I understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed through analysis of primary sources of many kinds.

Definition: my class notes for a primary source can be almost anything that you can see, touch, feel, hear, or smell. From a time period where it is an actual "thing" from the time period that you are studying, as long as it is a reliable source. There are a lot of different kinds of primary sources, like a letter, diary, newspaper article, poetry, music, official documents, artwork, propaganda, photographs, and speeches. I learned this mostly from the project we did where we had to make up different primary sources for a given time period or event. An original letter from a soldier to his girlfriend or parents would be a primary source for learning or studying the feelings of soldiers away from home and at war – you can read their feelings, see dried tears or blood, read between the lines as to how they really feel. There might also be words to the affect of what the war is doing to them. Old newspaper articles are also a good primary source for studying an event during a time period, like the assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand (one of the main events that began WWI). The newspaper article can give the real event as it happened, the day it happened and you can read articles later on that might give more information about what you are studying. A diary entry can be a good primary source to try to find out how a person was feeling, what their thoughts were during a certain time period as well. Photographs and propaganda can explain or show a lot as well. During the war, colorful propaganda was used to try to get young men into thinking that war was cool, riding on horses, blowing trumpets – this propaganda got men to sign up to go to war. A treaty is a primary source that can be studied to find out what each side signed up and agreed to do to end a war. An official government report can be used to find out how poisonous gas was used, how it hurt people, how many people were killed from it, and the different kinds of gas that a country used. As long as the “artifact” that you are using is from the time period you are studying and it is a reliable source, then you can call it a primary source.

Picture!!

Description of Object: Propaganda showing the different countries that Britain had their hands in and controlling.

Lively Explanation: The propaganda helps people to understand the extent of where Imperialism was being spread. Britain had their hands on many countries like India and Africa. Britain, being a powerful nation, used their power to take over these countries and have them conform to the “British” way of life. Life for these countries was difficult as their religions were being destroyed and their normal ways of life. Wars broke out and the Europeans brought deadly diseases that killed the weaker civilizations who had not bee immune to the diseases.

Why is this a good source?: Information came from Chapter study guides, which is credible because it came from our teacher. The image came from a website that I googled info on Imperialism in Africa. The image seemed appropriate since it showed Britain’s taking over many countries. The website had links to Encyclopedia Britannica and a book called World History: Patterns of Interaction by several authors. There was a bottom link that appeared to be from a teacher that was linked to a class guide on Imperialism, which seemed trustworthy. The image is the only thing I used from this site.
Picture!!

Description of Object: Object is of a British Tank, with John Bull’s head on it, invading India. John Bull is the “Uncle Sam” of Britain.

Artist is Wilhelm Schulz.

Lively Explanation: This piece of artwork is a drawing showing Britain going through India, running over everything in its path, and not caring. Britain is strutting its power and not caring who they hurt or what harm is done to the natural resources.

Why good source. This was found on a website called “art.com.” This site had many pieces of artwork for sale, like this one for almost $50.00. The website said that this piece of artwork was reproduced from print from back in those times. This site claims that the piece of art has not been retouched in order to keep it authentic looking. Website had a hyperlink of his name that took me to other pieces of artwork that he drew. This allowed me to do some research about the artist, finding out that he was an impressionist artist.

Picture!!

Description of Object: This is a photo of the Zulu warriors where they have set up during the Zulu war with Britain on the Tugela River in South Africa.

Lively Explanation. This shows the impact to Africa on how they lived during the war, having to fight for their own country and defend their land. Weapons do not look as if they can fight off guns, children in the area, seeing first hand what is going on. Africans were a tight group and they brought everything with them wherever they went.
Why good source. This photo came from gettyimages. These photos can be purchased and you must have an account in order to buy them or use them for other purposes. If you did a search on the internet for “gettyimages,” you would find a lot of different sites that talk about the company and what they do. Photos are restricted and you must ask permission to use them commercially. There are hyperlinks on the site that explains that in more detail. This site seems very trustworthy.

Picture!!

Description: A 16th century ivory Benin mask that was taken by the British when they invaded Africa. Its home is now in a British museum.

Lively Explanation: Africa is full of history that they are not able to account for in some cases because when the British put themselves in Africa, they seized many artifacts of Africa’s history to include these kinds of masks. The invaders did not care about the people or their heritage for they just took whatever they wanted without caring about the people. The people of Africa do not have these types of artifacts to look at and remember their heritage, only pictures from books and word of mouth do they know about these kinds of things.

Why good source. This source was written by Pascal Zachary (info about Zachary). Zachary was a senior writer for the Wall Street Journal and has written about Africa for the past 20 years. This particular article speaks and is written well about the artifacts that the British Museum has from Africa and whether if they would be returned, would last.