Week 3 Short Responses 34 Week 3 Short Responses

The Constitution, as originally written and ratified, had nothing to say about women’s rights—indeed, it had nothing to say about women at all.

A monument to three pioneers of the woman suffrage movement—Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucretia Mott—in the U.S. Capitol. (Click button for citation)

The Constitution’s original language was strictly gender-neutral, referring repeatedly to “persons” or “citizens,” rather than to “men” or “women.” Gender distinctions did not enter the Constitution until 1868, with the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, which addressed the voting rights of all “male…citizens.”

In this theme, we will look at two crucial events in the long campaign to expand the rights of American women. The woman suffrage movement, which fought to extend the right to vote to all American women, ended successfully in 1920 with ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution. But the effort to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, which would have guaranteed women all the same legal rights as men, ended in defeat in 1982, when the amendment fell three states shy of the 38 needed for ratification.

We will use these two case studies to examine the historical concept of causality and to learn more about evaluating and searching for primary and secondary sources. Evaluating sources is important, because it helps you make sure that whatever research you use in your academic research paper is appropriate.

The Long Road to Women’s Rights

The Constitution the Founders crafted was a product of British common law and 18th-century thinking, neither of which was particularly friendly to women. At the time of the Constitution’s ratification, for instance, a woman’s rights depended almost entirely on her marital status: in most states, unmarried women, including widows, could own property, enter into contracts, and live where they pleased. But the rights of married women were totally subordinated to the rights of their husbands. (Salmon, 2016)

Moreover, by establishing a system of federalism, the Constitution left most questions of day-to-day rights—the right to vote, to marry, to inherit property—to the states, whose policies were highly restrictive toward women. At the time of ratification, New Jersey was the only state that allowed women to vote—and it rescinded that right in 1807.

Members of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, before a meeting with President Woodrow Wilson. Click on this link to access more photos. (Click button for citation)

The long campaign to expand the rights of American women has gone on for almost two centuries, and it has seen both victories and defeats. In Theme: Communicating Historical Ideas, we will focus on two major goals of the women’s rights movement. The Nineteenth Amendment, which guaranteed women the right to vote, was ratified, after decades of effort, in 1920. But the Equal Rights Amendment, which would have ensured women “equality of rights under the law,” was defeated after a contentious national debate that came to a close in 1982.

The women’s rights movement began in earnest in July 1848 with the Seneca Falls Convention, a two-day gathering in upstate New York that drew 300 participants “to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of woman.” Its principal organizers, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, had met eight years earlier at the World’s Anti-Slavery Convention in London—at which the women delegates, including Mott, were barred from speaking and were required to sit in a segregated area. (Wellman, 2004)

The following chart summarizes some of the major historical factors that led to the birth of the women’s movement at the Seneca Falls Convention:

The Seneca Falls Convention was the product of a wide range of historical factors:

• The rise of the abolition movement, many of whose leaders strongly encouraged the participation of women;
• The religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening, which inspired many women to become active in social causes;
• The influence of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, some of whose more progressive branches advocated an expanded role for women in religious affairs; and
• The political movement in support of Married Women’s Property Acts, state laws that accorded married women some limited economic rights. (Wellman, 2004; Library of Congress, 2013)

The Seneca Falls Convention produced the famous “Declaration of Sentiments,” based on the Declaration of Independence, which included the simple but radical assertion: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal.” The Declaration was followed by a series of 13 Resolutions calling for legal and social equality for women, including the assertion that “it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves their sacred right to the elective franchise.” (This link will take you to the full text of the Declaration of Sentiments.)

In its early years, the women’s movement focused on economic and social issues, including the lack of educational opportunities for girls and women. The advent of the Civil War brought an almost exclusive focus on the abolition of slavery, but while the end of the war meant an end to slavery, it also created profound disappointment for many women’s-rights advocates. The failure of Congress to include women in the guarantees of legal and voting rights, which were extended to freed slaves in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, caused a schism in the women’s movement.

While leaders of the movement agreed on the goal of woman suffrage—securing for women the right to vote—they disagreed strongly over the best way to achieve that goal. In 1869, Stanton and Susan B. Anthony created the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), which focused on changing federal law; the NWSA opposed the Fifteenth Amendment because it excluded women. That same year, Lucy Stone, a prominent lobbyist for women’s rights, helped form the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), which supported the Fifteenth Amendment and focused its efforts at the state level. (U.S. House of Representatives, 2016)

While these two groups would eventually unite, more than 50 years would pass before woman suffrage would be enshrined in the Constitution by the Nineteenth Amendment. And, with the defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment, the larger goal envisioned by those who attended the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848—full legal equality for all American women—has yet to be realized.

Historical Causality

One purpose of history is to explain the past—and the concept of causality is fundamental to that effort. (Munro, 2016)

Searching for the causes of a historical event means, essentially, looking for an explanation of why the event occurred. But that search is rarely as simple as many people think.

