - that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether." . With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.
Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, Washington, March 4, 1865 y

The Documents

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Document 2
In this 1865 political cartoon in a Northern magazine, the female figure of Columbia tells a newly freed slave, 'Take thy freedom and be thankful, for it has cost me much:'
Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Document 3
This is an ad for Democrat Heister Clymer, in his campaign for governor of Pennsylvania in 1866. The ad attacks his Republican opponent for a platform supposedly favoring African Americans.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress

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Document 4
In 1866, a riot in Memphis, Tennessee, led to the slaughter by whites of a number of innocent black men, women and children. This drawing depicts one scene in that riot. The illustration is from the pro-Republican news magazine Harper's Weekly.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Document 6
After freedom, we worked on shares awhile. Then we rented. When we worked on shares, we couldn't make nothing - just overalls and something to eat. Half went to the white man, and you would destroy your half if you weren't careful. A man that didn't know how to count would always lose. He might lose anyhow. The white folks didn't give no itemized statement. No, you just had to take their word. They never give you no details; They just say you owe so much .... If you didn't make no money, that's all right; they would advance you more. But you better not try to leave and get caught. They'd keep you in debt. They were sharp.
Former slave Henry Blake, from an account given to a Federal Writer's Project interviewer in the 1930s: The FWP had sent such interviewers South to record the narratives of former slaves still living at that time,

Document 5
This editorial cartoon comments on President Grant's policies toward the defeated South and the role of African Americans in the political struggles in the South during Reconstruction.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress

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Document 7
An 1870s drawing of the first African American members of the U,S, Congress, including Hiram Revels, the nation's first black Senator.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress

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Document 8
The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremist folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing. No race that has anything to contribute to the markets of the world is long in any degree ostracized, It is important and right that all the privileges of the law be ours, but it is vastly more important that we be prepared for the exercise of those privileges. The opportunity to earn a dollar in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than the opportunity to spend a dollar in an opera house.
Booker T Washington, from his address to a white audience at the Atlanta Exposition on September 18, 1895.

Document 9
We ought not to forget that despite the pressure of poverty, and despite the active discouragement and even ridicule of friends, the demand for higher training steadily increases among Negro youth: there were, in the years from 1875 to 1880, 22 Negro graduates from Northern colleges; from 1885 to 1890 there were 43, and from 1895 to 1900, nearly 100 graduates. From Southern Negro colleges there were, in the same three periods, 143, 413, and over 500 graduates. Here, then, is the plain thirst for training; by refusing to give this Talented Tenth the key to knowledge, can any sane man imagine that they will lightly lay aside their yearning and contentedly become hewers of wood and drawers of water? .. I sit with Shakespeare and he winces not. Across the color line I move arm in arm with Balzac and Dumas, where smiling men and welcoming women glide in gilded halls. From out the caves of evening that swing between the strong-limbed earth and the tracery of the stars, I summon Aristotle and Aurelius and what soul I will, and they come all graciously with no scorn nor condescension. So, wed with Truth, I dwell above the Veil. Is this the life you grudge us, knightly America? Is this the life you long to change into the dull red hideousness of Georgia? Are you so afraid lest peering from this high Pisgah, between Philistine and Amalekite, we sight the Promised Land?

WE. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk, 1903

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Student Workbook Page

Lesson 1: Evaluating Evidence & Primary Sources ,;

Primary Sources: How Trustworthy or Reliable?

Primary sources are records from the past. But this does NOT mean they can always tell you exactly how life "really was" in the past. You need to evaluate such sources carefully to be able to learn things from them. For example, one important question you need to ask of every primary source is this:

Exercise 1

• How trustworthy or reliable is this source? In other words, can you depend on it to give you
information that you can use to answer the specific DBQ or essay question you have been given? Keep in mind that a reliable source need not be accurate or truthful. An inaccurate report, for example, may still be reliable as evidence of what people believed at the time. This exercise will help you think about source reliability. Five of the lesson's documents are listed here. Next to each are three statements about the document's trustworthiness or reliability. For each document, choose the one statement you agree with most. Mark your choice in the space provided. Discuss your choices in class.

