Until 1891, convictions were based mainly on eyewitness accounts, which were then replaced by , which is still the main type of evidence used today.

Which source would best a historian understand the effect of the great chicago fire on families? a. a biography of a chicago family displaced by the fire b. a letter from a grandmother in new york to her family in chicago c. a newspaper editorial about families who were displaced d. an oral history dictated by an adolescent who fled the fire