Indeed, one of the most important things to remember about historical causality is that historical events usually have many causes. The process of sorting out all those causes and figuring out which ones were more important than others is rarely easy.

Back in grammar school, you may have been asked questions like “What caused the Revolutionary War?” or “Why did the South secede from the Union?” Depending on how lenient your teacher was back then, you might have gotten away with simple answers such as “Taxation without representation” or “To protect slavery.” But by now, you should realize that those simplistic answers didn’t tell the whole story. (Waring, 2010)

Historical events almost always have multiple causes. Consider a quick example: in Theme: Communicating Historical Ideas, we are looking at the centuries-long effort to expand the rights of American women. One important part of that effort was the campaign for woman suffrage, which we will look at in more detail in Theme: Communicating Historical Ideas, Learning Block 3-4.

American women won the right to vote when, after more than 70 years of campaigning for suffrage, they saw the Nineteenth Amendment ratified in 1920—but why was this Amendment finally approved? To put it another way, what factors caused the women’s suffrage movement to succeed, after so many decades of frustration and failure?

There are a lot of factors that led to the success of the women’s suffrage movement: strong leadership of women such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Carrie Chapman Catt, and Alice Paul; changing attitudes toward the role of women in society and in the workplace; the role of women in supporting the war effort during World War I and the war’s impact on the public’s conception of “democracy”; the extension of voting rights to freed African Americans, through the Fifteenth Amendment; political decisions by leaders such as President Woodrow Wilson; and the political momentum from successful local campaigns to win woman suffrage in more than a dozen states before 1920.

All of these causes contributed to the passage and ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. Which was most important? As with so much else in the study of history, there’s no definitive answer to that question; different historians may emphasize different causes, depending on which historical lens each applies and how each interprets the historical evidence. (Brien, 2013) As you evaluate different secondary sources, you will see how these differences in emphasis can lead to different conclusions about the relative importance of historical events.

Types of Causes

In looking for the causes of a historical event, a primary consideration is chronology—that is, the order in which key events took place. (Waring, 2010) For one event to have caused another event, it must have taken place before the second event. But chronology does not tell us the whole story: just because one event happened before another does not necessarily mean that it caused the second event.

In a famous example often cited by logicians, the fact that a rooster crowed before sunrise does not mean that the rooster caused the sun to rise. This is an example of what logicians and historians call the post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy. (Carroll, 2015)

Historians also distinguish between proximate causes and ultimate causes. A proximate cause is an event that immediately precedes, or is directly responsible for causing, some other event. The proximate cause of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment was the vote by the Tennessee House of Representatives to approve the amendment on August 18, 1920.

An ultimate cause (also known as a distal cause) is an event that, when viewed at a higher level, may be considered to be the real reason an event occurred. One of the ultimate causes of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment was the shift in American public attitudes toward the role of women in society.

At the most simplistic level, a proximate cause tells us how an event happened; an ultimate cause is more likely to tell us why it happened. It’s important to remember that most historical events have multiple proximate and ultimate causes. (Palazzo, 2007)

In considering the relative importance of different causes, historians often divide them into necessary causes and contributory causes. (Waring, 2010) A necessary cause is an event or trend that is essential to causing some other event; without the necessary cause, the second event could not take place. Approval by 36 state legislatures was a necessary cause for ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment.

By contrast, contributory causes are not essential to causing some other event, but they may make that event more likely to occur. President Woodrow Wilson’s eventual decision to come out in favor of woman suffrage was a contributory cause for ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, but it was not an essential factor in the Amendment’s success.

Once again, most historical events have multiple necessary and contributory causes.

As you explore the case studies in this course, it should be apparent how important source material is to the study of history. In Theme: Approaches to History, you learned about the difference between primary and secondary sources, as well as how to search effectively in the databases available in the Shapiro Library. Of course, with the large amount of source material available to you, it is important to know the best way to sift through all the information.

In this learning block, you will learn strategies for evaluating secondary sources for relevancy to your essay, as well as their accuracy and objectivity. These skills will be essential in this course as well as while you pursue your future studies at SNHU.

Learning Objectives

In this learning block, you will:

• Learn how to assess secondary sources for accuracy, relevancy, intent, and authoritativeness using the A.R.I.A. criteria
• Understand how to critically examine historical information on websites
• Become familiar with the kinds of secondary sources that are appropriate for use in your historical analysis essay
• Practice evaluating secondary sources and websites

Evaluating Secondary Sources

As you search through the databases at the Shapiro Library conducting research for your historical analysis essay, you are probably finding that there are a lot of sources that cover your chosen historical topic. You are expected to use scholarly sources in this course. It is important to examine all of your sources with a critical eye in order to determine their validity.

When evaluating secondary sources, you should keep the following things in mind. You can remember these criteria with the acronym A.R.I.A., which stands for accuracy, relevancy, intent, and authoritativeness.

