How to read a primary source. For students to really understand history, it is critical that they they have some understanding of what a primary source document is and isn’t. This exercise is based from a reading from chapter 17 Voices of Freedom, #111, Josiah Strong, Our Country (1885) Answer the following questions: What do you know about the author, what is his or her place in society? What is the authors point of view? When and where was the source produced? What was happening during this era of history and/or area that could have influenced the author and his or her ideas? How might his affect the meaning of the source? What preconceptions and presumptions do we as readers bring to this text? How do your present day conceptions of law and justice influence how you feel about what is described in the source?