Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Ancient History/Modern History Course Stage 6 Year 11 Historical investigation AH/MH/Prelim 44369 POO30478 Acknowledgments American History 102 Image Gallery at http://us.history.wise.edu./hist102/photos/html/1062.html (accessed 25 January 2000), IWW (International Workers of the World) cartoon by C Kesty, about 1900. Andrewes A (1980), The Greek Tyrants, Hutchinson University, London, p 77 Andrewes A, ‘Eunomia’, Classic Quarterly XXXII, p 102 Bradley P, photograph of Greek Temple of Neptune at Posidonia (Paestum) in southern Italy. Fitzhardinge L F (1980), The Spartans, Thames and Hudson, London, p 160 Forest W G (1968), A History of Sparta, Gerald Duckworth and Co, pp40, 60. Gettleman Marvin E et al (1985), Vietnam and America: A Documented History, Grove Press, pp 114-5; Fishel Wesley R, The New Leader 42, New York, 2 November 1959, pp 12-13. Gettleman Marvin E et al (1985), Vietnam and America: A Documented History, Grove Press, pp 162; Lyndon Johnson, joint declaration with Ngo Dinh Diem, 13 May 1961. Harpur James (1995), Wart Without end: Conflict in Indo-China (2nd ed). Longman, p 62; O’Ballance Edgar (9175), The Wars in Vietnam: Ian Allen Limited, London, p 53 Horowitz David (1971), From Yalta to Vietnam: American Foreign Policy in the Cold War, Hammondsworth,: Penguin Books, Middlesex, pp 151-2 Hoving Thomas (1978), The Untold Story, Hamish Hamilton, London, pp 128-29; Second coffin of Tutankhamun, photograph by Ashmolean Museum. Mercer D (ed-in-chief), (1993), Chronicle of the 20th Century, Jacques Legrand SA International Publications, p 132; Force-feeding of a suffragette, cartoon, 1909. Michell H (1964), Sparta, Cambridge University Press, London, pp 20, 22 Moore J M (9175), Aristotle and Xenophon on Democracy and Oligarchy, Chatto and Windus, p 75; Xenophon, The Politeia of the Spartans 1.1-2. Powell R (ed) Classical Sparta: Techniques behind her success, Routledge, London, p 152 (extract – 1 paragraph); Parker R (1989), Spartan Religion. Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek Munich (location); Sculpture, (in The Development of the Greek World, Part 1, Page 51, Figure 25). Stalin Josef and Ludwig Emil. Sutherland Ian (1993), Conflict in Indo-China (2nd ed), Thomas Nelson, South Melbourne, p27 (quote – 1 sentence); Perelman S J Talbert Richard (1988) On Sparta, Penguin Books, London, pp 12-14; Plutarch, The Life of Lycurgus 2–5. Taylor A J P (1969), The First World War An Illustrated History, Hamish Hamilton, London, p 29 (extract – 1 paragraph) Terraine John (1987), The First World War 1914–1918, London: Papermac, p 44; Binding Rudolph The Estate of Audbrey de Sélincourt, England, Penguin Books, 1954, p 65; Herodotus, The Histories 1.66. Wood John (1997), Vietnam and the Indochina Conflict (revised ed), Macmilan, p 34; Isaacs Arnold R, The Guardian, 2 August 1987. All reasonable efforts have been made to obtain copyright permissions. All claims will be settled in good faith. Writer Martin Mansfield Editor Beth Everitt and Judi Rossi Desktop publisher Kerrie Mann and Harold Roma Version date March 2005 Contents Module overview 3 Outcomes 3 Indicative time 4 Icons 4 Submitting work 4 Glossary 5 Historical Investigation: Overview 1 44369 P0030478 2 Historical Investigation: Overview 44369 P0030478 Module overview In this module you will be undertaking an historical investigation on a topic which interests you and which gives you the opportunity to develop, reinforce and demonstrate the many skills you are gaining as part of your studies in Ancient and/or Modern History. It will also be good preparation for the History Extension Course if you decide to do it. As you learn about the process of undertaking an historical investigation you will complete a number of activities involving important historical skills. These activities are taken from Ancient and Modern History modules which you have already studied or will study in the rest of your Preliminary and HSC Courses. The activities will not require you to have any background knowledge. Once you have undertaken your historical investigation you can present the findings in any form you like: oral and/or written and/or multimedia, including ICT (Information and Communication Technology). Outcomes At the end of this module you should be able to: x plan and conduct an historical investigation x comprehend archaeological and written sources x locate, select and organise relevant information from a variety of sources x use a variety of sources to develop a view about historical issues x analyse sources for their usefulness and reliability x identify different historical perspectives and interpretations evident in sources x formulate historical questions and hypotheses relevant to the investigation you are undertaking x use historical terms and concepts appropriately x synthesise information from a range of sources to develop and support an historical argument x present and communicate the findings of your historical investigation using appropriate and well-structured oral and/or written and/or multimedia forms including ICT. Historical Investigation: Overview 44369 P0030478 3 Indicative time This module should take approximately 25 hours: five hours to work through these notes and activities and 20 hours to undertake your historical investigation. Icons The following icons are used within this module. The meaning of each icon is written beside it. This icon means that you are being asked to do an activity. This icon is used to indicate an answer or suggested response to an activity. Self-check answers are usually found on the same page or the next page after the activity under the heading, ‘Did you answer?’. You will see this icon when you need to do an Exercise which is to be returned to your teacher. The Exercises are at the end of the Part. Submitting work You can submit the completed exercises to your teacher in a number of ways. You can: x drag the Word documents to your desktop, type into these, save and submit via email x write in the Word documents and post or fax to your teacher. 4 Historical Investigation: Overview 44369 P0030478 Glossary ACE acronym for After the Common Era, which is the nonreligious replacement for AD AD acronym for Anno Domini, The year of the Lord BC acronym for Before Christ BCE acronym for Before the Common Era, which is the non-religious replacement for BC or Before Christ constructions how history is built; history through the viewpoints of different historians greave armour for the leg, from knee to ankle, usually including front and back plates hoplite a heavily armed foot soldier of ancient Greece Historical Investigation: Overview 44369 P0030478 5 Contents The process of historical investigation Introduction 3 Getting started 3 Asking questions 5 Formulate an hypothesis 6 The building blocks of History Types of sources Locating, selecting and organising your information Using sources 7 13 21 21 What’s the main point? 22 Interpret 22 Making deductions 23 Analysing sources 23 Use a variety of sources 29 Gaps in evidence 29 Make educated guesses 30 When sources contradict 31 33 A range of views 33 Historians themselves 33 Same topic, different viewpoints 39 Reasons why views differ 42 Paraphrasing 43 Synthesis 43 Presenting your findings 44369 P0030478 7 Read carefully Using historians’ views Historical Investigation 3 45 Steps to follow 45 References 47 1 Conclusion 2 49 Exercises 51 Student self-evaluation 59 Bibliography 61 List of illustrations 63 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 The process of historical investigation Introduction All students studying Ancient and Modern History are required to conduct an historical investigation into a topic of their choice during the Preliminary Course. This historical investigation provides the opportunity for you to further develop your investigative, research and presentation skills. You can complete one main study or a number of smaller studies. Getting started Feel positive about undertaking an historical investigation. We’ll go through the process together so that you know exactly what you have to do. And hopefully you’ll enjoy it. The first thing to do is select the topic you are going to investigate. Choose something that you are interested in so that you enjoy the work, and almost certainly write better. Guidelines for choosing a topic The topic you choose can relate to any historical period. It can be to do with something you have studied, or will study, in the Ancient History or Modern History Preliminary Course, but it does not have to be from that area. You could, for example, investigate a topic related to your family history such as a relative’s involvement in one of the wars. However, you must make sure that your topic does not overlap, or duplicate significantly, any topic in the Preliminary Course, or in the Modern or Ancient History HSC Courses you will be doing later. Nor can it be any topic you might choose to study in the History Extension Course. In other words, you are allowed to do a topic which has something to do with a topic you have already studied this year or will study in future, but it must be different from the work you have done, or will do, on that topic. For example, you could investigate a person or an event in one of the wars you will be studying in Ancient or Modern History, but it must be a person or event that will only be covered briefly, or not at all, in your regular work. Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 3 And of course, your teacher will know what you will be studying in the rest of your Ancient or Modern History course and will be able to help you select a topic that will be suitable for you. In this module we will assume that you will be undertaking just one main investigation. However, you can do more than one if you prefer to do a number of shorter tasks rather than one long piece of work. Possible topics Possible topics you could investigate include: x a significant individual or group x a significant event x an aspect of society, including everyday life x a thematic study x an historical site x myths and legends x an historical debate x an historical concept x constructions of the ancient past or the modern world in various media. To help you choose a topic, you should read widely and think about anything that particularly grabbed your attention when you studied it through distance education or at school, or that you’ve read about or seen on TV. You could also surf the World Wide Web using a search engine such as Google or Yahoo. Don’t rush your decision – take a bit of time to work out which topic you will investigate. Hopefully you’re now in a position to choose your topic. On the line below, write the topic you have decided to investigate. ____________________________________________________________ 4 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 Asking questions Once you’ve selected your topic, you need to refine it, to work out exactly what it is that you want to investigate. You can’t investigate everything about it – that would take too long and you’d probably feel overwhelmed. Let’s have a look at the sorts of questions that historians usually ask about a particular topic. The questions in the left-hand column of the following table are questions that an historian might ask about an event and those in the right hand column might be asked about an individual. Questions asked by historians Questions about an event Questions about a person What happened? Who was the person and what was he/she like? When did the event happen? When did the main events in the person’s life happen? Where did it happen? Where did the main events in his/her life take place? Who was involved in the event? What did the person do? Why did it happen? Why did the person act in the way that he/she did? How did it affect things? How did the person’s actions affect other people and his/her society? These are just two examples of questions that an historian might ask. However, it is important to recognise that different types of questions may be relevant to different topics. You may decide that you only want to focus on one or on a couple of questions about your topic. If you decide to do this, it is best to concentrate on the more complex questions such as: x What were the main causes of a particular event? (In other words, Why did the event happen?) or x Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 What were the main effects of a particular person’s actions? (In other words, What happened as a result of the person’s actions?) 5 x Why was a particular event or person important or significant in the history of a particular country or period of time? The title of your investigation can be in the form of a question (for example, Why Did … Happen?) but if you prefer, you can put it in the form of a statement (for example, The Impact of … on His/Her Times). Formulate an hypothesis Sometimes historians also formulate an hypothesis about an area of interest. The hypothesis is a statement about a topic. Generally it is a possible explanation of what has happened. The next step then is to prove or disprove the hypothesis. An hypothesis guides the investigation or research. For example, an historian might start with the hypothesis that Akrotiri on the island of Thera (Santorini, in modern-day Greece) was the ancient city of Atlantis. The research to prove or disprove this hypothesis would involve checking through maps and ancient references to Atlantis and matching that information with what has been found during the archaeological investigations at the Akrotiri site. In Modern History, an historian might hypothesise that Adolf Hitler did not die in the bunker in 1945. Thorough investigation of the records and information from 1945 would prove or disprove the hypothesis. Go to Exercise 1. 6 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 The building blocks of History As you have already learnt both in your work for the School Certificate and in the Preliminary Course so far, the study of History is based on sources and evidence. However people sometimes get a bit confused about these two terms. Tick the statements which are correct in relation to sources and evidence. R Sources are items that contain evidence. R Evidence is not normally found in sources. R Sources and evidence are the same thing. R Evidence is the information that is contained in sources. Did you answer? Sources are items that contain evidence. Evidence is the information that is contained in sources. Types of sources There are many different kinds of sources such as photographs, buildings, maps, statues, books, inscriptions and articles. Some examples follow. In the space provided under each image, write the source shown. The Greek Temple of Neptune at Posidonia (Paestum) in Southern Italy ________________________________________________ Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 7 Proportion of colonies claimed by each power,1914 _______________________________________________ Greek wrestlers, statue in the Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek, Munich _______________________________________________ 8 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 Industrial workers of the world cartoon, about 1900 _______________________________________________ Tutankhamun’s sarcophagus (coffin) _______________________________________________ Sites of industrial and technological innovation, 1900 – 1914 ________________________________________________ Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 9 Did you answer? a building; a graph; a sculpture; a cartoon; a coffin; a map Now write as many other types of sources as you can think of. _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Did you answer? There is an almost endless list. Some possible sources are: 10 x a newspaper x a speech x an inscription on a clay tablet x a diary or journal x a photograph x a book x a piece of pottery x a TV program x a website x a stone knife x a poem x a timeline of events x a corpse x a painting x a play x a letter x DNA analysis x food remains. Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 Two ways in which historians often classify sources are: • primary and secondary sources • written and archaeological sources. Primary and secondary sources Next to each of the following definitions, write whether it is about primary or secondary sources. ____________ Sources which date from the period of time that you are studying. ____________ Sources which date from a period of time after the study period. Did you answer? Primary Sources which date from the period of time that you are studying. Secondary Sources which date from a period of time after the study period. Next to each of the following sources, write ‘P’ for a primary source and ‘S’ for a secondary source. ____________ an unexploded bomb from World War I found in a trench in 2004 ____________ a book by Dmitri Volkogonov published in 1996 and called Stalin: Triumph and Tragedy about the Russian dictator, Josef Stalin, who died in 1953 ____________ a TV program about the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb ____________ a description of the religious beliefs of a people called the Celts by the great Roman general, Julius Caesar, who fought against them from 58 to 50 BC ____________ a photograph of fighting in the Vietnam War Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 11 Did you answer? Primary an unexploded bomb from World War I found in a trench in 2004 Secondary a book by Dmitri Volkogonov published in 1995 and called Lenin: Life and Legacy about the founder of communist Russia, Vladimir Lenin, who died in 1924 Secondary a TV program about the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb Primary a description of the religious beliefs of a people called the Celts by the great Roman general, Julius Caesar, who fought against them from 58 to 50 BCE Primary a photograph of fighting in the Vietnam War It is important to remember that primary and secondary sources are not completely separate. In fact, the most useful secondary sources contain some primary sources. Some examples The following is an extract from a book published in 1989 about Ancient Sparta. The extract is a secondary source but it contains two primary sources. Highlight or underline the primary sources. What most impressed other Greeks, though, was the semi-divinity that hedged the Spartan kings. Herodotus looked to the barbarian lands for parallels, and Xenophon spoke of the ‘more than mortal honours’ of a Spartan royal funeral. The funerals indeed reveal that the laws of Lycurgus ‘honour the kings not as mortals but as heroes’ … [The] kings could trace their descent straight back step by step to Heracles and thus to Zeus himself. R Parker, ‘Spartan Religion’. Classical Sparta: Techniques behind her success, edited by A Powell, Routledge 1989, p 152. Did you answer? What most impressed other Greeks, though, was the semi-divinity that hedged the Spartan kings. Herodotus looked to the barbarian lands for parallels, and Xenophon spoke of the ‘more than mortal honours’ of a Spartan royal funeral. The funerals indeed reveal that the laws of Lycurgus ‘honour the kings not as mortals but as heroes’ … [The] kings could trace their descent straight back step by step to Heracles and thus to Zeus himself. 12 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 In this paragraph, the quotation marks show us the primary sources. This is a rather complicated example of a primary source within a secondary source. A simpler example is where an historian includes a written primary source or a photograph separately from what he/she has written. Written and archaeological sources The distinction between written and archaeological sources is particularly important for ancient historians. Written sources include books, articles and inscriptions. Archaeological sources are physical items which date from ancient times and in some cases have been excavated. They are sometimes referred to as ‘material remains’. Another term you might come across (if you haven’t already) is artefacts (sometimes spelt artifacts). This means objects made by human beings and normally it doesn’t include anything written. Interestingly, a source can be both a written source and an archaeological source at the same time. Can you think of an example of this? _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Did you answer? There are of course many possible examples but one is a piece of stone found in an Ancient Egyptian pyramid with hieroglyphics (writing) on it about the pharaoh (king) who was buried there. Locating, selecting and organising your information You have already decided what your topic is going to be and you have worked out what you want to find out about your topic. You should now be locating, selecting and organising information that is relevant to your topic. Start by collecting sources that have anything to do with your topic. Have a look in any history books that you have, and there is also your local library Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 13 and the World Wide Web. Your teacher will also be able to help you find some relevant sources. Try to find different types of sources – some primary, some secondary, and, if you are doing Ancient History, some written and some archaeological sources. Once you have found these sources, you will need to read through or look at them, selecting information that is relevant to the questions that you want to answer. If you can’t remember what those questions are, look back at what you wrote in Exercise 1. As you collect this information, you might feel swamped by the amount that you are finding. This is where organising your information is vital. One way is to start with one source and to take notes. Do this on an ‘A4’ piece of paper. If the source contains information about more than one aspect of your topic, have a different heading for each page. The headings can be in the form of a question or a statement. Leave plenty of space between each piece of information and, after each one, write in brackets all the details about the source, such as the name of the author and the page number. Then you can look at other sources and put information from those sources in the spaces that you have left on your piece(s) of paper, underneath related information from the first source you used. By doing this, you will build up your information about the topic, source by source. Using this method means that you have all the related information together. The next page shows what a page of notes might look like as you collect your information source by source. The information is from the module on World War 1. 14 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 Notes containing information from one source only: Life in the trenches Winter of 1917-18 – ‘it rained unceasingly’, snow, freezing cold, ‘howling, piercing wind’ (Australian Private Bert Bishop, p 123) When it rained, ground turned to mud which froze and ‘became like solid rock’ to depth of 60-90 centimetres (Bishop, p 123) Soldiers had no dugouts so slept leaning against trench sides (Bishop, p 123) Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 15 Notes after information from a second source has been added: Life in the trenches Winter of 1917-18 – ‘it rained unceasingly’, snow, freezing cold, ‘howling, piercing wind’ (Australian Private Bert Bishop, p 123) When it rained, ground turned to mud which froze and ‘became like solid rock’ to depth of 60-90 centimetres (Bishop, p 123) Mud ‘clings like glue’ – a horse disappeared in the mud – had to be pulled out with ropes – strained its internal organs – men commonly pulled one another out of mud (Australian Captain C E Gatliff in Gammage, p 186) Soldiers had no dugouts so slept leaning against trench sides (Bishop, p 123) 16 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 Notes after information from third and fourth sources has been added: Life in the trenches Winter of 1917-18 – ‘it rained unceasingly’, snow, freezing cold, ‘howling, piercing wind’ (Australian Private Bert Bishop, p 123) February 1916 – fine weather for 1 day and then rained for 3 nights – ‘blew great guns’ – snowed c. 7.5cms – rained again – sleet fell and froze as it fell – rained again – trenches fell in (British Lance Corporal Roland Mountfort in Brown, p 86) When it rained, ground turned to mud which froze and ‘became like solid rock’ to depth of 60–90 centimetres (Bishop, p 123) Mud ‘clings like glue’ – a horse disappeared in the mud – had to be pulled out with ropes – strained its internal organs – men commonly pulled one another out of mud (Australian Captain C E Gatliff in Gammage, p 186) Being shot at so dived in shell-hole – sucked down – firmly gripped round waist – grabbed leg of corpse but came off – pulled in rifles and troops threw in others – lay them flat and wriggled over them out of hole (British infantry officer Edwin Campion Vaughan, pp 223–4) Soldiers had no dugouts so slept leaning against trench sides (Bishop, p 123) Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 17 Once you have collected and organised all your information you might find it helpful to summarise what you have discovered about your topic. You could present this by using: • a simple table • a more complex mind map. An example of a table is shown below. Uniforms and weapons, Battle of Marathon, 490BC Persians Greeks Soft felt hats, turbans or pointed hats Bronze helmets Embroidered tunics over a coat of mail Corselet, plated with bronze plus a skirt of leather thongs Trousers Padded bronze greaves Light wicker shield Bronze shield Composite bows and arrows Short spears and daggers Long thrusting lance with iron spearhead and short sword Source: Greece: The Greek World 500–440 BC, Part 2, page 65 Views of Karl Marx (founder of Communism) about stages of human history 18 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 Mind map: 19th Century Russia, Part 3, Page 23 Complete Exercise 2. Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 19 20 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 Using sources Sources are the building blocks of History and to use them well you need to develop a number of skills. The simplest of these is comprehending a source. Here are some steps you can take when you first see a source. 1 Read or look at the source carefully. 2 Ask yourself: What is this source about? What is this source telling me? In particular, you should try to work out what the main point is (in other words, the most important idea). Note that the main point may act as a summary of all the information contained in the source. 3 Look for some specific details or features which help you answer questions such as Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? This means that you should look for things like names of people and places, dates, events, and the causes and effects of events. Read carefully The historian, A J P Taylor, has written the following about why trench warfare in World War I made it very difficult for either side to force the other back. One man with a machine gun, protected by mounds of earth, was more powerful than advancing masses … The war of movement ended when men dug themselves in. They could be dislodged only by massive bombardment and the accumulation of reserves – warnings which always gave the other side time to bring up reinforcements … The opposing lines congealed, grew solid. The generals on both sides stared at these lines impotently and without understanding. They went on staring for nearly four years. Taylor A J P, (1969), The First World War – An Illustrated History, Hamish Hamilton, London, p 29. Taylor has included a sentence in this source that summarises the information that is contained in the source. Highlight or underline this sentence. Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 21 Did you answer? One man with a machine gun, protected by mounds of earth, was more powerful than advancing masses … What’s the main point? In many sources the main point is in the first sentence. However, don’t assume that it is always going to be there. It may be elsewhere in the paragraph. Also don’t assume that the writer of the source has actually stated the main point – it may be something that you have to work out for yourself. Interpret Sometimes understanding a source is very straightforward but at other times it might require a bit of interpretation – working out the meaning of part of the source from what is in the rest of the source, or working out the attitude of the writer or creator of a source towards the person or the event that the source is about. A United States Senator described the bombing of North Vietnam ordered by the American President Richard Nixon around Christmas 1972 as ‘the most murderous aerial bombardment in the history of the world’. Do you think the Senator was in favour of or against the US bombing campaign? What word(s) in the source tell(s) you that? _____________________________ Did you answer? against; murderous 22 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 Making deductions Understanding a source might also involve some deduction. This is where the source doesn’t actually say something but you can make an educated guess about it, using clues that are in the source as well as any other knowledge you have about the topic. Let’s look at an example. The oldest city in the world is Jericho in Palestine in the Middle East. It existed as early as 8000 BC. Archaeologists have discovered various items in Jericho including: x sickle blades made of a sharp stone called flint x millstones which could be used for crushing and grinding things x stone containers for storing things. What do you think an historian could deduce about the people of Jericho in ancient times after viewing these items? _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Did you answer? The people of ancient Jericho probably had crops of grain such as wheat and barley which they harvested, stored and used as food. Analysing sources A more complex skill in using sources is analysing the source. Facts or opinions? One aspect of this is distinguishing between facts and opinions. A fact is a statement which is accepted by people as true using all the available evidence. An opinion is a personal judgement for which there is some supporting evidence but about which other people may have a different viewpoint. Let’s look at an example of the difference between facts and opinions. Next to each of the statements in the table below, write whether you think it is a fact (F) or an opinion (O). Next to each one, also write Who, What, When, Where, Why or How to indicate the type of question that has been asked. You should use each of these words once only. One has been done for you. Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 23 Fact or opinion? Type of question Hannibal was a general from the North African city of Carthage in ancient times. The city of Saguntum is in Spain. Hannibal invaded Italy by marching his huge army with all its equipment, including elephants, across the Alps. Hannibal attacked Saguntum because he wanted to start a war with Rome to get revenge on the Romans who had defeated his father some years earlier. Saguntum was friendly with Rome, unlike the rest of Spain which was under Carthaginian control. Hannibal fought against Rome from 218 to 201 BC. Did you answer? Fact or opinion? Type of question F Who Hannibal was a general from the North African city of Carthage in ancient times. F Where The city of Saguntum is in Spain. F How Hannibal invaded Italy by marching his huge army with all its equipment, including elephants, across the Alps. O Why Hannibal attacked Saguntum because he wanted to start a war with Rome to get revenge on the Romans who had defeated his father some years earlier. F What Saguntum was friendly with Rome, unlike the rest of Spain which was under Carthaginian control. F When Hannibal fought against Rome from 218 to 201 BC. Information about why something happened (in other words, the causes of an event) is probably the type of historical information which is most likely to be someone’s opinion rather than a fact. It is an issue about which there can be a great deal of interpretation leading to different people having different viewpoints. Usefulness and reliability Another aspect of analysing a source is considering how useful and reliable it is. Useful means that a source contains evidence that helps us learn about and understand the topic or issue we are examining, and reliable means that the evidence which a source contains can be believed and trusted. 24 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 In making a judgment about the usefulness and reliability of a source, an historian needs to consider a number of issues. These include: (a) the origin of the source (for example, who wrote it, when it was drawn, where the historian found the information) (b) the nature of the source (for example, is it a primary or secondary source, is it the whole of a document or simply an extract from it?) (c) the content of the source (that is, what evidence or information is contained in the source, how relevant the evidence is to the topic or issue you are examining) (d) the motive of the source (why it was written, said or drawn) (e) the audience (who was intended to read, hear or see it) (f) does the source contain bias or exaggeration? (We will look at this in more detail later.) The following is a cartoon drawn in 1909 showing a suffragette in Great Britain being force-fed. Suffragettes were women who, towards the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century, campaigned for women to be given the right to vote. Look carefully at the cartoon and then answer the question which follows. Cartoon showing force-feeding of a suffragette, 1909 Source: Mercer D (ed-in-chief), (1993), Chronicle of the 20th Century, Jacques Legrand SA International Publications, p 132 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 25 In which of the following ways do you think the cartoon is useful? There may be more than one correct answer. R It tells us that in 1909 suffragettes were being force-fed. R It tells us that the Liberal Party was in government in 1909. R It tells us that there were always two men and four women involved in force-feeding the suffragettes. R It tells us what supporters of the suffragettes thought about the actions of the government. R It tells us why the government had a policy of force-feeding the suffragettes. R It was drawn at the time and therefore gives us a contemporary view of events. Did you answer? It tells us that in 1909 suffragettes were being force-fed. It tells us that the Liberal Party was in government in 1909. It tells us what supporters of the suffragettes thought about the actions of the government. It was drawn at the time and therefore gives us a contemporary view of events. Next to each statement below put a tick if it gives a reason why the cartoon is a reliable source. Put a cross if the statement gives a reason why the source is not reliable. 26 R It contains some correct factual information, for example it tells us that suffragettes were force-fed in 1909 and that government at the time was by the Liberal Party. R It is biased and therefore what it shows may not be fully accurate. R It is trying to create sympathy for the suffragettes and it may therefore be exaggerated, making the government’s actions seem worse than they really were. R It was clearly drawn by a suffragette or by a supporter of the suffragettes so it gives us an accurate view of what the suffragettes thought about the actions of the government. R It was drawn at the time and therefore tells us what some people were thinking at the time. Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 Did you answer? It contains some correct factual information, for example it tells us that suffragettes were force-fed in 1909 and that government at the time was by the Liberal Party. It is biased and therefore what it shows may not be fully accurate. It is trying to create sympathy for the suffragettes and it may therefore be exaggerated, making the government’s actions seem worse than they really were. It was clearly drawn by a suffragette or by a supporter of the suffragettes so it gives us an accurate view of what the suffragettes thought about the actions of the government. It was drawn at the time and therefore tells us what some people were thinking at the time. This exercise shows that a source can be partly useful and partly unreliable at the same time. Bias and exaggeration Bias and exaggeration can affect the usefulness and reliability of a source. Exaggeration means when someone speaks or writes about something and makes it sound bigger and better, or smaller and worse, than it really is. Bias happens when someone has a viewpoint or an attitude which prevents them from considering or judging a particular matter fairly. They tend to speak or write about that specific subject in either a very positive or a very negative way, for example by using exaggeration or emotive language, or by only giving one side of the matter and leaving out any evidence that goes against their viewpoint. An example Bao Dai was the Emperor of Vietnam from 1925 to 1945. However, he had virtually no power because during that period first the French and later the Japanese, were in control of Vietnam. Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 27 The following is a description of Bao Dai by the writer S J Perelman, who met him in 1946. Bao Dai, a short, slippery-looking customer rather on the pudgy side and freshly dipped in Crisco [vegetable oil] wore a fixed, oily grin that was vaguely reptilian. Perelman S J cited in Sutherland I (1993), Conflict in Indo-China, 2nd edition, Thomas Nelson, South Melbourne, p 27. Scott, Indochina to 1954, Part 4, Melbourne, 1993, pp 53–54 Which of the following do you think is the best description of Perelman’s attitude towards Bao Dai? (a) positive (b) negative (c) neutral. Underline or highlight the three words in the source that you think best indicate this attitude. Which of the following adjectives do you think best describes what Perelman thought Bao Dai was like? (a) fat (b) happy (c) nasty (d) untrustworthy. Did you answer? (b) negative slippery-looking, oily, reptilian (d) untrustworthy Perelman had certain opinions, beliefs or values that prevented him from writing about Bao Dai in a fair and objective way. Bias should cause us to have doubts about the usefulness and reliability of a source. Tick the actions you agree with to decide if Perelman’s description of Bao Dai was accurate. 28 R Find out how long Perelman spent with Bao Dai. R Find out the motive, or purpose, of what Perelman wrote. R Find out the audience for the source, ie who is likely to read it. Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 R Find out information about Bao Dai in other primary and secondary sources. R Find examples of what Bao Dai himself said or wrote. R All of the above. Use a variety of sources It is important to remember when you are considering the usefulness and reliability of sources that while they may be accurate and reliable descriptions of certain situations, events and people’s experiences, they are not necessarily typical. Other situations, events and experiences may have been quite different. This is why it is vital that you find as many and as wide a variety of sources about your topic as possible. Gaps in evidence A particular problem can arise when there are what are called ‘gaps in the evidence’. For example, if you are trying to find out about the experiences of soldiers in a particular war, and most or all the sources are about the soldiers on one side of the conflict only, there is clearly a very significant gap in the evidence. The experiences of the soldiers on the other side of the conflict may have been very different from the experiences of the soldiers in the sources that you have. In the case of the Persian Wars in ancient times, most of the sources we have are Greek, and in particular the Athenian perspective rather than the Persian viewpoint. What effect do you think ‘gaps in the evidence’ have on the usefulness and reliability of sources? Tick the answer you agree with. R These gaps have no effect on the usefulness and reliability of sources because sources can still contain useful and reliable evidence even if they deal with only one aspect of a topic. R These gaps reduce the usefulness and reliability of sources. They mean that an historian may gain a limited or false knowledge and understanding of a particular topic because she or he finds out about only one aspect of it. R These gaps increase the usefulness and reliability of sources because they mean there is less information for the historian to deal with and the information is less complicated. Therefore when the historians include the sources in their books, they are more likely to use them with accuracy and without confusion. Historical Investigation 29 44369 P0030478 Did you answer? These gaps reduce the usefulness and reliability of sources. They mean that an historian may gain a limited or false knowledge and understanding of a particular topic because she or he finds out about only one aspect of it. Make educated guesses When there are gaps in the evidence, you can sometimes fill them in by making educated guesses based on what you already know about the topic. This is necessary, particularly in Ancient History because there may be a limited amount of primary source evidence available on the topic you are investigating. Be aware of hindsight Another thing you need to be careful about, especially when using secondary sources, is that people use ‘hindsight’. This means that they look back at events which happened a long time before. Knowing this can be helpful because it enables people to be less emotionally involved in the events they are writing about and it allows them to gather more evidence about the subject, knowing what actually happened after the events they are describing. However, they can make the assumption that people know, or should have known, what the results of their actions were going to be. This may be a completely unjustified assumption. An example of this is that many people say that the leaders of Great Britain and France should have done more to stop Adolf Hitler expanding German power into other parts of Europe before World War II. These people claim that the leaders should have known that Hitler was lying when he said that all he was trying to do was to unite the whole of the German people into one country. Looking back with hindsight, we now know that he was not telling the truth and that he actually continued to expand German territory, going into countries where there were few or no Germans. However, it may be unfair to assume that the leaders at that time should have known that he was going to do that. The technique you have just read about for assessing the usefulness and reliability of a source can also be used to make a judgement about which source is the more reliable if you find two sources that contradict each other. 30 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 When sources contradict Sometimes it is not easy to be sure that a source is reliable. There are various things you can do to decide. They include: x finding other sources on the same topic or issue to see whether they confirm or contradict the information x thinking as to whether the facts you already know about the topic support or contradict the information in the source x using your own commonsense and logic x reading the source very carefully, looking for words such as: – – – – – – it’s possible that some experts believe it appears that the most likely explanation is that perhaps there may have been. Do you think that words such as these ones in a source make it more or less reliable? Give reasons for your answer. _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Did you answer? Less reliable because they make it clear that the writer isn’t really certain about what happened and may in fact just be guessing without any real evidence. Complete Exercise 3. Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 31 32 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 Using historians’ views Much of the evidence in your historical investigation will come from historians. In Modern History, the writings of historians are all secondary sources. However in Ancient History, some of the writings of historians are secondary sources written by people in modern times, while others such as the writings of Thucydides and Plutarch, who lived in ancient times, are generally classified as primary sources. In the notes that follow, these ancient writers will be referred to as historians but note that some people think that they shouldn’t be regarded as proper historians in the way that we use the term today. A range of views As part of your investigation, you should try to find as many writings as possible by historians in relation to your topic. These writings can be useful, not only because they provide you with a lot of historical information but because you can also examine the different viewpoints and interpretations they have about your topic. Historians themselves But before you start looking at what historians have to say about your topic, try to find out as much as you can about the historians themselves. Below is some information about a number of the historians who wrote in ancient times about the Greek city-states Athens and Sparta, including about the Peloponnesian War between the two cities from 431 to 404 BC. Highlight or underline any information in the column on ‘Details of life and career’ which makes you think that the information recorded by each of the writers is likely to be reliable. Highlight or underline using a different colour any information in the column on ‘Details of life and career’ which makes you think that the information recorded by each of the writers may not be totally reliable. Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 33 Ancient Historians Where the historian came from Period in which historian lived Details of life and career Herodotus Halicarnassus in southern Asia Minor 5th century BC Travelled widely around the Mediterranean world before settling in Athens after 454 BC. Wrote about the conflicts between the Greeks and Persians. He wrote at a time when relations between Sparta and Athens were tense. Was pro-Athenian in his work although not openly anti-Spartan. He collected material from wherever he could and simply repeated stories told to him by all sorts of people. Visited Sparta and was told tales and about the Spartan royal houses by all his Spartan hosts. Thucydides Athens 5th century BC Lived and wrote at a time, late in the 5th century BCE, when Athens and Sparta were at war and all Greece was polarised on one side or the other. He was an Athenian general but was exiled for twenty years, during which time he wrote his account of the war between Athens and Sparta. While in exile, he was able to get information from both sides and he tried to be objective. However, he found the Spartans secretive and uncommunicative and because of this he had to rely on Sparta’s allies for much of his information. All the Spartans he spoke to gave him the same information as if it were the accepted ‘party line’. He was used to the individuality and the freedom of speech of Athens. 34 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 Ancient Historians Where the historian came from Period in which historian lived Details of life and career Xenophon Athens 4th century BC As a young man, Xenophon witnessed the downfall of Athens at the end of the Peloponnesian War. He joined a Greek army in Asia Minor and fought under several Spartan generals. He became friendly with the Spartan king Agesilaus with whom he returned to Greece in 394 BC. He was exiled from Athens, welcomed by eminent Spartans and given a country estate in the north-west Peloponnese. He wrote the Hellenica (the last phase of the Peloponnesian War), Agesilaus (about the Spartan king) and a pamphlet called the Constitution of the Spartans. This pamphlet gave a very simplified account of Spartan social, educational and military practices and was intended to show the other Greeks that Spartan supremacy was inevitable. It may also have been an attempt to justify his own defection from Athens. Xenophon was the last writer to have known some of the old ways of Sparta. However, by promoting the glories and achievements of the Sparta he had known, he began the myth relating to that culture, which later writers continued. Plato Athens 4th century BC Plato was a philosopher who lived in the period after Sparta’s victory in the Peloponnesian War with Athens. He was sympathetic with, and fascinated by, the system of government in Sparta. Plato convinced himself that the Spartans’ victory in the Peloponnesian War must have been due to their discipline, austerity and authoritarianism. He used much of the Spartan system as the basis of his work on the ideal state, which he called The Republic. Plato, like Xenophon, was responsible for continuing the myth about Sparta. Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 35 Ancient Historians Where the historian came from Period in which historian lived Details of life and career Aristotle Athens First half of the 4th century BC Aristotle was a philosopher who, like Plato, was intrigued by Sparta’s political arrangements. However, he treated the Spartan system with a mixture of deep respect and severe criticism. At the time he lived, Sparta was changing and declining. He analysed the reasons for this decline and tended to exaggerate those features of Spartan life which he felt were responsible for it. Unfortunately the vivid picture he painted of the complete breakdown of Spartan society in his own time has survived only in insignificant fragments. His work was probably used by Plutarch as one of his sources. Plutarch Chaeronea in Greece 1st and 2nd centuries AD Plutarch was responsible for the most extensive writings on Sparta available to modern historians. He used a variety of earlier sources, good, bad and indifferent, and tried to make sense out of them. He picked up the so-called myth of Sparta promoted by the early Spartans themselves and by Xenophon and Plato. Because of his readability, and the lack of other sources, Plutarch (with Xenophon) has been the principal source for the transmission of the Spartan myth to this day. Pausanias 2nd century AD Pausanias was a traveller/writer who lived and wrote half a century after Plutarch. In his Guide to Greece, he recorded what he saw of Sparta in his own day. He described the main points of interest, the topography, buildings, statues and monuments that he saw and tells whatever he could discover about their history and the traditions associated with them. He seems to have been an honest recorder, and his accounts of Laconia provide a useful supplement to the surviving archaeological record. 36 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 Did you answer? The information which is bolded suggests that what the writer recorded is likely to be reliable. The information which is in italics suggests that what the writer recorded may not be totally reliable. The ordinary print is factual information. Ancient Historians Where the historian came from Period in which historian lived Details of life and career Herodotus Halicarnassus in southern Asia Minor 5th century BC Travelled widely around the Mediterranean world before settling in Athens after 454 BC. Wrote about the conflicts between the Greeks and Persians. He wrote at a time when relations between Sparta and Athens were tense. Was pro-Athenian in his work although not openly anti-Spartan. He collected material from wherever he could and simply repeated stories told to him by all sorts of people. Visited Sparta and was told tales and about the Spartan royal houses by all his Spartan hosts. Thucydides Athens 5th century BC Lived and wrote at a time, late in the 5th century BC, when Athens and Sparta were at war and all Greece was polarised on one side or the other. He was an Athenian general but was exiled for twenty years during which time he wrote his account of the war between Athens and Sparta. While in exile he was able to get information from both sides and he tried to be objective. However, he found the Spartans secretive and uncommunicative and so had to rely on Sparta’s allies for much of his information. All the Spartans he spoke to gave him the same information as if it were the accepted ‘party line’. He was used to the individuality and the freedom of speech of Athens Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 37 Xenophon Athens 4th century BC As a young man, Xenophon witnessed the downfall of Athens at the end of the Peloponnesian War. He joined a Greek army in Asia Minor and fought under several Spartan generals. He became friendly with the Spartan king Agesilaus with whom he returned to Greece in 394 BC. He was exiled from Athens, welcomed by eminent Spartans and given a country estate in the north-west Peloponnese. He wrote the Hellenica (the last phase of the Peloponnesian War), Agesilaus (about the Spartan king) and a pamphlet called the Constitution of the Spartans. This pamphlet gave a very simplified account of Spartan social, educational and military practices and was intended to show the other Greeks that Spartan supremacy was inevitable. It may also have been an attempt to justify his own defection from Athens. Xenophon was the last writer to have known some of the old ways of Sparta. However, by promoting the glories and achievements of the Sparta he had known, he began the myth relating to that culture, which later writers continued. Plato Athens 4th century BC Plato was a philosopher who lived in the period after Sparta’s victory in the Peloponnesian War with Athens. He was sympathetic with, and fascinated by, the system of government in Sparta. Plato convinced himself that the Spartans’ victory in the Peloponnesian War must have been due to their discipline, austerity and authoritarianism. He used much of the Spartan system as the basis of his work on the ideal state, which he called The Republic. Plato, like Xenophon, was responsible for continuing the myth about Sparta. Aristotle Athens First half of the 4th century BC Aristotle was a philosopher who, like Plato, was intrigued by Sparta’s political arrangements. However, he treated the Spartan system with a mixture of deep respect and severe criticism. At the time he lived, Sparta was changing and declining. He analysed the reasons for this decline and tended to exaggerate those features of Spartan life which he felt were responsible for it. Unfortunately the vivid picture he painted of the 38 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 complete breakdown of Spartan society in his own time has survived only in insignificant fragments. His work was probably used by Plutarch as one of his sources. Plutarch Chaeronea in Greece 1st and 2nd centuries AD Plutarch was responsible for the most extensive writings on Sparta available to modern historians. He used a variety of earlier sources, good, bad and indifferent, and tried to make sense out of them. He picked up the so-called myth of Sparta which had been promoted by the early Spartans themselves and by Xenophon and Plato. Because of his readability, and the lack of other sources, Plutarch (with Xenophon) has been the principal source for the transmission of the Spartan myth to this day. Pausanias 2nd century AD Pausanias was a traveller/writer who lived and wrote half a century after Plutarch. In his Guide to Greece, he recorded what he saw of Sparta in his own day. He described the main points of interest, the topography, buildings, statues and monuments that he saw and tells whatever he could discover about their history and the traditions associated with them. He seems to have been an honest recorder, and his accounts of Laconia provide a useful supplement to the surviving archaeological record. Same topic, different viewpoints As mentioned above, historians often have different viewpoints about the same topic. As an example of this, historians can’t even agree whether or not the ancient Spartan, Lycurgus, was a real person. Lycurgus Read the following sources and, in the table that follows, indicate whether each historian believes that Lycurgus ‘definitely lived’, ‘definitely did not live’, ‘probably lived’ or ‘probably did not live’. Herodotus (5th century BC) Lycurgus, a distinguished Spartan, visited the Delphic Oracle … There is a story that the Priestess … revealed to him the system of government which obtains at Sparta today, but the Lacedaemonians [Spartans] themselves say that Lycurgus brought it from Crete after he became guardian of his nephew Leobotas, king of Sparta, and acted as his regent; for it is a fact that as soon as he received his appointment he made Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 39 fundamental changes in the laws, and took great care that the new ones were not broken … By these changes Spartan government was put upon a sound basis, and when Lycurgus died a temple was built in his honour, and he is still regarded with profound reverence. Source: Herodotus, The Histories. I.66, the Estate of Aubrey de Sélincourt, London: Penguin Books, 1954, p 65 Xenophon (5th–4th centuries BC) I was reflecting one day on the fact that, although Sparta has one of the smallest populations, it has become the most powerful and famous of all the Greek states, and I wondered how this could have come about. However, when I examined the way of life of the Spartiates, I ceased to be surprised. None the less I do admire Lycurgus, the man who established the laws under which they flourished; I consider him a remarkably wise man. Not merely did he not imitate other states, but he adopted opposite institutions to the majority with outstanding results. Source: Xenophon, The Politicia of the Spartans 1.1–2 cited in J M Moore (1975), Aristotle and Xenophon on Democracy and Oligarchy, London: Chatto and Windus, p 75. Plutarch (1st and 2nd centuries BC) Of the lawgiver, Lycurgus absolutely nothing can be said that is not controversial, either about his birth, his travels or his death … For a long period Sparta was gripped by lawlessness and disorder. It was a consequence of this that Lycurgus’ father, too, met his death whilst king. He died from being struck by a chef’s cleaver in the course of putting a stop to some brawl, and left his throne to his elder son Polydektes. When Polydektes also died not long after, everyone reckoned that Lycurgus should become king. And king he was, until it became obvious that his brother’s widow was pregnant … He was king then for eight months altogether … he decided to avoid suspicion by going abroad and travelling around until his nephew should come of age and and have a son to succeed him to the throne … So he set out and came first to Crete … From Crete Lycurgus sailed to Asia … The Spartans missed Lycurgus throughout his absence and often summoned him back … So when Lycurgus did return to a populace in this kind of mood, his immediate intention was to sweep away the existing order and to make a complete change of constitution. Source: Plutarch, ‘The Life of Lycurgus 2–5’ cited in R Talbert (1988) On Sparta, London: Penguin Books, pp 12–14. L F Fitzhardinge … it is well to admit that there is no good evidence for Lycurgus as a real person … He was probably a primitive local god with a shrine by the Eurotas who was adopted by the Spartan hoplites some time after the Messenian war … L F Fitzhardinge, (1980), The Spartans, London: Thames and Hudson, 1980, p 160. 