Main
Topic: SOURCES OF AFRICAN HISTORY
Sub Topic 1:
Documentary/Written sources
Sub Topic 2: Merits/advantages
of documentary sources
Sub Topic 3: Demerits/Disadvantages
of documentary source
Objectives
(By the end of the Lesson students will be able to):
1.
identify
the main sources of writing African history
2.
explain
and give examples of documentary sources of African history
3.
discuss
the advantages and disadvantages of documentary/written sources of history
Introduction
Most rural communities in Ghana obtain their drinking
water from streams or hand dug wells. One may describe such streams and wells
as a community’s source of water supply. Similarly, historians use the term
historical sources to refer to the means by which historical information is gotten.
Again, by historical sources, the historian means traces that the past has left
of itself in the present, in the form of document, artifacts, buildings,
castles and forts, coins, institution, traditions, festivals, customs and so
forth.
Sources of African History
The
sources of African history are in two broad categories; documentary/written and
non-documentary/unwritten sources.
•
Secondary/Documentary/Written
Source
This
refers to documents or written accounts which give information about past
events concerning people. Examples of documentary sources are:
Newspapers,
Diaries, Travelers’ account, Journals, Reports of commissions of enquiry, party
Manifesto, Government official records, Minutes of meetings, Private letters,
Official reports of officers, Court records,
Books, Anniversary brochures ,
Tributes, Magazines etc.
Importance or Advantages of written
source of African History
1. Easy To Use
It is easier to use written sources in the
reconstruction of African history. This is because books or documents can often
be carried from one place to another where the reader or the writer wants to
use it. This cannot be done in the non-documentary sources.
2. Accurate
and Reliable Facts
Written records of contemporary issues
give first-hand information which is naturally more accurate and reliable. This
is because dates and events are chronologically well recorded. For example
minutes of meetings give exact and accurate date, and the time the meeting was
held. Similarly, records written in diaries are recorded on the spot as events
occur or soon after. This helped historians to know the exact dates for
instance the Asante fought with the British because the wars were documented.
Written sources help reduce any tendency of the historian to use guesswork in
his work.
3. Effective
Means of Keeping Records
Keeping accurate records of events is very
difficult especially where written sources are lacking and people rely solely
on oral tradition. One can say therefore that written sources are more
effective means or method of keeping records of past events.
4. Promotion
of Research
Written sources of African history promote
research work. For instance, when readers feel that there is a deficiency in a
written account, they are encouraged to dig further in order to contribute to
greater and more accurate knowledge about the issue.
5. Help
Cross-Checking Information
Written sources help in cross-checking
data or information collected from oral and other sources of historical
knowledge. This help to reach reliable conclusions.
6. Provision
of Detailed Information
Documents provide more detailed information than oral sources, e.g. dates, illustrative pictures.
Weaknesses/Disadvantages/Limitations of
written source of African history
1. Easily
Destroyed
Written sources can easily be destroyed by
termites, rodents, fire, flood, earthquakes, humidity, etc. Written records
destroyed by any of these disasters cannot be retrieved unlike oral sources
which can be retold. Termites and rodents may also eat away vital information
in written forms.
2. Biases and Distortions
Another major limitation of written
sources of history is that they may contain biases and distortions. The writer
may intentionally write to suit his opinions or leave out some aspects of the
events which are not to his liking. For example some books written by European
writer’s state that slave trading is a blessing to the people of West Africa.
Others have written in their books that until the coming of Europeans in West
Africa, the history of West Africa was only wars and misery.
3. False
Information
Written sources may contain false
information. Once certain materials or information have been written down,
people take them to be as fact even when they are not crosschecked. Not all the
information found in writing or books should be taken to be historical truth;
there could be a little bit of exaggeration, bias or prejudice.
4. Expensive
Written materials are expensive. The
writer needs materials like paper, pen, book, diary, etc. to put down events.
Also, before one gets written materials, they may have to make use of the other
sources like archeology, linguistics etc.
5. Difficult
to get
Once again, written materials are hard to
come by, especially in Africa where the art of writing started late. Even in
Africa where they are available, they are fragmentary and far between. Since
writing began very late in Africa apart from ancient Egypt, written records are
generally scanty and scarce. This means that the historian has to rely more on
the non-documentary sources, making the work more difficult.
6. Illiteracy
Documentary sources are written materials that have been put into writing and to be able to read one needs to be literate (able to read and write). Many Africans cannot read nor write, hence rendering written sources of African history deficient in the reconstruction of African history
Past Questions
1. List six documentary sources used for African history.
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