Primary Source Analysis

The purpose of this assignment is to familiarize students with the use of historical documents within the larger framework of Enlightenment history. Historical documents, as you know by now, are the building blocks of written history. Moreover, the interpretation of these documents by the historical community and their placement in the larger historical narrative are the foundations of the historical profession. Therefore, this assignment will allow each of you to become, for a brief moment, a historian. Each of the documents will fit into a larger historical period and you need keep this timeframe in mind as you tackle this assignment. If there are people, places, and events mentioned in your documents that you do not know or understand, you need to research them using your textbook or other resources. If you use outside research materials they must be documented and if you use the internet I will only accept references to .org, .edu, or .gov sites. No Wikipedia! Wikipedia is full of historical and factual errors.

Here are some steps to follow as you analyze your document, but you don’t need these for the submitted assignment:
1) Title: The title of the document.
2) Author: Who wrote it, photographed it, spoke it, created it, etc.
3) Type of Primary Source: journal, photograph, oral interview, movie, music, artwork, etc.
4) Date (or approximation)
5) Historic Context: What historical events can be directly related to the document?
6) Major events occurring during this time period: What events in the larger world?
7) Trends of the time: What is life like socially and culturally?
8) Origin: Where did this document come from?
9) Purpose: What is the author or creator’s purpose?
10) Content/Key Points: What are some of the documents most important points?
11) Analysis: Brief summary of what you think the document says.
12) Significance: What is this document’s significance? Why is it important?
13) Bias: Does the document have a point of view?

Think about ways to include the above questions in your analysis of the documents.

The Documents:

The documents for this assignment can be found here at the University of Michigan Center for the History of Medicine’s website (Links to an external site.) Influenza Encyclopedia: or copy and paste http://www.influenzaarchive.org/

Choose 3 documents from this collection of primary sources and American city narratives about the 1918-1920, H1N1A influenza virus global pandemic that infected 500 million and killed 50 million (including 650,000 Americans).

The Assignment:

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, the worst war in human history, up to that moment, finally ceased. When the dust settled, 20 million people lost their lives and another 21 million more suffered injuries, some of which wouldn’t heal in a lifetime. But just as the victorious Triple Entente began to organize the terms for peace, a far more dangerous enemy lay waiting for them upon their return home.

Beginning in February of 1918, a virulent strain of the H1N1 flu virus emerged and ravaged humanity for two years. In the end, four waves of outbreaks across the two-year span resulted in 600 million infected, over one-third of the world’s population. Fifty million died—far more than WWI—and this estimate is considered moderate. Even our own 28th president, Woodrow Wilson, succumbed to the virus. Quite often across history, public health crises have been far more destructive to various human cultures than human wars for wealth and power.

Here’s your essay assignment:

Using U of M’s Spanish Flu pandemic archive, use the primary sources you’ve selected to make an argument about what these pandemics reveal about us as a civilization. How does a global pandemic have an impact world history? If we’ve been through these before, why do we know so little about them, say compared to an event like WWI? Did our fellow men and women respond to their public health crisis in a manner similar to our own? Feel free to concentrate on a specific city or region in the United States. Be creative in your arguments and primary source selections. Be sure to cite/document your primary sources so I know which ones you’ve selected. All of the primary sources are from an American perspective, so you should be in familiar territory. Of course, we’re in the midst of another one of these pandemics. Thankfully, our current virus is far less deadly than that of 100 years ago.

Remember, this is about argument and evidence not summary. I want to know what you think, not what you read.

The Paper:

Your papers need to be 3-4 pages in length, double-spaced with name, date, and course number on the top left corner of your paper. Please number your pages. Grammar, spelling, editing, and proofreading mistakes will be heavily evaluated. All documents MUST be cited.