A primary source was prepared by someone who was a participant or direct witness to an event. A secondary source was prepared by someone who obtained his or her information about an event from someone else.

External criticism refers to the authenticity of the document. Once a document has been determined to be genuine (external criticism), researchers need to determine if the content is accurate (internal criticism).

We conduct historical research for a number of reasons:

• – to avoid the mistakes of the past
• – to apply lessons from the past to current problems
• – to use the past to make predictions about the present and future
• – to understand present practices and policies in light of the past
• – to examine trends across time