How do sources us to learn about the past

There are two types of sources; Secondary and Primary.
Primary sources are sources from directly from the time period, such as diaries, film footage, artifacts, and more!
Secondary sources are sources that use primary sources to analyze the time period, such as biographies, textbooks, history books, and encyclopedias.
But remember, we should never trust everything we read. Always ask questions! The author could have left out some other details we may never know. It's your decision on how you use the information to affect your work.