The importance of documents

While I just started the blog, I wanted to share some brief thoughts regarding the importance of documents in preparation for history tests, understanding

specific historical time periods, or just expanding one's interest in history.

Document based questions, or DBQ's, have been a central part of history testing for a number of years now. The Advanced Placement (AP) exam has focused on the use of documents, which has forced - or allowed - students to approach history from a different perspective. The use of documents has the potential to open up a new approach to history since we have the opportunity to view historical events through the images, letters, articles and other sources rather than through the more frequently viewed secondary sources of books, documentaries or narratives. While history exists as an evolving series of perspectives among historians, the documents are static. Not the interpretation of documents, something I will discuss in a future blog, but rather the documents themselves are unchanged. This gives us an opportunity to examine the ideas, thoughts and perspectives of historical figures directly. And the ability to analyze these documents is essential for any lover, student, or observer of history.

I will continue to post document based questions without answers (at least at first) and will then begin to break down and analyze the documents. While historians interpret the events of the past, often help determine how we see the past, and will often change how we understand what are the important or significant events that should be studied, discussed, and debated. Each document has a meaning and gives us a chance to try and communicate with the past. Each document can be analyzed and understood. And each document should be welcomed as it opens the door to a richer, nuanced, and more complete understanding of history.