Direct or primary HISTORY sources

Anyone who wants to study social science known the story must use calls sources, being these elements that allow us analyze and make hypotheses about the events that have happened in the past, its use being essential to create what we call history. These sources can be of very different types, and therefore in this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to talk about one of these classes, commenting on the direct story sources.

Index

1. What are the sources of history?
2. Classification of historical sources
3. Examples of direct sources from the story
4. Types of direct story sources

Like any other social science, history needs a basis, this being an element that allows us to know the information it deals with and studies. We could call at sources of history the raw material of history, these being all those elements that transmit information of any kind from the past and whose study allows us study and analyze the events of the past of greatest relevance.

The sources of history are very versatile resources so we can find them in numerous ways, being both written texts, such as oral sources such as speeches or recorded interviews, physical elements that are not texts such as monuments, or even audiovisual or electronic media, the latter having appeared recently due to the advancement of new technologies.

The sources of history they are not perfect, so it may turn out that they are false or that they are not as reliable as possible, being essential that they are the proven possible, serving to create hypotheses and theories that we know are the most true possible. For all this, it is said that sources and history live in constant support, allowing history to be talked about.

Historical sources can be of very different types depending on different factors such as their origin or their recipient, but as a general rule there is a simple way to divide these sources, with three classes predominant. This division refers to its origin, and they are the following:

• Primary or direct sources: These are the ones that refer to the name of this article, being those whose origin dates back to the time being studied. Their great importance lies in the fact that they are original, so their objectivity could not be modified by later thoughts.
• Secondary or indirect sources: They are those that have been created after the events they narrate, being in many cases the creations of historians, who use the primary sources to create the secondary ones.
• Tertiary or mixed sources: The use of this third type of source is very recent, being a kind of mixture of both previous sources, or serving only as a guide to find the information in the previous sources.

To continue with this lesson on direct story sources, we must try to explain these and also comment on some of the examples more important that serve to know them in depth.

Direct sources are all those whose origin dates back to the one time when the events occurred that are narrated in them. Direct sources are also often called primary, since they are first-hand sources, being contemporary to the facts that they analyze or explain. The term primary It is usually used more than direct, although in practice both words must have the same use and meaning within what is the differentiation of the sources of information according to their origin.

Another reason for the great importance of direct sources is that they are direct or first-hand testimonials, being the most objective way to receive the information, since the events narrated have not gone through other people who may have distorted the data due to subjectivism that emerged in years or decades later. History has a constant struggle with this reality, since people are generally subjective beings and that is why many of the Fonts, even being direct, suffer from a personalization that can cause the texts to be seen in an unreal way to what they really it happened.

Some examples of direct sources are books, documents, transcripts, etc. The Columbus Diaries are a clear example from this type of historical source, since it is the diary that Christopher Columbus wrote during the discovery of America.

Direct story sources can be of very different types depending on different factors, so next we must talk about some of the most important classes or recognized. They are as follows:

• Written: Direct written sources are all those that have been written in physical or electronic form contemporaneously with the events they narrate. These sources can be documents, whether private or public, letters, newspapers and magazines, personal journals, literary works or any other text.
• Iconographic: They are the direct sources related to the images, some examples being the photos taken in a specific event, a film that tells contemporary events, or any artistic work such as a sculpture, a monument or a painting.
• Oral: Direct oral sources are all those that have been said by voice, whether they are live or recorded oral expressions, but provided that they are contemporary to the facts they refer to.
• Other: Direct sources can be in a huge number of ways, so apart from those discussed above We can talk about other types of sources, such as objects of the time or even bodies of the deceased. In this kind of sources it may happen that other auxiliary sciences of history are concerned with its study, such as anthropology.

If you want to read more articles similar to Direct story sources, we recommend that you enter our category of Story.

• Prats, J. (2010). In defense of history as an educational subject.
• Cuevas, J. P., González, X. M. S., Fariña, R. P. P., Carbonell, C. TO. T., & Mestre, J. S. (2011). Didactics of Geography and History (Vol. 82). Graó.
• Prats Cuevas, J. (2001). Teach History: Notes for a refreshing didactics. Mérida (Badajoz): Junta de Extremadura, General Directorate of Planning, Renovation and Centers, 2001.