Analyzing a Historical Document

Read critically with sensitivity to the context.

(Place the source in Historical Context, Classify the source, Understand the source, and Evaluate the source)

1. What exactly is the document?

2. What is the date of the document?

3. Who is the author, and what stake does the author have in the matters discussed?

4. What sort of biases or blind spots might the author have?

5. Where, why, and under what circumstances did the author write the document?

6. Who is the intended audience for the document?

7. How might the circumstances have influenced the content, style, or tone of the document?

8. What exactly does the document say?

9. What does the document assume that the reader already knows about the subject?

10. Do you know the effects or influences, if any, of the document?

11. What does the document tell you about the period you are studying?

12. What questions do you have from reading the document?

[Information was gathered from the website of the Department of History at Hamilton College]