Primary Sources
Original source material created during the period under investigation. Primary sources include documents, artefacts, images, and other evidence created by historical actors. They provide direct evidence about the past but must be critically evaluated.
Real World
Churchill's 1940 'We shall fight on the beaches' speech is a primary source revealing wartime rhetoric, but it was crafted to rally morale — its purpose shapes its content, so historians cross-reference it with private War Cabinet minutes for a fuller picture.
Exam Focus
Always link a source's content to its provenance — state who created it, when, and why before assessing its value.
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