Primary Source
The letter that was written by a soldier is an example of a primary source. The soldier, Smith, experienced the war first hand, and therefore is a good source to use when we want to know what it was like as a soldier in the American Civil War. Smith is a reliable source because he is describing things that he saw and felt. Smith is writing to his friends, so he is likely writing the truth of what happened. He only has one point of view of the situation, but, because he was there, he has the raw emotions of specific events that a secondary source would not have.
Secondary Source
All the information that was used to describe the events and important people are secondary sources. www.history.com is a source that pulled together information from several different primary and secondary sources to come up with information. This source is reliable because the website has a good reputation and the writers gather information from multiple places. We used history.com because it is well known and has credible information. The information on this website is checked by other historians to make sure that the information is reliable.
The letter that was written by a soldier is an example of a primary source. The soldier, Smith, experienced the war first hand, and therefore is a good source to use when we want to know what it was like as a soldier in the American Civil War. Smith is a reliable source because he is describing things that he saw and felt. Smith is writing to his friends, so he is likely writing the truth of what happened. He only has one point of view of the situation, but, because he was there, he has the raw emotions of specific events that a secondary source would not have.
Secondary Source
All the information that was used to describe the events and important people are secondary sources. www.history.com is a source that pulled together information from several different primary and secondary sources to come up with information. This source is reliable because the website has a good reputation and the writers gather information from multiple places. We used history.com because it is well known and has credible information. The information on this website is checked by other historians to make sure that the information is reliable.