Evidence and Source Analysis Page 1 of 6

Evidence & Source Analysis

Where does evidence come from?

Historians use historical evidence to construct a picture of the past.

They find the evidence they need to do this in sources. A source is
anything which survives from the past and tells us about the past. A
source is NOT the same thing as evidence. A source becomes evidence if
it is used to answer a question about the past.

Why are sources important?

• Teach us about the past
• We get to see many perspectives from people who were there
• Helps us understand our present

What are Primary and Secondary sources?

A primary source is something which comes from the time the historian is studying.

• Primary sources are the raw materials of history.

• They may be leftovers or relics from the past (e.g. a spearhead or a building) or be records
of what went on, written or drawn by people at the time (e.g. Source E Punch Magazine
cartoon ).
• Historians use primary sources to find the evidence to answer their questions about the past.

A secondary source is produced after the time the historian is studying.

• Secondary sources are products of the study of history, the things that historians make from
the raw material.
• They are always based on other sources.

A good historian must assess both primary and secondary sources

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Evidence and Source Activity

Study sources A – F and

complete the questions that
follow.

Source A: A 1900s map that illustrates the division of Source B: A 2009 movie that depicts Source C: A 21st century colonial
Africa as a result of the scramble for Africa. colonialism. statue

Source E: Conrad
worked on a rubber
plantation in the Congo
and in 1902 published
this novel where he
describes the cruelty
inflicted on the workers
by the colonizers.
Source D: Reverend Murphy’s description of what he witnessed in the Congo taken from The Times
newspaper.
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Source F: 1905 Punch.

One of a number of
cartoons where Leopold
compares notes with
the sultan of Turkey,
also condemned for his
massacres.

1. Complete the table below by putting a tick in the correct column to say what kind of source each source
is.
Oral Visual Artefact Document
(spoken) (picture) (object) (written)
Source A
Source B
Source C
Source D
Source E
Source F
(6)
2. You are about to write two books, one on Colonialism and the other on Human Rights Violations in
the Congo. Look at each of the sources A-F and decide how they can help you in your tasks. Use the
table below to present your findings. If a source is not helpful for either task put it in the third
column. Comment on any source you are unsure about.
3.
Human Rights Violations
Colonialism in the Not Helpful
Congo

Primary Secondary Primary Secondary

A
B
C
D
E
F
(12)
[18]
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Sometimes historians run into trouble when analysing sources. This is due to many factors.

• With new technology, people can photoshop images of the past

• Bias could be involved
• Anachronisms
• Dodgy origins and Fake News!

Here, Winston
Churchill’s cigar
has been
airbrushed out of
the image.

Here, Keanu
Reeves has been
photoshopped into
a picture taken in
1932.
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You also cannot always trust a source because the origin can be very biased!
We see this often in propaganda.

Sometimes, pieces of history just look out of place! This is called an anachronism.
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To determine whether a source is reliable or valuable to an historian studying a particular event, we need to
look at our ‘W’ words. WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN AND WHY.
In history, we use the O.I.L method to help determine the reliability of a source.

O Origin – WHERE, WHO, WHEN?

I Intention – WHY?

L Limitation – WHAT is the source NOT showing us?

Practise together!

The source below shows young children who were used as labourers during
the Industrial Revolution.

Taken From: History Notes Online

Year Taken: N/A

Year published: 2012

Origin:

Intention:

Limitation: