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.