Primary Source Project:
Guidelines & Detailed Assignment Descriptions
This is the primary assignment of the course. I have designed it to give you an opportunity to engage in primary research and develop your own original arguments and narratives about one piece of the past. Throughout the quarter we will all be reading a number of primary sources that provide windows into American history. However, the accounts I've selected represent only a small fraction of the many first-person accounts related to this period that exist. To further delve into this rich body of resources, each student will locate an additional primary source and think, research, and write about how it relates to American history and the themes we discuss in class.
Primary sources vary widely in length and form and can be found in a wide variety of places (in libraries and archives and online). Given the wide variety of primary sources available, you should select your source in consultation with your teaching assistant. I am also more than happy to discuss possible sources with you.
Here are a few guidelines to get you started. The source you select:
- Must be related to American history before 1877
- Must be an authentic, nonfiction account (there are many fictional accounts that authors have written to look and sound like first-person accounts, so be careful)
- Must be neither too long nor too short to work with the assignments (detailed below). This will require some judgment, but just try to keep in mind that you don't want to pick something so long that it will be a strain to read all of it (you probably don't want to take on more than 200 pages) or so short that you won't have much to say (a fragment of a letter, for instance, could be tough to work with). Keep in mind that if you need to adjust the length you are welcome to combine a series of letters or to choose an excerpt from a longer source
The teaching assistants and Iare eager to help you locate a primary source that will relate to your specific interests. To get you started, here are a few suggestions of places to look:
- Harvest/Melvyl catalog search for UC Davis & UC libraries
Many first-hand accounts have been published as stand-alone books or in edited volumes. By using search terms like "memoir," "diary," and "letters" paired with terms of interest (ie. "Civil War," "Indian Removal," "Slavery," "colonial women," etc) you should be able to identify lots of published sources
- UC Davis Special Collections
In addition to the first-person accounts published in books that you can find in the library, UC Davis' Special Collections Library also has unpublished manuscripts that you can consult. These should also come up in a catalog search, but you can also go into Special Collections and consult with librarians there.
- Archival websites
A number of national archives and other organizations have digitized primary sources.
Detailed descriptions of each of the three writing assignments are below. All written assignments should be double-spaced in a reasonable 12 point font. All of your assignments should be turned in in class on the dates indicated below.
You should consult with your teaching assistant (and me as well if you'd like) in choosing your primary source and preparing for each assignment, and to be in touch if you have any questions. We are looking forward to working with each of you as you develop your portfolios and to learning about the histories you reveal through these primary source accounts.
First, in one paragraph, introduce your primary source and make a claim (which you will later develop in your primary source analysis) about why it is a significant source for understanding some aspect of American history. Be sure to answerwhen, where, why, how, and by whom your source was created (or as many of these questions as it is possible to answer). Identify the historical period and themes that make this an important source.
Second, identify 3 secondary sources that you could use to learn more about your source and write 2-3 sentences describing what each source is about and how it will help you better understand a specific component of your primary source. These can include books, articles, websites, documentaries, or other sources. Some sources will include introductions written by scholars (see, for instance, David W. Blight's introduction to our edition of Frederick Douglass' Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass). You may include these in your bibliography. To find other sources you will need to do some research. While you are welcome to begin with a google search, you must also at least use the UC Davis library website to search the Harvest/Melvyl catalogs for additional sources. Even better, you can go to the library! One of the best ways to find multiple sources on the same theme is to identify one source that interests you and then go to the stacks and look at what books are adjacent to it on the shelves. You should list your sources in Chicago Manual of Style bibliography format.
In a 4-5 page essay, introduce your primary source and develop an argument about its historical significance. Your essay should introduce your source and describe when, where, why, how, and by whom it was created (or as many of these questions as it is possible to answer). You should make an argument about the historical significance of your source and what it reveals about American history. To support this argument, you should analyze your source and incorporate specific examples from the source. While extensive secondary research is not required, you will likely want to draw on course materials or some limited secondary research to provide historical context. Be sure to provide footnote citations (in Chicago Manual of Style format) for all evidence drawn from your source and any secondary sources (including course lectures or readings).