Analyzing Documents

Analyzing Historical Documents

Historians refer to documents as written primary sources. These are the raw materials, the basic building blocks to reconstructing past events. In the same way that a detective searches a crime scene for clues, a historian draws on primary sources and uses the weight of the evidence that is contemporary to the event described, historians rely heavily on first-hand, eyewitness accounts or recollections of events of the time, as well as speeches or official reports produced at that time. All primary sources, however, are not created equal. The closer the evidence is in time and space to the event described, the less bias that it contains, the more reliable it tends to be, The interpretation that historians produce from these primary sources are called secondary sources. Secondary sources are books and articles written about past events, such as a textbook, the introductions to the documents in a publication, or a history of the American Civil War.

Reading and analyzing documents require particular skills. You should examine documents with a critical eye: that is, ASK questions about the document. It is recommended that you develop the ability to perform a two-fold reading of a document. First, try to understand the document as the people in the time and place in which it was produced would have comprehended it. What did the document mean to them? Always remember that people live within a historical context—they inhibit a different time and place. They do not know what the future holds. Careful analysis of a document will enable you to examine the thoughts and actions of the people of a particular time. Second, read the documents and consider the similarities and differences between that time period and your own. Students of history are often called upon to make judgments about the past. Documents should be analyzed to see how they fit into the broader sweep of history. You must expand the discussion for each document by connecting to one of the four categories of HIPP.

Overview of H.I.P.P

1. Historical Situation

• What major political, social and economic events may have effect the author of the document?

• How does the document fit into the historical context?

• How does the document better our understanding of the event?

• Does the document help to explain the cause and effect relationship of the event?

2. Intended Audience [target]

• Knowing the intended audience of an account can be useful in better understanding why the document was created

• Was the document prepared for a particular target audience? Speech, newspaper or magazine article or editorial? Personal and/or private reflection?

3. Perspective [point of view]

• Who is the author? Background of author?

• When was the document created?

• Was it prepared during, immediately afterwards, within a short time period or years later?

• Do you detect and prejudices or motives in producing the document?

• What evidence indicates the bias of the author?

• Can you determine the author’s motive in producing the document?

• What did he/she hope to accomplish?

4. Purpose [central point & significance]

• Can you summarize the document in a few sentences?

• What is the thesis or what the author emphasizes?

• What are the key words to define the argument?

• Why is the document important/significant?

• How has it shaped our understanding of the event?

• How has it shaped our understanding of historical or continuity over time?

• What does it tell us about the historical time period?

NOTE: Use the HIPP reference guide when analyzing documents until it becomes a good habit and you identify these items from the documents as a standard procedure.

You must expand the discussion for each document by connecting to one of the four categories of HIPP.