Texas History Test Research & Evidence-Based Practice 5

Question 1

A historian synthesizing multiple sources about the Texas oil boom of the early 20th century would BEST demonstrate evidence-based practice by:

Accepted Answer

Integrating primary sources, peer-reviewed scholarship, and statistical data while acknowledging gaps

Answer

Evidence-based historical practice requires integrating diverse source types, engaging with scholarly literature, and transparently acknowledging the limits of available evidence.

Question 2

Maps produced by Stephen F. Austin in the 1820s–1830s are valuable to Texas historians primarily as evidence of:

Accepted Answer

Anglo-American perceptions of Texas geography and land available for settlement

Answer

Austin's maps reflect how Anglo colonizers understood and represented Texas geography, including land they considered available for settlement.

Question 3

Military service records from the Texas Confederate Army, held at the Texas State Library, allow researchers to study which historical question most directly?

Accepted Answer

The demographics and service patterns of Texans who fought for the Confederacy

Answer

Military service records document individual soldiers' identities, ages, units, and service histories, enabling demographic analysis of who served.

Question 4

When a student uses only a single secondary source to write a research paper on the Fence-Cutting Wars in Texas, the most significant risk is:

Accepted Answer

The student may inherit one author's interpretive biases and omissions without realizing it

Answer

Relying on a single secondary source means accepting one historian's selection and interpretation of evidence without the corrective perspective of additional sources.

Question 5

The journal kept by José Enrique de la Peña, an officer in Santa Anna's army, is controversial among Texas Revolution historians primarily because:

Accepted Answer

Scholars debate its authenticity and whether it was written as claimed during the campaign

Answer

The de la Peña diary has been at the center of an authenticity debate, with some historians questioning whether it was genuinely written during the 1836 campaign or fabricated later.

Texas History Test Practice Test

Texas History Test Practice Test

Texas History Test Research & Evidence-Based Practice 5