Click each box to learn about secondary sources.
Definition
Secondary Source
A secondary source is a secondhand account that was created by someone who did not live in the time period you are studying.
Secondary sources are usually written a long time after the event occurred by people who did not live through or participate in the event.
Purpose
The purpose of secondary sources is to interpret, or explain the meaning of the information in primary sources.
Secondary sources help you to understand more about a person’s life as well as how and why an historical event happened.
Examples
Secondary sources include:
• Biographies
• Encyclopedias
• Films and movies
• Newspaper articles
• Textbooks
• Websites