Primary, secondary and tertiary sources
A primary source was created during the period under study, or by someone who took part in or witnessed the events. Letters, diaries, laws, court records, tax rolls, newspapers, speeches, photographs, maps, coins and buildings all count. A secondary source is a later work that interprets primary sources, such as a scholarly book or journal article. A tertiary source, such as an encyclopedia or textbook, summarizes secondary work.
The label depends on your question. A 1950s history of the French Revolution is a secondary source about 1789, and a primary source if you are studying how historians in the 1950s thought.
The four moves: source, context, read, compare
- Source it. Before reading the text closely, look at who made it, when, where and in what form. A private letter and a published pamphlet by the same person can say very different things.
- Put it in context. What was going on when this was made? A petition written during a famine reads differently from one written in a good harvest year.
- Read it closely. Work out the main claim, then look at word choice, tone, what is stressed and what is left out.
- Compare it. Check the document against other sources. Where they agree, your confidence grows. Where they clash, ask why.
HIPP: a sourcing checklist
Many AP and college courses use the letters HIPP to organize sourcing. Use the questions in the table on every document you meet.
| Letter | Stands for | Questions to ask |
|---|---|---|
| H | Historical situation | What events, conflicts or conditions surround this document? What had just happened? |
| I | Intended audience | Who was meant to read, hear or see it? A ruler, a court, the public, a friend? |
| P | Purpose | Why was it made? To persuade, record, command, complain, sell, remember? |
| P | Point of view | What is the creator's position: class, faith, office, nation, gender, age? What might they gain or fear? |
Some teachers use SOAPSTone (speaker, occasion, audience, purpose, subject, tone) instead. The questions overlap, so use whichever your course expects.
Bias, reliability and usefulness
Every source has a point of view, so "biased" on its own tells you very little. A better question is what the source is useful for. A royal decree may be a poor guide to how ordinary people lived, and an excellent guide to what the government wanted, feared or claimed.
- A source written long after the event may be shaped by memory or later politics.
- A source written to persuade will choose its facts.
- A source never meant for publication, such as an account book, can be revealing because nobody expected it to be read.
- Silence matters too. Who in this society left few written records, and why?
A worked example: Magna Carta, 1215
Magna Carta is a charter issued in the name of King John of England in June 1215, after a group of rebel barons forced him to negotiate. Apply the four moves:
- Source: a formal legal grant in Latin, drawn up by royal clerks, sealed by the king, with copies sent around the kingdom.
- Context: John had lost lands in France, raised heavy taxes and fallen out with leading barons and the Church.
- Close reading: many clauses deal with feudal payments, inheritance and the rights of barons and free men. Look at who is protected, and who is not mentioned.
- Compare: the pope annulled the charter within months, and it was reissued in revised forms in later years. Its later reputation as a founding text of liberty grew over centuries, which is a separate question from what it meant in 1215.
Keep two questions apart: what a document meant to the people who made it, and what it came to mean later. Exam questions often test whether you can tell them apart.
Images, objects and numbers
Paintings, posters, photographs and maps are made for a purpose just as texts are. Ask who commissioned the image, where it was displayed and what it leaves out of the frame. For numbers, such as census returns or trade figures, ask who counted, what they counted, and what they had reason to miss or inflate.
Primary source FAQ
Is a translated document still a primary source?
Yes, though a translation adds a layer of choices. If wording matters to your argument, compare two translations or note which edition you used.
Can a memoir written decades later be a primary source?
Yes. It is first-hand evidence, but memory fades and later events color it. Treat it as evidence of both the past it describes and the time it was written.
How many sources should I use in an essay?
Enough to support each claim, and from more than one point of view. For document-based questions, follow the task: it usually asks you to use most of the documents provided.