Click on the tabs below to learn more about evaluating sources. The information below is adapted and condensed from this guide and this guide from Shapiro Library. This course uses a modified version of the popular C.R.A.A.P.O. (Currency, Relevancy, Accuracy, Authoritativeness, Purpose, & Objective) evaluation criteria tailored specifically to evaluating secondary sources in the field of history.

Select a list item tab, press enter, then search down for text. When you hear End of tab content, go back to the next list item to access the next list item tab.

• Accuracy
• Relevancy
• Intent
• Authoritativeness

ACCURACY

Correct information is necessary in any scholarly source.

Ask these questions:

• Has the source been peer-reviewed?
• Has the author supplied a list of references, and does that list include scholarly sources?
• Is the source logical, organized, professional in appearance, and free of spelling and grammatical errors?

Look for: the author’s reference list, information about the publisher or the journal, and the full text of the source for errors and organization

Avoid: sources that do not have a reference list, sources with grammatical errors, and sources that have not gone through an editorial process or peer review

End of tab content.

Click here link to download a copy of the A.R.I.A. Test Worksheet. You can use this when evaluating the secondary sources you want to use for your historical event analysis essay. Make sure you fill out the worksheet in its entirety—otherwise the test will not be accurate. If the total for the source is 35+ points, it’s a good indication that it is credible. (Remember, though, the more points the better, and the only way for the A.R.I.A. test to work is to be as honest as possible when evaluating each source). If the source scores less than 35 points, look for another source.

Evaluating Websites

There is plenty of information on the Internet, but you probably already know that it isn’t always correct. Evaluating web resources, such as websites and blogs, requires attention to certain detail that you might not need to think about when looking at scholarly journals in the Shapiro Library database.

In addition to using the A.R.I.A. criteria explained on page 1 of this learning block, there are certain aspects of websites that you need to examine. Anyone can post anything online, which is why it is necessary to be a critical consumer of information you find online.

First, ask yourself: How did you find this website? Did a reliable source recommend or cite it? Was it linked from a reputable website? Did you find it through a search engine?

Click on the tabs to learn more about other factors specific to websites that you need to pay attention to. The information below is adapted and condensed from this guide from Shapiro Library.

Domain

What kind of website is it? Different websites require different levels of evaluation.

Domain	Used by	Reliability	Example
.com	Commercial, business, media outlets, or anything else	Low reliability; needs thorough evaluation	History Channel: http://www.history.com
.org	Organizations or non-profits; professional and medical organizations usually use this domain	Low reliability; needs thorough evaluation	American Historical Association: http://www.historians.org
.edu	Educational institutions; information about the institution or content created by professionals at the institution	Medium reliability; requires some evaluation, because some institutions allow non-experts to develop content for their websites	Shapiro Library Research Guides: http://libguides.snhu.edu/
.gov	Government agency or department	High reliability, but as with anything on the Internet, it might require some evaluation. The information on these domains is regulated.	Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov

Last updated date

This information shows you how recent the information is. Most high quality websites, especially from government agencies, will include this date. You can usually find an update date or publication date at the bottom of the webpage or below the title of the article.

Functionality & design

There’s a lot to be said for a well-organized, professional-looking website. Although appearances are not everything, if the website is easy to navigate and includes a user-friendly menu, it is a good indication that the organization has put thought into the design and information presented. Check the website for grammatical and spelling errors, broken links, and pop-ups and advertisements. These might be signs that the website’s information requires more scrutiny.

Exercise: Examining Scholarly Sources

AS YOU RESEARCH SOURCES FOR YOUR HISTORICAL EVENT ANALYSIS, YOU WILL ENCOUNTER MANY SCHOLARLY JOURNAL ARTICLES. THESE MIGHT FEEL DAUNTING AT FIRST. IF YOU BREAK THEM DOWN BY INITIALLY EVALUATING THEM USING THE A.R.I.A. CRITERIA, THEY WILL BECOME MORE APPROACHABLE. IN THIS EXERCISE, YOU WILL EXAMINE A SAMPLE JOURNAL ARTICLE ABOUT THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT AND ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT IT.

THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE IS EXCERPTED FROM A SCHOLARLY JOURNAL ARTICLE TITLED “THE LIMITS OF STATE SUFFRAGE FOR CALIFORNIA WOMEN CANDIDATES IN THE PROGRESSIVE ERA”. THIS READING IS PROVIDED BY THE SHAPIRO LIBRARY. CLICK ON THE LINK TO VIEW THE FULL TEXT OF THE ARTICLE. YOU WILL HAVE TO LOG INTO SHAPIRO LIBRARY WITH YOUR SNHU CREDENTIALS TO ACCESS THIS ARTICLE.

EXAMINE INFORMATION FROM THE ARTICLE BELOW. YOU WILL BE ASKED QUESTIONS BASED ON YOUR EVALUATION.

THE LIMITS OF STATE SUFFRAGE FOR CALIFORNIA WOMEN CANDIDATES IN THE PROGRESSIVE ERA

AUTHOR: LINDA VAN INGEN
SOURCE: PACIFIC HISTORICAL REVIEW. FEBRUARY 2004, VOL. 73 NO. 1, PP. 21-48

THE AUTHOR IS A PROFESSOR OF WOMEN’S STUDIES, 20TH CENTURY UNITED STATES, RACE AND GENDER, AND HISTORICAL METHODS IN THE HISTORY DEPARTMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA, KEARNEY.

SUBJECT TERMS:
HISTORY
WOMEN POLITICIANS

ABSTRACT

CALIFORNIA WOMEN GAINED THE RIGHT TO RUN FOR THE STATE LEGISLATURE AND CONGRESS WHEN THEY WON THE VOTE IN 1911. COMING NINE YEARS BEFORE THE NINETEENTH AMENDMENT ENFRANCHISED WOMEN NATIONALLY IN 1920, THIS ERA OF STATE ENFRANCHISEMENT APPEARED RIPE FOR WOMEN’S ELECTORAL SUCCESS. THE ONGOING NATIONAL SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT, THE CALIFORNIA PROGRESSIVE PARTY, AND THE EXTENSIVE NETWORK OF CALIFORNIA WOMEN’S CLUBS COULD ALL HAVE WORKED TO ADVANCE WOMEN’S CANDIDACIES. INSTEAD, THESE FACTORS CREATED CONDITIONS THAT UNDERMINED WOMEN’S POLITICAL AMBITIONS. NOT UNTIL 1918, WHEN PASSAGE OF A NATIONAL SUFFRAGE AMENDMENT SEEMED IMMINENT AND THE POWER OF THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY IN CALIFORNIA FADED, DID WOMEN FIND SUCCESS AS CANDIDATES. THEIR DELAYED VICTORIES REVEAL THE LIMITS OF STATE ENFRANCHISEMENT FOR WOMEN’S POLITICAL POWER.

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WHEN WOMEN WON THE VOTE IN CALIFORNIA IN 1911, THEY ALSO WON THE RIGHT TO RUN FOR ELECTIVE OFFICE ON THE STATE AND NATIONAL LEVELS. GRANTED THE RIGHTS OF FULL CITIZENSHIP LONG BEFORE THE NATIONAL SUFFRAGE AMENDMENT PASSED IN 1920, CALIFORNIA WOMEN BEGAN TO RUN FOR OFFICE AT THEIR FIRST OPPORTUNITY IN 1912, WHEN TEN WOMEN RAN FOR THEIR PARTY’S NOMINATION IN THE PRIMARY ELECTIONS. MOST OF THESE CANDIDATES RAN AS THIRD-PARTY CONTENDERS ON EITHER THE SOCIALIST OR PROHIBITION TICKETS. ONLY ONE RAN AS A MAJOR-PARTY CANDIDATE: MARY ELLA RIDLE, OF SAN LUIS OBISPO, WHO RAN FOR THE STATE ASSEMBLY AS A DEMOCRAT. EXCEPTIONAL IN HER BID AS A MAJOR-PARTY CANDIDATE, RIDLE NEVERTHELESS SHARED THE EXPERIENCE OF FAILURE WITH THE OTHER WOMEN. INDEED, NO CALIFORNIA WOMAN WON OFFICE UNTIL 1918, SEVEN YEARS AFTER THE STATE ENFRANCHISED WOMEN. CLEARLY, WOMEN FACED OBSTACLES AS CANDIDATES. AS RIDLE NOTED AT THE TIME, “THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A STEP TAKEN IN HISTORY THAT HAS NOT RECEIVED ITS SHARE OF DERISION. IT IS THE USUAL FATE OF INNOVATIONS OF ANY KIND. HOWEVER, SOMEONE HAS TO MAKE A START. IN ACCEPTING THIS CANDIDACY I FEEL THAT I AM FILLING THAT WANT.” 1 HER BOLD EFFORTS, HOWEVER, HAD LITTLE IMPACT. AS THIS ARTICLE ARGUES, POSSESSING THE RIGHTS OF FULL SUFFRAGE BEFORE RATIFICATION OF THE NINETEENTH AMENDMENT ACTUALLY IMPEDED CALIFORNIA WOMEN’S OPPORTUNITIES FOR ELECTORAL OFFICE. WOMEN LIKE RIDLE HAD LITTLE CHANCE OF WINNING OFFICE ON THE STATE AND NATIONAL LEVELS.

