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We each have a responsibility as citizens, students, and individuals to understand where we came from. This is not to say we should each be avid students of history, but rather, to make some effort to learn where we came from, how we got here, and having done all of that in a manner that allows us to inspire the same benefit of learning to those younger than you. By conducting solid research, you gain an understanding of the past in a manner worthy of being retold to someone else, at which time you would come from a position of intelligence considering the effort and time you spent on good quality research.

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Part of the lesson teaches you how to look for credibility within an authors work. As a researcher, you too are and will be expected to give credit to the sources you used during your research process. One such method is APA 7th Edition, which is widely used in high school advanced placement courses, and college level courses. The Purdue Online Writing Lab (Purdue Owl) is a very popular, easy to understand website which will assist you in understanding what crucial information is required in order to do this.

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You can also watch our APA vidcast series on the Purdue OWL YouTube Channel .

General APA Guidelines

Your essay should be typed and double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11"), with 1" margins on all sides. Include a page header (also known as the " running head") at the top of every page. For a professional paper, this includes your paper title and the page number. For a student paper, this only includes the page number. To create a page header/running head, insert page numbers flush right. Then type "TITLE OF YOUR PAPER" in the header flush left using all capital letters. The running head is a shortened version of your paper's title and cannot exceed 50 characters including spacing and punctuation.

Font

The 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual requires that the chosen font be accessible (i.e., legible) to all readers and that it be used consistently throughout the paper. It acknowledges that many font choices are legitimate, and it advises writers to check with their publishers, instructors, or institutions for guidance in cases of uncertainty.

While the APA Manual does not specify a single font or set of fonts for professional writing, it does recommend a few fonts that are widely available. These include sans serif fonts such as 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, and 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode as well as serif fonts such as 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Georgia, 10-point Computer Modern.

Major Paper Sections

Your essay should include four major sections: the Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, and References.

Title Page

Note: APA 7 provides slightly different directions for formatting the title pages of professional papers (e.g., those intended for scholarly publication) and student papers (e.g., those turned in for credit in a high school or college course).

The title page should contain the title of the paper, the author's name, and the institutional affiliation. A professional paper should also include the author note. A student paper should also include the course number and name, instructor name, and assignment due date.

Type your title in upper and lowercase letters centered in the upper half of the page. The title should be centered and written in boldface. APA recommends that your title be focused and succinct and that it should not contain abbreviations or words that serve no purpose. Your title may take up one or two lines. All text on the title page, and throughout your paper, should be double-spaced.

Beneath the title, type the author's name: first name, middle initial(s), and last name. Do not use titles (Dr.) or degrees (PhD).

Beneath the author's name, type the institutional affiliation, which should indicate the location where the author(s) conducted the research.

A professional paper should include the author note beneath the institutional affiliation, in the bottom half of the title page. This should be divided up into several paragraphs, with any paragraphs that are not relevant omitted. The first paragraph should include the author's name, the symbol for the ORCID iD, and the URL for the ORCID iD. Any authors who do not have an ORCID iD should be omitted. The second paragraph should show any change in affiliation or any deaths of the authors. The third paragraph should include any disclosures or acknowledgements, such as study registration, open practices and data sharing, disclosure of related reports and conflicts of interest, and acknowledgement of financial support and other assistance. The fourth paragraph should include contact information for the corresponding author.

A student paper should not include an author note.

Note again that page headers/page numbers (described above for professional and student papers) also appear at the top of the title page. In other words, a professional paper's title page will include the title of the paper flush left in all capitals and the page number flush right, while a student paper will only contain the page number flush right.
Student APA title page

Professional paper APA title page

Abstract

Begin a new page. Your abstract page should already include the page header (described above). On the first line of the abstract page, center and bold the word "Abstract" (no italics, underlining, or quotation marks).

Beginning with the next line, write a concise summary of the key points of your research. (Do not indent.) Your abstract should contain at least your research topic, research questions, participants, methods, results, data analysis, and conclusions. You may also include possible implications of your research and future work you see connected with your findings. Your abstract should be a single paragraph, double-spaced. Your abstract should typically be no more than 250 words.

