Thread Academy

What Counts as Evidence

Primary and secondary sources, and why historians need both.

  • Define and explain What Counts as Evidence in your own words
  • Use key terms such as Secondary source accurately
  • Apply what you have learned to new examples and questions
  • Avoid the common mistakes learners make with this topic

Historians cannot visit the past, so they work like detectives with the clues left behind: letters, photographs, newspapers, buildings. But clues can mislead. This chapter teaches you to ask where a source comes from, why it was made, and how far you can trust it.

This lesson focuses on What Counts as Evidence: primary and secondary sources, and why historians need both.

Definition: What Counts as Evidence

Primary and secondary sources, and why historians need both.

Key ideas

Strong answers weigh sources

In exams, top answers do more than describe sources: they compare them, note agreements and disagreements, and judge usefulness using provenance. Saying 'Source A is useful because it is a primary source' is weak; saying 'Source A is useful for showing X, but limited because...' is strong.

Every source has a maker

A source was created by a real person with reasons of their own: to persuade, to record, to celebrate, to complain. A government poster and a soldier's diary describe the same war very differently because their purposes differ. Always ask: who made this, and why?

Key term — Secondary source: An account made later, using primary sources — for example, a modern textbook about the Victorians.

Worked example: What Counts as Evidence

What is the difference between a primary and a secondary source?

A primary source comes from the time studied; a secondary source is made later, using primary sources.

Answer: A primary source comes from the time studied; a secondary source is made later, using primary sources.

Common mistakes
  • Calling every old source a primary source A primary source must come from the time studied. A 1990s documentary about the Victorians is secondary, however old it looks.
  • Writing 'the source is biased so it is useless' Bias does not make a source useless. Explain what the bias reveals and what the source cannot show, instead of dismissing it.

Practice

A suffragette newspaper supports votes for women. Is it useless to a historian?
Bias can be a clue.

No — it is excellent evidence of what suffragettes believed and how they argued, though one-sided on the wider debate.

Improve this sentence: 'Source A is useful because it is primary.'
Say what it shows and what limits it.

For example: 'Source A is useful for showing soldiers' daily conditions because it is a diary written at the front, but limited because one soldier's experience may not be typical.'.

What does provenance mean?
It is about the source's origins.

Who made the source, when and where — its origin.

Give one reason a source might be biased.
The maker may want to persuade.

It was made to persuade people to one side, e.g. propaganda or a campaign leaflet.

Quick check

What Counts as Evidence — quick check

Which of these best defines "Secondary source"?

An account made later, using primary sources — for example, a modern textbook about the Victorians.

Why is purpose as important as date when judging a source?

Purpose shapes content: a recruitment poster persuades while a diary records, so the same event looks different in each.
Key takeaways
  • What Counts as Evidence: primary and secondary sources, and why historians need both.
  • Strong answers weigh sources: In exams, top answers do more than describe sources: they compare them, note agreements and disagreements, and judge usefulness using provenance.
  • Primary source: Material from the time being studied, such as a letter written in 1916 or a photograph of a Victorian street.
  • Watch out for: calling every old source a primary source
Provenance and Purpose →Back to Grade 9 chaptersRelated resources →