Video Notes: Primary and Secondary Sources and Tennessee History - Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the lecture notes on primary vs. secondary sources, source analysis, and Tennessee historical periods and geography.

Primary source

A document, artifact, or image produced by people living in a specific historical moment; raw evidence about that moment.

Secondary source

An account that retells, analyzes, or interprets events and is one step removed from the original sources.

Oral history

An interview with a person who witnessed or experienced an event, used as a primary source.

Census data

Population data collected by a census, used as a primary source for demographic information.

Journal

A written record kept by an individual of daily events, thoughts, or experiences.

Letters

Written messages between people that can serve as primary source evidence.

Newspaper articles

News reports published in newspapers; primary sources when produced contemporaneously with events.

Speeches

Formal addresses by individuals, used as primary source material.

Laws or legal treatises

Statutes or legal writings that serve as primary sources of law.

Court records

Formal documents from courts (cases, judgments) that serve as primary sources.

Autobiographies

Self-written life stories; a primary source.

Political cartoons

Cartoons commenting on politics or events; primary source evidence of public opinion.

Photographs

Images captured at a moment in time; primary sources of historical moments.

Pottery

Ceramic vessels produced by people; evidence of daily life and material culture in a period.

Earthworks

Large mounded or dug structures built by people, reflecting social organization and culture.

Documentary

A non-fiction film or program that presents factual information about real events.

Historical books

Books that recount or analyze past events; secondary sources.

Textbooks

Educational books compiling established knowledge; secondary sources.

Journal articles

Scholarly articles in academic journals that analyze historical topics; commonly secondary sources.

Atlatl

A tool used to throw spears farther; a technology of the Archaic period.

Clovis points

Distinctive spear points associated with Paleoindian cultures.

Paleoindian Period

12,000 BC to 8,000 BC; nomadic hunters, big-game focus (e.g., mastodons); Clovis points common.

Archaic Period

Began around 8,000 BC; hunter-gatherer communities; use of the atlatl for throwing spears.

Woodland Period

1,000 BC to 1,000 AD; pottery, agriculture, and earthworks.

Mississippian Period

900 AD to 1600 AD; extensive trade networks and games like chunkey.

Chunkey

A Mississippian-era game played with a disk and throwing or rolling objects.

Hamilton (the musical)

A modern stage musical about Alexander Hamilton; an example of contemporary cultural retellings of history.

Physiographic map

A map showing the physical geography of a region, including mountains, valleys, and plateaus.

Unaka Mountains

A mountain range in eastern Tennessee.

Sequatchie Valley

A valley in Tennessee, part of the state’s physiographic regions.

Cumberland Plateau and Ridge

A high, rugged region in Tennessee characterized by plateaus and ridges.