Doc. 1

A. The document is reliable because Abraham Lincoln could be trusted to tell the truth.
B. It is reliable because it was officially recorded and many people witnessed it.

C. It is reliable as evidence of Abraham Lincoln's hopes for the South after the Civil War.
Your Choice _

Doc. 3

A. This is reliable evidence of how a sizable share of Northerners felt about blacks in the late 1860s.
B. This is reliable as evidence of the key issues in most state election campaigns in the late 1860s. C. This is a reliable portrayal of a typical white American and African American of the late 1860s. Your Choice _

Doc. 4

A. This illustration is reliable as evidence of exactly what took place in the 1866 Memphis riot.
B. It is reliable as evidence of Northern interest in racial violence in the South in 1866. C. It is reliable as evidence of the causes of white racism in the South in the 1860s. Your Choice _

Doc. 6

A. This is reliable evidence of how the sharecropping B. This is reliable evidence about that sharecropping

system worked in the South in the late 1800s. system, but it is not really a primary source. system had been.

C. This is reliable evidence of how unfair some blacks felt the sharecropping Your Choice _

Doc. 8

A. This is reliable evidence of the important role Booker T. Washington played as a black
leader in the late 1800s. B. This is reliable evidence of what the wisest African Americans the need for social equality. of social equality. Your Choice _ in the late 1800s felt about

C. This is reliable evidence of deep divisions among blacks in the late 1800s on the issue

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Primary Sources: How Biased?

Diary entries, letters, newspaper articles, paintings, cartoons, ads, photos and other primary sources are often created by people with specific goals and strong personal opinions. This can make a source one-sided, or "biased:' Sometimes this bias is easy to notice - as when an author states a point of view strongly. But more often, the bias is harder to detect. It can be found as much in what is left out as in what is included. Bias can be expressed simply by including some facts while leaving others out. Or it can be shown by exaggerated or emotional language and images. To detect bias, think about emphasis, specific selection of facts, emotional language, etc. You can also get important clues as to bias by noting the author or creator of the source, his or her purpose in creating that source and the audience for the source. To help you think about this, choose two documents from those for this lesson. Choose one that is clearly and strongly biased and one that seems biased but in a much less noticeable way.Then answer the questions below.

Exercise 2

1. Clearly Biased: Document __

Why do you think this document is biased? --,-_

A. How might knowing about the author or creator of the document help explain its bias?

B. Who was the intended audience of the document, and how might that help to explain its bias?

C. For what purpose was the document created, and how might that help to explain its bias?

2. Bias Harder to Detect: Document

Why do you think this document is biased? _

A. How might knowing about the author or creator of the document help explain its bias?

B. Who was the intended audience of the document, and how might that help to explain its bias?

C. For what purpose was the document created, and how might that help to explain its bias?

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Lesson 1:-Evaluating Evidence & Pr'imary Sources

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Interpreting Primary Sources: Using Your Background Knowledge

Sometimes, you can understand a primary source even if you know nothing about its time period. But this is rare. Usually, you must use your background knowledge of the historical period to help you interpret, or make sense of, the source, Keep this in mind when answering a DBO. The primary sources won't make much sense if you do not already know something about the time in which they were produced. That is, the documents do not "speak for themselves;' and it is not enough just to mention them in laundry list fashion. You need to use your background knowledge to interpret the documents and explain how they help answer the DBO, You often won't even notice how much your own background knowledge affects your understanding of a source. This exercise may help you see this better. Study each document for this lesson and think about what a person needs to know to understand that document fully. In the space provided below, write down two facts or broad trends from the Reconstruction era that help explain each document As a class, share your lists to see how much background knowledge it takes to properly interpret these primary source documents.

Exercise 3

Doc. 1

1. 2.

Doc. 2

1. 2.

Doc. 3

1. 2.

Doc. 4

1. 2.

Doc. 5

1. 2.

Doc. 6

1. 2.

Doc. 7

1. 2.

Doc. 8

1. 2.

Doc. 9

1. 2.

