Texas History Test Research & Evidence-Based Practice 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The Handbook of Texas, published by the Texas State Historical Association, is best described as a:
- Primary source containing original historical documents
- Tertiary source that synthesizes historical knowledge about Texas (Correct answer)
- Database of digitized Texas newspapers
- Collection of firsthand accounts from Texas settlers
Correct answer: Tertiary source that synthesizes historical knowledge about Texas
The Handbook of Texas is a tertiary source — an encyclopedia that synthesizes and summarizes secondary historical scholarship about Texas topics.
Question 2: Spanish colonial land grant records stored in Mexican archives are important to Texas history researchers studying land ownership because:
- They prove all Texas land claims from the colonial era are still legally valid
- They document original property boundaries and ownership that often underpinned later legal disputes (Correct answer)
- They replace the need to consult the Texas General Land Office
- They were required reading for all Republic of Texas legislators
Correct answer: They document original property boundaries and ownership that often underpinned later legal disputes
Spanish land grant records document early property ownership and boundaries that frequently became the basis for land disputes during and after Texas statehood.
Question 3: A historian comparing two 19th-century Texas newspaper accounts that reach opposite conclusions about the same event should:
- Discard both sources as unreliable
- Use whichever account is longer
- Analyze each paper's ownership, audience, and editorial stance to understand the divergence (Correct answer)
- Publish only the account that matches official government records
Correct answer: Analyze each paper's ownership, audience, and editorial stance to understand the divergence
Understanding a newspaper's ownership, intended audience, and editorial perspective explains why coverage of the same event may differ significantly.
Question 4: U.S. Census records for Texas between 1850 and 1900 are particularly useful to historians researching:
- Military tactics used during the Civil War
- Population growth, ethnic composition, and occupational patterns (Correct answer)
- The legislative history of Texas statehood
- Foreign policy decisions of Texas governors
Correct answer: Population growth, ethnic composition, and occupational patterns
Census records document population size, demographics, occupations, and household composition, making them valuable for social and demographic history.
Question 5: When a peer-reviewed journal article about Texas Reconstruction contradicts a popular history book on the same topic, a researcher should:
- Always trust the popular book because it is written for a wider audience
- Assume the peer-reviewed article is correct without further investigation
- Examine the evidence and methodology behind each claim before drawing conclusions (Correct answer)
- Ignore both sources and rely only on primary sources
Correct answer: Examine the evidence and methodology behind each claim before drawing conclusions
A researcher should evaluate the evidence and methodology supporting each claim rather than automatically privileging one type of publication over another.
Question 6: Republic of Texas government records, including congressional proceedings and executive correspondence, are most directly useful for studying:
- Pre-Columbian indigenous cultures in Texas
- Political decision-making during the Republic era (1836–1845) (Correct answer)
- The Spanish mission system of the 18th century
- German immigrant community life in the Hill Country
Correct answer: Political decision-making during the Republic era (1836–1845)
Government records from the Republic of Texas document legislative debates, executive decisions, and diplomatic correspondence from that specific period.
Question 7: Which strategy best helps a student avoid anachronism when interpreting historical evidence about antebellum Texas?
- Reading events backward from their outcomes to understand causes
- Evaluating sources using the values and knowledge available to people at the time (Correct answer)
- Applying present-day moral standards to judge historical actors' decisions
- Focusing only on sources produced after the Civil War for objectivity
Correct answer: Evaluating sources using the values and knowledge available to people at the time
Avoiding anachronism requires interpreting historical actors' choices within the context of what was known and valued during their own era.
Texas History Test Research & Evidence-Based Practice 3
The Handbook of Texas, published by the Texas State Historical Association, is best described as a: