Question

Which source would best help a historian understand how the Great Chicago Fire affected families? A) a biography of a Chicago family displaced by the fire B) a letter from a grandmother in New York to her family in Chicago C) a newspaper editorial about families who were displaced D) an oral history dictated by an adolescent who fled the fire

Answer 1

D) primary sources are much more accurate because they come directly from the source.

Answer 2

An oral history dictated by an adolescent who fled the fire is the source that would best help a historian understand how the Great Chicago Fire affected families. Option D is correct.

Historians may use primary source which consists on written or created source by a person who saw a historical event. Letters, diaries, speeches, and photographs are examples of primary sources. Artifacts such as tools are also primary sources. Other tools that historians use are secondary sources.