AT FIRST GLANCE, THIS ERA OF ENFRANCHISEMENT FOR WOMEN BEFORE 1920 APPEARED RIPE FOR POLITICAL SUCCESS. THE NATIONAL SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT WAS CONSTANTLY REVISITING ITS CAUSE AS POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGED; IT COULD HAVE WELCOMED THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN AS CANDIDATES. THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY, NEEDING WOMEN AS POLITICAL WORKERS, SAW ITSELF AS INCLUSIONARY AND CHAMPIONED WOMEN. WITH CALIFORNIA PLAYING A CRITICAL ROLE IN ITS PLANS TO BECOME A PERMANENT PARTY, IT COULD HAVE SUPPORTED PROGRESSIVE WOMEN CANDIDATES. CLUBWOMEN UNDERSTOOD THE PROCESS OF PUBLIC POLICYMAKING AND THE VALUE OF THEIR LEADERSHIP. THEY COULD HAVE EXTENDED THEIR INTERESTS TO WOMEN’S CANDIDACIES. INDEED, ALL THESE FACTORS COULD HAVE ENCOURAGED WOMEN’S CANDIDACIES. THE EVIDENCE SHOWS THEY DID NOT.

INSTEAD, THESE FACTORS WORKED AGAINST WOMEN RUNNING FOR OFFICE IN THE GOLDEN STATE. THE IMPORTANCE OF CALIFORNIA SUFFRAGE TO THE NATIONAL SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT, THE RISE OF THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY IN THE STATE, AND THE CRITICAL ROLE PLAYED BY WOMEN’S CLUBS IN BOTH THE SUFFRAGE AND PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENTS CREATED CONDITIONS THAT IMPEDED WOMEN’S SUCCESS AS CANDIDATES FOR STATE OR NATIONAL OFFICE.2 THIS ARTICLE EXAMINES THE DISSUASIVE TACTICS OF NATIONAL SUFFRAGISTS, THE OBSTACLES PLACED BY ORGANIZED CLUBWOMEN—INCLUDING THE IDEALS OF WOMEN’S NONCOMPETITIVE ALTRUISM, SOLIDARITY, AND NONPARTISANSHIP—AND THE IMPACT OF THE CALIFORNIA PROGRESSIVE PARTY, AS THE PARTY IN POWER, ON WOMEN’S ELECTORAL AMBITIONS FOR HIGHER OFFICE. WHILE THESE FACTORS OVERLAP SIGNIFICANTLY, WHEN CONSIDERED INDEPENDENTLY THEY REVEAL THE EXTENT TO WHICH A WOMAN’S ABILITY TO RUN FOR OFFICE IN CALIFORNIA WAS THWARTED DURING THE YEARS PRECEDING NATIONAL SUFFRAGE. ONLY WHEN THE BURDEN OF A NATIONAL SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT EASED AND THE POWER OF CALIFORNIA PROGRESSIVISM FADED IN 1918 DID CALIFORNIA WOMEN FIND SOME SUCCESS IN THEIR BIDS FOR OFFICE. IRONICALLY, HOWEVER, STATE ENFRANCHISEMENT HAD BY THEN LIMITED WOMEN’S POLITICAL POWER BY ESTABLISHING A BIAS AGAINST WOMEN AS PARTISAN CANDIDATES, A BIAS THAT WOULD FOLLOW WOMEN INTO THE 1920S AND BEYOND.3

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NOTES

1. SAN LUIS OBISPO DAILY TELEGRAM, JULY 31, 1912, P. 4.
2. SEE JACKSON K. PUTNAM, “THE PROGRESSIVE LEGACY IN CALIFORNIA: FIFTY YEARS OF POLITICS, 1917-1967,” IN WILLIAM DEVERELL AND TOM SITTON, EDS., CALIFORNIA PROGRESSIVISM REVISITED (BERKELEY, 1994), 248; DONNA C. SCHUELE, “‘A ROBBERY TO THE WIFE’: CULTURE, GENDER AND MARITAL PROPERTY IN CALIFORNIA LAW AND POLITICS, 1850-1890” (PH.D. DISSERTATION, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, 1999), 206-215.
3. WHILE FOUR WOMEN WON STATE ASSEMBLY SEATS IN 1918, ONLY TEN MORE WOULD DO SO IN THE FIVE DECADES THAT FOLLOWED, FROM 1920 TO 1970. SEE LINDA VAN INGEN, “CAMPAIGNS FOR EQUALITY: WOMEN CANDIDATES FOR CALIFORNIA STATE OFFICE, 1912-1970” (PH.D. DISSERTATION, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE, 2000).

Utilizing primary sources in your research allows you to apply your own interpretation of historical events, rather than relying completely on the words of other historians. Examining primary sources gives you the chance to express your own opinions about historical events. Primary sources are just a piece of the puzzle of history, so they encourage you to look for additional evidence to understand historical context.

Your research will be more meaningful if you base your conclusions on evidence and original documents, rather than other people’s interpretations and understanding of events. In this learning block, you should plan to devote at least one hour to independent research for your sources. As you research, take note of names, themes, events, and subjects that keep appearing in the secondary sources. These are potential search terms for finding primary sources that apply to your project.

GUIDELINES FOR USING PRIMARY SOURCES

Primary sources, by their very nature, can only give you partial understanding of an event. You can think of primary sources as a snapshot of an event: one source cannot show you what is going on behind the camera. You need many different pictures to put together the pieces of the puzzle. As a researcher and student of history, you will have to fill in the gaps with your own background knowledge.

This limitation is why you should begin your research with secondary sources. Once you have a basic knowledge of the topic you are researching and a general understanding of historians’ arguments and interpretations, you can start looking for primary sources that will contribute to your essay.

In Theme: Approaches to History, you saw examples of databases where you can find primary sources. Shapiro Library has many suggestions for digital collections that include primary sources such as photographs, manuscripts, and documents. You can find a list of those databases at this link.

PRIMARY SOURCE DATABASES

The list below includes some suggestions of resources for you to search for primary sources. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but it is a good place to start.

• American Memory: This database is maintained by the Library of Congress, and it has many primary source documents related to American history.
• David Rumsey Map Collection: This collection has over 67,000 maps and images from around the world.
• Primary Source Sets: This collection from the Library of Congress provides primary source sets for selected key topics in American History.
• 100 Milestone Documents: From the National Archives, this collection includes documents that chronicle American history from 1776 to 1965. Original and transcribed copies are both available.
• Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC): This database includes photographs, drawings, prints, and drawings that represent close to 95% of the holdings in the Library of Congress.
• Smithsonian Source: A collection of primary sources from the Smithsonian Institute that can be searched by keyword, topic, or type of source.
• Harvard Digital Collections: These collections are grouped by time period and subject.
• Center for Creative Photography: Archives of photographs from modern North America’s photographers.

SEARCHING FOR PRIMARY SOURCES

Searching for primary sources will probably be a little different from searching for secondary ones. Often primary source databases will categorize documents and images by subject, time period, or event. Many of the databases listed above also offer a search function. You should utilize the keywords you chose in Theme: Approaches to History that are related to your topic to search.

Your secondary sources can also direct you to primary sources, often listed in the footnotes or bibliography of a source. Although some websites charge for access to their primary source databases, many libraries and archives provide access to primary sources for free.

The keywords and search terms you identified for your essay in Theme: Approaches to History are reproduced below.

Search Terms

ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES

Our knowledge of history comes from our interpretation of sources and events. The recording of historical events are influenced by the personal, social, or political opinions of the authors or participants in an event. As a student of history, you will encounter conflicting viewpoints of an event. As you write your historical analysis essay, pay attention to the different interpretations of your topic that you encounter.

Ask yourself these questions when evaluating a primary source:

• When was it written or created?
• Who was the intended audience?
• How reliable is the information presented? Some documents are written for propaganda purposes or an eyewitness account might be distorted. Crosscheck your source with others from the time period. Do they contradict each other?
• Who is the author or creator? Why did he or she write it? Can you detect a bias?
• Are there any internal contradictions in the source? What words does the author use that might point to his or her biases and assumptions?
• What biases am I bringing to my interpretation of the source?

Assessing Sources in the Nonacademic World

YOU ENCOUNTER SOURCES OF INFORMATION DAILY: AN ARTICLE THAT YOUR FRIEND SHARES ON SOCIAL MEDIA, THE PODCAST YOU’RE LISTENING TO, OR THE BOOK YOU’RE READING, FOR EXAMPLE. AS A STUDENT, YOU SHOULD APPROACH INFORMATION IN THE NONACADEMIC WORLD WITH A CRITICAL EYE. YOU SHOULD CHECK THE REFERENCES FOR THE THINGS YOU READ, ESPECIALLY ONLINE, JUST AS YOU EXAMINE THE REFERENCES IN SCHOLARLY JOURNAL ARTICLES YOU FIND FOR USE IN YOUR HISTORICAL EVENT ANALYSIS ESSAY.

THE FOLLOWING EXERCISE WILL SHOW YOU HOW TO CRITICALLY EXAMINE AN ARTICLE YOU FIND ONLINE. THIS PROCESS WILL BE USEFUL IN YOUR RESEARCH FOR THIS COURSE, FUTURE COURSES AT SNHU, AND YOUR PROFESSIONAL LIFE. THE SUBJECT OF THE ARTICLE IS RELEVANT TO THE TOPIC OF THE HISTORICAL CASE STUDIES IN THIS THEME: THE LONG ROAD TO WOMEN’S RIGHTS.

Critical Source Analysis

FOR EXAMPLE, LET’S SAY A FRIEND OF YOURS ON FACEBOOK POSTS A LINK TO AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT. THE TITLE OF THE ARTICLE IS “WHAT IS THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT? A LANDMARK PIECE OF FEMINIST LEGISLATION EVERY FEMINIST SHOULD KNOW ABOUT”. YOU CLICK ON THE LINK AND START READING THE ARTICLE.

YOU SHOULD FIRST NOTICE A FEW THINGS. THE DATE IT WAS PUBLISHED (AUGUST 25, 2015) AND WHERE IT IS PUBLISHED (BUSTLE.COM). USING THE SKILLS YOU HAVE LEARNED IN THIS COURSE, YOU SHOULD ALREADY BE EVALUATING THIS ARTICLE FOR ACCURACY, RELEVANCY, INTENT, AND AUTHORITATIVENESS (A.R.I.A.). SOME QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT ASK YOURSELF ARE: WHAT CREDENTIALS DOES THIS WEBSITE HAVE? DOES THIS WEBSITE PRIMARILY PUBLISH SCHOLARLY RESEARCH? WHO IS THIS ARTICLE DIRECTED AT?

A QUICK GLANCE AROUND THE WEBSITE WILL REVEAL THAT THIS IS NOT A SCHOLARLY SOURCE, AND THE ARTICLES ARE NOT EXCLUSIVELY DEVOTED TO HISTORY. THERE ARE A LOT OF ADVERTISEMENTS ON THE SITE. THE TITLE OF THE ARTICLE MAKES IT APPARENT WHO THE AUTHOR IS APPEALING TO: FEMINISTS OR PEOPLE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN WOMEN’S ISSUES.

YOU KEEP READING:

THIS WEDNESDAY IS WOMEN’S EQUALITY DAY, AND IN THIS CASE, THE 95TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 19TH AMENDMENT, WHICH OFFICIALLY GAVE WOMEN THE RIGHT TO VOTE. AUG. 26 WAS OFFICIALLY DECLARED WOMEN’S EQUALITY DAY IN 1972. INCIDENTALLY, ALTHOUGH WOMEN’S EQUALITY DAY WAS SLATED OUT TO CELEBRATE THE 19TH AMENDMENT SPECIFICALLY, 1972 ALSO SAW THE INITIAL PASSAGE OF ANOTHER PRETTY IMPORTANT AMENDMENT: THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT, OR THE ERA. SO, WHAT EXACTLY IS THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT? OH, IT’S ONLY ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECES OF LEGISLATION IN THE HISTORY OF FEMINISM. WOMEN’S EQUALITY DAY MIGHT BE CELEBRATING THE 19TH AMENDMENT, BUT IT’S IMPORTANT THAT WE RE-FAMILIARIZE OURSELVES WITH THE SECTIONS AND HISTORY OF THE EQUALLY-IMPORTANT ERA, WHICH STILL HAS YET TO BE PASSED AFTER FALLING THREE STATES SHORT FOR RATIFICATION IN 1982.

SINCE THIS IS NOT A SCHOLARLY JOURNAL ARTICLE, CHANCES ARE THERE WILL NOT BE AN OFFICIAL REFERENCE SECTION AT THE END OF THE PIECE. THE AUTHOR HAS LINKED TO A SOURCE IN THE TEXT, THOUGH. YOU SHOULD CLICK ON THAT LINK TO SEE WHAT THE SOURCE IS. THE LINK DIRECTS YOU TO A WEBSITE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE ERA.

USE THE A.R.I.A. CRITERIA TO EVALUATE THIS SOURCE, AS WELL AS THE SKILLS YOU HAVE LEARNED TO EVALUATE WEBSITES. THE WEBSITE IS HTTP://WWW.EQUALRIGHTSAMENDMENT.ORG/HISTORY.HTM. THE DOMAIN OF THIS WEBSITE IS .ORG, WHICH MEANS IT NEEDS THOROUGH EVALUATION, SINCE ITS RELIABILITY IS LOW. HOWEVER, THIS PAGE DOES HAVE SOME PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCE REFERENCES, SO YOU CAN CHECK THOSE AS WELL.

YOU SHOULD READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE ON YOUR OWN, USING THE METHODS OUTLINED HERE TO EVALUATE THE INFORMATION AND SOURCES.

Conclusion

WHAT SHOULD YOU TAKE AWAY FROM A CLOSER EXAMINATION OF THIS ARTICLE? ALTHOUGH AT FACE VALUE, THE ARTICLE DISPENSES USEFUL INFORMATION AND LINKS TO ACCURATE SOURCES, THE ARTICLE ITSELF IS NOT A GOOD SOURCE. THIS TYPE OF SOURCE WOULD NOT BE APPROPRIATE TO CITE IN YOUR HISTORICAL ANALYSIS ESSAY. THE SOURCE’S CREDIBILITY IS QUESTIONABLE, SO YOU SHOULD NOT TAKE ITS CONTENTS AT FACE VALUE WITHOUT FURTHER EVALUATION.

THIS EXERCISE IS MEANT TO SHOW YOU HOW TO CRITICALLY EXAMINE THE THINGS YOU READ, WHETHER YOU ENCOUNTER IT IN A NEWSPAPER EDITORIAL, ON SOCIAL MEDIA, OR IN THE RESEARCH FOR YOUR HISTORICAL ANALYSIS ESSAY. KEEP THESE TIPS IN MIND AS YOU DO RESEARCH FOR THIS COURSE AND FUTURE COURSES, AND YOU WILL BECOME A CRITICAL CONSUMER OF INFORMATION. THIS ARTICLE FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS FURTHER EXPLAINS WHY PRIMARY SOURCES WILL BE USEFUL IN YOUR HISTORICAL RESEARCH AND YOUR ACADEMIC LIFE. THIS READING IS MANDATORY.

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EXERCISE: ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES

What should you look at when you’re examining a primary source? In order to effectively research for your historical analysis essay, you need to be able to critically examine primary sources. This skill will be useful in this course and future courses at SNHU.

The primary source below was printed in 1910. Read the information on the poster, then answer the questions that follow it. You can find this primary source here in the Library of Congress database.

WOMAN SUFFRAGE CO-EQUAL WITH MAN SUFFRAGE

(Quoted from the Platform of Principles of the American Federation of Labor.)

State Federations that have endorsed Woman Suffrage: California, Connecticut, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington, West Virginia.

“I am for unqualified woman suffrage as a matter of human justice. It is unfair that women should be governed by laws in the making of which they have no voice. MEN would feel that they were used badly if they did not have that right, and WOMEN naturally feel the same.”-Samuel Gompers

“I’m in perfect harmony with the declaration of the American Federation of Labor, which has endorsed the demand that woman be given the right to vote. I have always stood for the SQUARE DEAL, and that’s the only square thing on the woman suffrage question, as I see it. I personally believe that it would be for the good of US ALL for woman to be enfranchised.”-John Mitchell

“I would advise all the Workers of America to work for Woman Suffrage. My message to them is COURAGE. I never make a speech on any subject without bringing in Woman Suffrage.”-Keir Hardie

There are 300,000 Working Women in New York. Will not a vote be worth as much to them as to working men?”

National American Woman Suffrage Association. Headquarters: 505 Fifth Avenue, New York.

WEEK 3 SHORT RESPONSES

Answer the questions below, using the information you have learned about examining primary sources. Type your responses to these questions in the textboxes below. Be sure to respond to each question in two to three complete sentences, using proper grammar. When you are finished, click “Submit.” These responses will be graded. After submitting, you can edit your response by clicking “Edit.”

Week 3 Short Responses – Question 1

What types of sources could be used to research the economic impact of the women’s movement? What about for its social impact? Develop relevant search terms.

Week 3 Short Responses – Question 2

Congress held its final vote to approve the Nineteenth Amendment on June 4, 1919. Was this a necessary or a contributory cause of the success of the woman suffrage movement?

Week 3 Short Responses – Question 3

The National American Woman Suffrage Association supported the U.S. decision to enter World War I and publicly encouraged women to support the war effort. Was this a necessary or a contributory cause of the success of the woman suffrage movement?

Week 3 Short Responses – Question 4

Look at this website for information about women’s suffrage at the Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/womens-suffrage. Using the A.R.I.A. criteria, answer the following questions:

What is the purpose of this website? Is the information on this website easy to locate? Can you use a search box or a navigational menu? How reliable and current is the information presented? Would this website be appropriate to use in a research paper?

Week 3 Short Responses – Question 5

Look at this website about the Paycheck Fairness Act: https://www.aclu.org/equal-pay-equal-work-pass-paycheck-fairness-act. Using the A.R.I.A. criteria, answer the following questions:

Who sponsors this website? Is it easy to navigate and find information? Is it modern looking? How current and accurate is the information on the website? Does it promote a specific opinion or point of view? Would this website be appropriate to use in a research paper?

Week 3 Short Responses – Question 6

Accuracy: Are references provided? Does the reference list include other scholarly sources?

Relevancy: Would this article be useful for a paper examining the similarities between political sentiment in states that granted women the right to vote before the Nineteenth Amendment? Would it be useful in an essay focusing on the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), an activist group based in New York that was dedicated to nationwide woman suffrage?

Intent: What is the point of this article? Is the author making an argument?

Authoritativeness: What are the author’s credentials? What about the publication’s?

Week 3 Short Responses – Question 7

Building on the keywords you identified in Theme 1, and the research of secondary sources you have done so far, what subjects, events, people, and time period are related to the topic you have chosen for your historical event analysis essay? Identifying these pieces will be useful as you search the primary source databases.

Subjects:

Events:

People:

Time Period:

Week 3 Short Responses – Question 8

1. Who (either a single person or an organization) created this poster? Why did this person or organization write it?
2. Who is the intended audience? What methods does the creator(s) use to target this audience? How might the intended audience have encountered this poster?

Week 3 Short Responses – Question 9

1. Can you detect any biases in this source? What words does the creator use that might point to his or her biases or assumptions?
2. What biases might you bring to your interpretation of the source?