what is a primary source/document?

Answer 1

A source written during the time period by someone from the time period.

For example, a primary source would be the text of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. A secondary source would be a later analysis of it.

Answer 2

"In historical scholarship, a primary source is a document, sound recording, video recording, original work or other source of information that was created at or near the time being studied, often by the people being studied." (wikipedia)

This means that anything can be a primary source--it just depends what you are studying.

A secondary source is someone else's opinion on a primary source--but then again what is someone else's secondary source can be YOUR primary source!

here's why:

say someone writes a book in the 70s analyzing the civil rights battles in the 60s. that book is a secondary source.
now say you are writing a paper analyzing criticism and/or historical analysis in 70s of the civil rights era. that person's book is now your PRIMARY source.

if you understand why a textbook can be a primary source, then you know what a primary source is. if you don't understand this, then ask again and i'll answer it.

Answer 3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_source