Introduction to History

Primary Source

A document or physical object which was written or created during the time under study.

History

the study of past events, particularly in human affairs.

Questions a Historian might ask when studying history?

1. How made it (the source) and where did it come from? 2. What was the author's perspective? 3. When was it written? 4. Where was it written? 5. What do other documents say? 6. What claims does the other make? 7. What evidence does the author use? 7. Is the author a reliable source?

examples of secondary sources

Encyclopedias, Textbook and other Nonfiction books, Almanacs, Field studies (statistics, surveys), magazine and newspaper articles published after the event, biographies, etc.

Contextualization

Historical Thinking Skill: Situates historical events, developments, or processes within the broader context in which they occurred to draw conclusions for their significance

Secondary Source

Information gathered by someone who did not take part in or witness an event

Historical Thinking Skills

The skills that historians apply to analyzing evidence and information to make sense of the past.

Historiography

The study of how history is done, such as how different people perceive past events and how a source's point-of-view impacts its portrayal of the past.

Historian

an expert who studies and records the past

artifact

an object made by a human being, typically an item of cultural or historical interest.

Historical record

any piece of evidence from the past

Chronology

arrangement of events in time

Sourcing

asking questions about a particular source, including: Who created it? When? Why? From what perspective or point of view? What did they know?

Examples of primary sources

diaries/journals, letters, interview, photographs, speeches, magazine and newspaper articles published at the time of the event, memoirs, government documents, artifacts (buttons, posters, flags, etc.)

Oral History

the collection and study of historical information using sound recordings of interviews with people having personal knowledge of past events.