You may also want to list keywords from your paper in your abstract. To do this, indent as you would if you were starting a new paragraph, type Keywords: (italicized), and then list your keywords. Listing your keywords will help researchers find your work in databases.

Abstracts are common in scholarly journal articles and are not typically required for student papers unless advised by an instructor. If you are unsure whether or not your work requires an abstract, consult your instructor for further guidance.

APA Abstract Page

Please see our Sample APA Paper resource to see an example of an APA paper. You may also visit our Additional Resources page for more examples of APA papers.

How to Cite the Purdue OWL in APA

Individual Resources

The page template for the new OWL site does not include contributors' names or the page's last edited date. However, select pages still include this information.

In the absence of contributor/edit date information, treat the page as a source with a group author and use the abbreviation "n.d." for "no date":

Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Title of resource. Purdue Online Writing Lab. http://Web address for OWL resource

Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). General Writing FAQs. Purdue Online Writing Lab. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/general_writing_faqs.html

The generic APA citation for OWL pages, which includes author/edit date information, is this:

Contributors' names. (Last edited date). Title of resource. Site Name. http://Web address for OWL resource

Note: This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style can be found here.

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You can also watch our APA vidcast series on the Purdue OWL YouTube Channel . General APA Guidelines Your essay should be typed and double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11"), with 1" margins on all sides. Include a page header (also known as the " running head") at the top of every page.

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Bringing together a solid balance of sources is important to academic research, or, just research in general. In the previous sections you learned what Primary Sources are, as well as what Secondary Sources are. Now, let's tie these two things together to better understand the importance of them when it comes to researching a topic. Read the article by clicking the image above, and be prepared to share your thoughts at the end of this final section.

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Historiography for the Secondary Social Studies Classroom

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By Matt Doran Skills: What do we want students (citizens) to able to do? Critically analyze perspectives in secondary sources, situating these sources in their social and political context to...

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In the modern age of technology, a wealth of information is merely a mouse click, a finger swipe, or a voice command away. But with all of this technology, how do you determine what is fake, versus what is fact? In short, it all comes down to the source(s) used, and potential bias within the author(s) work itself.

For instance, Wikipedia (or any site which begins with Wiki) is typically disregarded as a credible website for academic learning because individuals with no credible background (academically or professionally) can contribute information. While in theory allowing the community as a whole to share information is good, it does essentially "muddy the waters" as so to speak when it comes to keeping the information factual. Let's look at some examples of a credible academic source, and the reasons why, along with some not to credible sources.

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This video briefly covers the basic differences between Primary and Secondary Sources.

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At the end of this lesson, you will have been taught the key characteristics of both Primary and Secondary Sources for use in academic research in compliance with Tennessee State Social Studies Standards:
SSP.01 - Collect data and information from a variety of primary and secondary sources
SSP.02 - Critically examine a primary or secondary source
SSP.03 - Synthesize data from multiple sources

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What does the term "credible? mean according to the video? Post your responses.

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Using the Past to Navigate the Present/Future

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Using the Past to Navigate the Present/Future

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History's importance to us as individuals, communities, nations, and as a global community depends on our ability to understand the past, in order to navigate the road ahead (the future). How we interpret the past, and how we use that information is crucial. It is easy to see something on social media, the internet, on television or on the radio and take it for face value (truth). But if you as an individual are armed with the critical thinking capabilities necessary to question the credibility of the source, then you have the ability to better analyze and interpret the information in front of you to make better choices. Ask the hard questions. Do not just take the information for truth. Seek it out. Most importantly, understand that there are multiple perspectives to every topic. Part of conducting balanced research is looking equally at opposing views, then conducting your own research to come to your own conclusion.

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Examples of Primary Sources (The Lincoln Letters) via the Library of Congress Online

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Examples of Primary Sources (The Lincoln Letters) via the Library of Congress Online

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Primary Sources are those written/recorded by one or more individuals who experienced the event first-hand. Examples of these could be Letters, Memos, Photographs, Journal Entires, etc.

Identify one or two letters that are of interest to you. How do they expand your knowledge of President Abraham Lincoln? Post your comments to this slide.

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About this Collection | Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress | Digital Collections | Library of Congress

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The papers of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), lawyer, representative from Illinois, and sixteenth president of the United States, contain approximately 40,550 documents dating from 1774 to 1948, although most of the collection spans from the 1850s through Lincoln’s presidency (1861-1865). Roughly half of the collection, more than 20,000 documents, comprising 62,000 images, as well as transcriptions of approximately 10,000 documents, is online. Included on this website in their entirety are Series 1-3 of the Lincoln Papers and the original materials in Series 4. Excluded from this online presentation is a sizeable portion of Series 4, which consists of printed material and reproductions of government and military documents made from originals in the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration.

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What are the steps outlined in the video to properly evaluating a source for credibility? Post your responses.

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Example of a Secondary Source (History.com)

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Example of a Secondary Source (History.com)

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Secondary Sources are written/recorded after the event has occurred by someone who did not experience the event first-hand. Usually, the source is an analysis of one or multiple primary sources, such as the article provided here.

Read this article published by History.com, a well-known historical website and also home of the History Channel online. Post 1-2 thoughts on the authors views of Abraham Lincoln on this slide. Specifically, does the authors view(s) appear to be different than those you hold after reviewing the Lincoln Papers on the previous slide? Why or why not?

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1. Lincoln wasn't an abolitionist.

Abraham Lincoln did believe that slavery was morally wrong, but there was one big problem: It was sanctioned by the highest law in the land, the Constitution. The nation's founding fathers, who also struggled with how to address slavery, did not explicitly write the word "slavery" in the Constitution, but they did include key clauses protecting the institution, including a fugitive slave clause and the three-fifths clause, which allowed Southern states to count enslaved people for the purposes of representation in the federal government.

In a three-hour speech in Peoria, Illinois, in the fall of 1854, Lincoln presented more clearly than ever his moral, legal and economic opposition to slavery-and then admitted he didn't know exactly what should be done about it within the current political system.

Abolitionists, by contrast, knew exactly what should be done about it: Slavery should be immediately abolished, and freed enslaved people should be incorporated as equal members of society. They didn't care about working within the existing political system, or under the Constitution, which they saw as unjustly protecting slavery and enslavers. Leading abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison called the Constitution "a covenant with death and an agreement with Hell," and went so far as to burn a copy at a Massachusetts rally in 1854.

Though Lincoln saw himself as working alongside the abolitionists on behalf of a common anti-slavery cause, he did not count himself among them. Only with emancipation, and with his support of the eventual 13th Amendment, would Lincoln finally win over the most committed abolitionists.

2. Lincoln didn't believe Black people should have the same rights as white people.

Though Lincoln argued that the founding fathers' phrase "All men are created equal" applied to Black and white people alike, this did not mean he thought they should have the same social and political rights. His views became clear during an 1858 series of debates with his opponent in the Illinois race for U.S. Senate, Stephen Douglas, who had accused him of supporting "negro equality."

In their fourth debate, at Charleston, Illinois, on September 18, 1858, Lincoln made his position clear. "I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and Black races," he began, going on to say that he opposed Black people having the right to vote, to serve on juries, to hold office and to intermarry with whites.

What he did believe was that, like all men, Black men had the right to improve their condition in society and to enjoy the fruits of their labor. In this way they were equal to white men, and for this reason slavery was inherently unjust.

Like his views on emancipation, Lincoln's position on social and political equality for African Americans would evolve over the course of his presidency. In the last speech of his life, delivered on April 11, 1865, he argued for limited Black suffrage, saying that any Black man who had served the Union during the Civil War should have the right to vote.

3. Lincoln thought colonization could resolve the issue of slavery.

For much of his career, Lincoln believed that colonization-or the idea that a majority of the African American population should leave the United States and settle in Africa or Central America-was the best way to confront the problem of slavery. His two great political heroes, Henry Clay and Thomas Jefferson, had both favored colonization; both were enslavers who took issue with aspects of slavery but saw no way that Black and white people could live together peaceably.