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Stu~dent orkbook Page W

Lesson 1: Evaluating- Eyidence & Primary So~~ces,

Interpreting Primary Sources: Making Inferences - 1

You often need to make inferences about primary sources. An "inference" is a belief you come to accept based on other facts. For example, suppose you find milk spilled on the kitchen floor. You may "infer" that your brother spilled it - even though you didn't actually see him do this. This inference is logical and reasonable, yet it still may not be true. For example, the cat may have knocked over a glass of milk, not your brother. You can usually make many reasonable inferences from a primary source. But as this "spilled milk" example shows, you need to be careful about this. Be sure of all your facts and of what the primary source shows. Use your background knowledge, and keep in mind what knowing about the source's "author, audience and purpose" tells you. If the inference still seems logical, you may be able to use it in your essay or answer. Below are five statements about Document 2 (a cartoon captioned "Emancipation"). Some of the statements are reasonable inferences; others are not - that is, they are not supported by Document 2. In the spaces provided, write ''yes'' or "no" for each statement that is or is not a reasonable inference about Document 2.

Exercise 4

1. This cartoon is a clear expression of the feelings of most former slaves in the South towards the people of the North. A reasonable Inference?

2. The cartoon is evidence of support for the emancipation in the North.

of the slaves among at least some people A reasonable Inference?

3. The cartoon proves that the Civil War was fought from the start mainly to free the slaves. A reasonable Inference?

4. The cartoon is evidence of a strong sense of patriotic pride in the North as a result of its victory in the Civil War. A reasonable Inference?

5. The cartoon proves how deeply grateful the slaves should have been for the efforts the North made to free them. A reasonable Inference?

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Interpreting Primary Sources: Making Inferences - 2

Making inferences is easily one of the most important skills you need in order to write effective essays answering DBQs. Otten the most important ideas you can get from a source are those you infer from it. You need to interpret your sources. You need to look at them closely and think about the clues they may contain on the issue or topic of the DBQ you have been given. Since making inferences about sources is so important, here is another exercise on this task. Again, be sure of all your facts and of what the primary source shows. Use your background knowledge, and keep in mind what knowing about the source's "author, audience and purpose" tells you. If the inference seems logical, you may be able to use it in your essay or answer. Below are seven statements about Document 8 (Booker T. Washington speaking to the Atlanta Exposition). Some of the statements are reasonable inferences; others are not - that is, they are not supported by Document 8. In the spaces provided, write "yes" or "no" for each statement that is or is not a reasonable inference about Document 8.

Exercise 5

1. Many African Americans citizens under the law.

in the late 1800s were unable to enjoy all the rights and protections provided other A reasonable Inference?

2. It is a fact that the smartest and best educated African American leaders in the late 1800s all agreed with the views BookerT. Washington's expresses in this passage. A reasonable Inference?

3. It is a fact that the smartest and best educated African American leaders in the late 1800s did NOT all agree with the views Washington's expresses in this passage. A reasonable Inference?

4. By the late 1800s, many Americans saw their work lives as connected to a broad national and even international economic system. A reasonable Inference?

5. It was in fact true that the best way for African Americans in the late 1800s to deal with their situation was to develop work skills and economic power rather than push for complete political and social equality. A reasonable Inference?

6. Many white Americans, including many whites in the South, regarded BookerT. Washington as an important African American leader. A reasonable Inference?

7. Many African Americans in the late 1800s were not prepared or educated enough yet to exercise all of the political rights of U.S. citizens. A reasonable Inference?

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L.es~on1: Evaluating -Evidence & Primary Sources -

Interpreting Primary Sources: When Sources Conflict

Many primary sources conflict with one another. That is, they offer views or evidence that lead to different or even opposing conclusions about a time period. This can be a problem for you when answering a DBQ based on several primary sources. It is also a problem every historian faces. Sources rarely all agree with one another. This means that you need to make some decisions - about which source is more reliable, more useful or more typical of the time period. It also means you must be cautious in making sweeping statements about what the sources prove. (That's why historians usually say things such as, "For the most part, we know that ...," instead of, 'We know for certain that ....") From the documents for this lesson, choose two to four that you think conflict with one another. In the space below, write a paragraph or two describing the documents you have chosen. Explain how these documents conflict with one another. Then write another paragraph in which you try to explain how such conflicting sources could have come from the same historical time period.

Exercise 6

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