Atlantic Canada Virtual Archives - McQueen Family Letters - Learning Resources
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Working With Primary and Secondary Sources

This activity will give you the chance to view primary source materials online and learn about aspects of life in late nineteenth-century Canada.

Introduction: Primary Sources

A primary source is a first-hand account by someone who participated in or witnessed an event.

These sources could be: letters, books written by witnesses, diaries and journals, reports, government documents, photographs, art, maps, video footage, sound recordings, oral histories, clothing, tools, weapons, buildings and other clues in the surroundings.

A secondary source is a representation of an event. It is someone's interpretation of information found in primary sources.

These sources include books and textbooks, and are the best place to begin research.

Primary sources are considered more reliable than secondary sources in historical research. As such, you should learn to use them as soon as possible. The letters you will be looking at today are primary sources -- the words of people who were there.

However, this does not mean that they are the "perfect source": all writers have a bias, whether intentional or unintentional. You must ask yourself: Does this person have any reason to lie, to misrepresent or misinterpret? Consider bias that might come from a writer's gender, class, religion, ethnicity, nationality or political views.

Use this blank table to list the advantages and disadvantages of primary and secondary sources.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Primary and Secondary Sources
Primary Sources Secondary Sources
Advantages Disadvantages Advantages Disadvantages
       

Essay Instructions

Navigate the various sections of the McQueen Letters site: The McQueens, Historical Context, The Letters. Take a look at the Letter Search Page.

Read the secondary sources on the site that relate to your topic before reading the letters.

Your essay should include:

  • A title page with title, your name, course name, teacher name and date submitted.
  • A clear introduction with a thesis statement.
  • A body with proper citation (footnotes/endnotes or APA/MLA style, as determined by your instructor).
  • A conclusion that follows logically from the thesis and ideas developed in the body and makes a thoughtful generalization.

Date due:

Length of paper:

Topics

Your essay should develop one of the following topics, or one approved by your instructor:

  1. (Argument) Life for the McQueens was easy/difficult. Look at all aspects of life (see question 4 for suggestions).
  2. (Compare and contrast) Compare and contrast the life of the McQueens in the 1880s to your life today. Look at all aspects of life (see question 4 for suggestions).
  3. (Descriptive) Describe in detail the conditions that the McQueens faced in the 1880s. Look at all aspects of life (see question 4 for suggestions).
  4. (Investigation) Investigate/research a particular aspect of the life of the McQueen family in the 1880s. Some suggestions:
    • Work (type, amount)
    • Entertainment (what kinds)
    • Living conditions (housing, clothes, food)
    • Medicine (availability, home remedies, types of illness and injury that had to be treated)
    • The economics of migration (costs of building a home, labour and clearing land, uncertainty of harvests)

Secondary Sources

Primary Sources

Other Sources

Essay-Writing Sources

© National Library of Canada. Adapted from the National Library of Canada's website (www.nlc-bnc.ca).