What Is History???
US HistoryMrs. Brown
What Is History???• Some thoughts…
–History is written by the victors.” Winston Churchill
What Is History???• “History…is little more than the register of
crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind” – Edward Gibbon
• “History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake” – James Joyce
• “If you do not like the past, change it” – William L. Burton
• “There is properly no history, only biography” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
What Is History???• A study of human
past by investigating and analyzing the sequence of events and objectively investigating patterns of cause and effect
Tools to Discover History• Historians use artifacts
to study history• Artifact – anything
made by mankind–What are some
examples?–What can artifacts be
used for?
Artifact Activity• Work with the person
sitting next to you to examine an “artifact”
• Determine what people in the future might thing of products that are used today
Primary & Secondary Sources
• Primary Source – a document or object that was created during the time period being studied by someone who was there
• Examples of Primary Sources:–Christopher
Columbus’ diary– The Constitution– Stone tools made
by Native Americans
Primary & Secondary Sources
• Secondary Source – an interpretation or analysis of a primary source, which may or may not be from the time period being studied
• Examples of Secondary Sources:–A textbook–A magazine article – An interview with
the grandson of a slave
Primary & Secondary Sources
• BOTH Primary and Secondary sources can be unreliable–Bias–Quality of source
• A good Secondary source is better than a bad Primary source!
Primary & Secondary Sources
• Activity:–With the people at your table, look at
the documents you have been given.–Answer the questions on the
worksheet about each of the documents.–Be prepared to share with the class.
