History of the Americas

Historiography: Limits of the Historical Record

Historians analyze historical sources in different ways. First, they think about where, when and why a document was created. They consider whether a source

was created close in location and time to an actual historical event. Historians also think about the purpose of a source. Was it a personal diary intended to be kept private? Was the document prepared for the public?

Some primary sources may be judged more reliable than others, but every source is biased in some way. As a result, historians read sources skeptically and critically. They also cross-check sources against other evidence and sources. Still, there are limitations of the historical record, and this activity was designed for you to provide an explanation for these limitations.

Please do this assignment on a separate sheet of paper, preferably word-processed.

1. Mind walk through all the activities you were involved in during the past 24 hours. List as many of these activities as you can remember.

2. For each activity on your list, write down what evidence, if any, your activities might have left behind. For instance, did you write in a journal or a diary? Did you send or receive an email or a letter? Did you write a check or use a charge card? Would traces of your activities appear in school or business records? Would anyone be able to offer an oral history about your activities? Did you throw an object away? Did you put items in your school locker?

3. Review your entire list, and what you wrote about evidence your activities left behind. Then, respond to the following questions:

-- Which of your daily activities were most likely to leave trace evidence behind?

-- What, if any, of that evidence might be preserved for the future? Why?

-- What might be left out of an historical record of your activities? Why?

--What would a future historian be able to tell about your life and your society based on evidence of your daily activities that might be preserved for the future?

4. Now think about a more public event currently happening (a court case, election, public controversy, law conference, etc.), and answer these questions:

--What kinds of evidence might this event leave behind?

--Who records information about this event?

--For what purpose are different records of this event made?

5. Based on your responses to the above questions, craft one solid and concise sentence that describes how the historical record can be vast but limited atthe same time.