Lincoln first publicly advocated for colonization in 1852, and in 1854 said that his first instinct would be "to free all the slaves, and send them to Liberia" (the African state founded by the American Colonization Society in 1821).

Nearly a decade later, even as he edited the draft of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in August of 1862, Lincoln hosted a delegation of freed Black men and women at the White House in the hopes of getting their support on a plan for colonization in Central America. Given the "differences" between the two races and the hostile attitudes of white people towards Black people, Lincoln argued, it would be "better for us both, therefore, to be separated."

Lincoln's support of colonization provoked great anger among Black leaders and abolitionists, who argued that African Americans were as much natives of the country as white people, and thus deserved the same rights. After he issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln never again publicly mentioned colonization, and a mention of it in an earlier draft was deleted by the time the final proclamation was issued in January 1863.

4. Emancipation was a military policy.

The Civil War was fundamentally a conflict over slavery. However, the way Lincoln saw it, emancipation, when it came, would have to be gradual, as the most important thing was to prevent the Southern rebellion from severing the Union permanently in two. But as the Civil War entered its second summer in 1862, thousands of enslaved people had fled Southern plantations to Union lines, and the federal government didn't have a clear policy on how to deal with them. Emancipation, Lincoln saw, would further undermine the Confederacy while providing the Union with a new source of manpower to crush the rebellion.

In July 1862 the president presented his draft of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet. Secretary of State William Seward urged him to wait until things were going better for the Union on the field of battle, or emancipation might look like the last gasp of a nation on the brink of defeat. Lincoln agreed and returned to edit the draft over the summer.

On September 17 the bloody Battle of Antietam gave Lincoln the opportunity he needed. He issued the preliminary proclamation to his cabinet on September 22, and it was published the following day. As a cheering crowd gathered at the White House, Lincoln addressed them from a balcony: "I can only trust in God I have made no mistake ... It is now for the country and the world to pass judgment on it."

5. The Emancipation Proclamation didn't actually free all enslaved people.

Since Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation as a military measure, it didn't apply to border slave states like Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri, all of which were loyal to the Union. (Missouri actually had two competing governments; one loyal to, and recognized by the Union, and one loyal to the Confederacy). Lincoln also exempted selected areas of the Confederacy that had already come under Union control in hopes of gaining the loyalty of white people in those states. In practice, then, the Emancipation Proclamation didn't immediately free a single enslaved person, as the only places it applied were places where the federal government had no control-the Southern states currently fighting against the Union.

Despite its limitations, Lincoln's proclamation marked a crucial turning point in the evolution of Lincoln's views of slavery, as well as a turning point in the Civil War itself. By war's end, some 200,000 Black men would serve in the Union Army and Navy, striking a mortal blow against the institution of slavery and paving the way for its eventual abolition by the 13th Amendment.

HISTORY Vault: Abraham Lincoln

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

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5 Things You May Not Know About Abraham Lincoln, Slavery and Emancipation | HISTORY

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The 16th U.S. president was firm in believing slavery was morally wrong, but his views on racial equality were sometimes more complicated.

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Another element to conducting balanced research is the willingness of you (the researcher) to make the effort to equally look at opposing sides of a topic. Often times people make the mistake of entering into a research project with a predetermined outcome, which generally leads to a student cherry picking sources that support that pre-determined outcome. This not only shows obvious bias within your work, but it does not progress the overall learning process expected from the topic you are researching.

Take for example the graphic above. It represents the opposing views on the size and scope of the federal government as the Constitutional Convention was being convened in 1787. The arguments by both sides on what type of federal government we should have is still openly being argued today by Democratic and Republican Parties. But what are those stances one might ask? You would not know unless you understood the origin of each side, and how it has progressed over the centuries. For instance, if you were researching the Constitutional Convention this may be one subtopic you look into. In order to understand each side, you would have to be willing to put in the work to understand why each side held the position they did. Then you could easily trace the timeline from then to now to have a clear understanding of the differences between both factions.

This is a good example of researching differing perspectives or views on one topic.