DBQs & Primary Sources

(Document Based Questions)

INTRODUCTION: A  Document-Based Question (DBQ) differs from a standard essay in its emphasis on the student's ability to analyze and synthesize historical data and assess verbal, quantitative, or pictorial materials as historical evidence. Like the standard essays, the DBQ is judged on its thesis and argument.

These sites contain information about DBQs and DBQ development, and links to primary sources that can be used in DBQs

NY State, Dept. of Ed, Social Studies - www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/social.html - Information from the state Dept of Ed on standardized Social Studies tests. Click on Resources to find the DBQ section.

 

Social Studies Teaching; Internet Resources & Links - www.ncss.org/links/home.html - Informational links are categorized: culture, people, technology, etc.

 

Social Studies Hot Spots - www.minot.com/~nansen/links/ss.html - Links to resources for the Social Studies teacher – history, historical documents, Civil War, geography, law

 

Index of Resources for Historians - www.ukans.edu/history/VL/ - Links for historians. Great plus is that sites can be selected that are appropriate to a specific country.

 

Virtual Library - www.vlib.org/ - Home page for all subject areas

 

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) - general - www.nara.gov/education/ - Articles of interest to educators regarding teaching with primary sources

 

NARA - Historical - www.nara.gov/education/teaching/teaching.html - US History archival documents listed by a specific historical event. Includes teaching activities and guides to using primary documents.

 

Library of Congress – main page - http://lcweb.loc.gov/ - Exhibits, photographs, source documents, etc. Rich site with links to primary sources.[FrontPage Image Map Component]

 

Library of Congress – Internet Resources for Educators - http://memory.loc.gov/learn/websites.html - Mainly links to sites for government and history. The Humanities Resources section has great links.

 

Library of Congress – by chronological period - http://memory.loc.gov/learn/resource/history/chrono.html - American Memory Collection of the LOC – U.S. History resources are organized by chronological period.

 

PBS Lewis & Clark Sites - www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/ - Ken Burns’ PBS Lewis and Clark expedition also includes source documents, pictures, diaries, etc.

 

Perseus Project - www.perseus.tufts.edu/ - Ancient world site. Emphasis is on Archaic and Classical Greek documents as well as Renaissance materials

 

18^th Century Resources - http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/18th/ - Includes links to literature, history, etc from around the world in the 18^th century. Other links to 18^th century resources included.

 

Repositories of Primary Sources - www.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Other.Repositories.html - A listing of over 3100 websites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other primary sources.

 

History/Social Studies for K-12 Teachers - www.execpc.com/~dboals/ - 25 pages of links to vast amounts of Internet resources. Emphasis is on history but links also available to humanities, arts, health.

 

Medieval Sourcebook - www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html - A large collection of Internet accessible primary and secondary texts from the Middle Ages, organized by topic and period. 32 pages of links

 

The Ancient World Web - www.julen.net/ancient/ - Meta index to all things ancient.

 

Exploring Ancient World Culture  - http://eawc.evansville.edu/www/index.htm - Links to the ancient world. Also will do searches on Medieval links.

 

News & Newspapers Online - http://library.uncg.edu/news/ - Links to newspapers in countries around the world.

 

Eurodocs - http://www.lib.byu.edu/estu/eurodocs/ - Primary historical documents from Western Europe. Organized by country and period.

 

Voice of the Shuttle - http://vos.ucsb.edu/ - Humanities links

 

Professional Political Cartoonists Index - www.politicalcartoons.com/ - Political Editorial Cartoons from the best newspapers in the world. Updated daily.

 

From Revolution to Reconstruction - http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/ - American History from colonial period to modern times. The Presidents link contains presidential speeches.

 

Primary Sources – History Online - www.jacksonesd.k12.or.us/k12projects/jimperry/Primary.html - Links to world historical sources. Includes Colonial America and American Revolution.

 

Historical Text Archive Index - www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/9061/index.html - Oldest & largest Internet site for historical documents. Includes the Declaration of Independence, Magna Carta, US Constitution, Constitution of Iroquois Nations, World War II surrender, and translations of documents as diverse as a letter from a French officer in Algeria in 1830 and a 1993 communiqué from the Islamic Salvation Front. This site emphasizes U.S. history, but the coverage of other parts of the world is growing.

 

AP History DBQ Essay Project - www.zuska.simplenet.com/DBQProjectPage.htm - Maria Regina High School – Hartsdale, NY. Student assignments to research and create their own DBQ, write an essay to answer the question, and provide several additional web pages of background information (bibliography, web links, etc.)

 

AP American History Student  DBQ Essay Project - http://www.needham.mec.edu/NPS_Web_docs/High_School/cur/kane98/kane_p6_dbq/DBQ_Index_p6.html - 7 student written DBQs for AP American History