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II. Primary-Source Documents
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by Cora Greer
University of Maine at Machias
Machias, Maine
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| | The ability to analyze historical documents is crucial for success on the AP U.S. History Exam, therefore, the equivalent of one 50-minute period should be devoted to document analysis. The following documents are suggested for use in this unit, but there are many others that would work equally well. The choice of documents is one for individual teachers to make.
Students should become familiar with the APPARTS strategy for document analysis and use it when working with documents.
APPARTS
Author
Who created the source? What do you know about the author? What is the author's point of view?
Place and time
Where and when was the source produced? How might this affect the meaning of the source?
Prior knowledge
Beyond information about the author, and the context of the document's creation, what do you know that would help you further understand the primary source? For example, do you recognize any symbols and recall what they represent?
Audience
For whom was the source created and how might this affect the reliability of the source?
Reason
Why was this source produced and how might this affect the reliability of the source?
The main idea
What point is the source trying to convey?
Significance
Why is this source important? Ask yourself, "So what?" in relation to the question asked.
Primary Documents and Sources
Sources preceded by an asterisk are available in PDF format. All of the following are available online at the Web sites listed. If the text documents seem too long, they are easy to edit.
* John C. Calhoun, Speech to U.S. Senate, February 15, 1833
 http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/hst/northamerican/JohnCCalhounsRemarksintheSenate/Chap1
Cartoon: "King Andrew Jackson"
http://americanhistory.si.edu/presidency/4b1.html
Lithograph: Currier and Ives "The Drunkard's Progress"
http://www.safran-arts.com/42day/art/art4mar/curnives/drunkard.html
* Catherine Beecher, Treatise on Domestic Economy
http://www.iath.virginia.edu/utc/sentimnt/snesceba1t.html
* Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/tocqueville-democracy.html
* Andrew Jackson, Bank Veto Message, July 10, 1832
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/aj7/writings/veto.htm
* Elizabeth Cady Stanton, The Seneca Falls Declaration (1848)
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/senecafalls.html
* Andrew Jackson on Native Americans, First and Second Annual Message to Congress, December 8, 1829, and December 6, 1830
http://www.synaptic.bc.ca/ejournal/jackson.htm
* The Indian Removal Act of 1830
http://www.civics-online.org/library/formatted/texts/indian_act.html
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