40 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 H Michell … The very existence of Lycurgus is strongly open to doubt. There is some evidence to suggest that he was regarded as a god. Herodotus says that when he went to Delphi the priestess greeted him as divine. We hear of several gods or heroes of divine origin called Lycurgus in various countries. … Certainly in Laconia he was honoured with a shrine. We cannot definitely confirm his existence, but equally we cannot deny it, and the balance of probability is on Lycurgus having actually lived and done his work for the benefit of Sparta. Source: H Michell (1964), Sparta, London: Cambridge University Press, pp 20, 22 W G Forrest Lykourgos [Lycurgus] himself is a shadowy, possibly even a mythological figure … … by the fifth century he did receive quasi-divine honours in Sparta, something, it is said, the Greeks did not accord to mortals. But the Spartans themselves believed that they were according these honours to a mortal and I prefer to agree with them. Source: W G Forrest (1968), A History of Sparta, Gerald Duckworth and Co, pp 40, 60. A Andrewes … if there was a real Lycurgus we know nothing of him. Source: A Andrewes, 1980, The Greek Tyrants, (A Andrewes, London, Hutchinson University, 1956, 1974, p 77 The perpetuation of his name was one of the most successful frauds in history. (A Andrewes, ‘Eunomia’, Classical Quarterly XXXII, p 102 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 41 Put an X in the box that best describes each historian’s viewpoint about Lycurgus. View of Lycurgus Historian Definitely lived Probably lived Probably did not live Definitely did not live Herodotus Xenophon Plutarch LF Fitzhardinge H Michell WG Forrest A Andrewes Did you answer? Name of historian View about Lycurgus Herodotus Definitely lived Xenophon Definitely lived Plutarch Definitely lived L F Fitzhardinge Probably did not live H Michell Probably lived W G Forrest Probably lived A Andrewes Definitely did not live Reasons why views differ There are a number of reasons why the views of historians differ on the same topic. They include: x their personal background x their personal experiences x their personal beliefs, values and political views x the sources, in particular the primary sources, that they have used to gather information, and how they interpreted those sources x when they wrote their books x new information may have come to light since the different historians wrote their views the purpose (motive) of the historian’s writing the target audience of their writing. x x 42 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 You will notice that these factors are similar to the ones you have already learnt about for assessing the usefulness and reliability of sources. You should consider all of these issues when you are trying to decide which historians’ views are more likely to be correct. You should also think about how qualified and experienced each one is as an historian. A person’s background, experiences, beliefs, values and political views are sometimes described as forming his or her perspective from which they view and interpret historical events. A communist historian in Vietnam, for example, is likely to be critical of the decision of the United States in the 1960s to send troops to fight in the Vietnam War. What are the two factors that are likely to cause this historian to have a critical view about American involvement in the Vietnam War? _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Did you answer? His/her nationality (Vietnamese) and political beliefs (communist) Paraphrasing In your presentation of the findings of your investigation, you should refer to the perspectives and interpretations that different historians have in relationship to your topic. You should include some actual quotes from the historians (and from primary sources also) as well as also putting some of their ideas in your own words. This is called paraphrasing. The actual quotes you include should be a maximum of four or five lines. Synthesis The following show examples of how you might refer to the views of historians which you are paraphrasing. They also show how you can synthesise (put together) information from different historians: 1 The historian David Thomson has argued that ……, whereas another historian Marc Ferro has suggested that …… 2 In his book …, Plutarch states that …… This view is supported by Thucydides who writes that …… Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 43 3 The historians J M Cook and M C Miller both describe …… as …… 4 According to the ancient writer Herodotus, …… On the other hand, the modern historian R Parker believes that …… In which of these examples (1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th) do the two historians support each other and in which do they contradict each other? ____________ support each other ____________ contradict each other Did you answer? 2 and 3 support each other. 1 and 4 contradict each other. Complete Exercise 4. 44 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 Presenting your findings After you have done all your investigating – finding and analysing a range of both primary and secondary sources and organising the evidence contained in these sources, etc – it is time to present the findings of your investigation. Let’s look at the various steps involved in doing that – you’ll notice that it’s exactly the same process as when you are planning an extended response or the longer parts of a structured response – it’s just on a larger scale. We’ll use an example of the Eureka Stockade. It was an armed rebellion by goldminers at Ballarat, Victoria in 1854. Steps to follow 1 Decide what is going to be your overall viewpoint or interpretation about your topic. Remember though that you can only make this decision once you have a thorough knowledge and understanding of the topic and especially of the evidence contained in the sources you have found. For the Eureka Stockade, your overall viewpoint could be: The Eureka Stockade was a very important event in Australian history. While it began as a result of the grievances of miners on one goldfield in Victoria, it had a significant impact on the political and social life of the whole of Australia. It encouraged moves towards Australian independence from Britain, and the introduction of democracy in Australia. 2 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 Work out what evidence you will use to support your overall viewpoint or interpretation. This evidence could include the opinions that other people, especially historians, have had about your topic. Don’t worry if you find that there is a wide range of different views. In fact, it would be good to find and include a variety of perspectives on your topic because it gives you the opportunity to analyse the various interpretations, and to point out the strengths and weaknesses of each. You may find that you end up agreeing with one of these viewpoints, or you may decide that several of them have some validity, or you may come up with your own opinion which is quite different from everything else that you have read. 45 3 Decide how you are going to organise the evidence that you will be using in your presentation. There will be two stages: (a) the broad arguments you are going to present in support of your interpretation. Each of these will form the basis of a different section of your presentation. Note that while you don’t use headings in an extended or a structured response, it is permissible to do that in an historical investigation like this one. For our example, your broad arguments could include information about: – the causes of the Eureka Stockade – the main demands of the miners – the events leading up to the building of the Eureka Stockade – the events during and after the attack by soldiers on the stockade on 3 December 1854 – the effects of the Eureka Stockade. (b) the specific details you are going to include to support these broad arguments – details such as explanations or qualifications of the arguments, and examples, quotations or statistics that support them. In our example, you could include specific details such as: – the causes of the Eureka Stockade: the grievances of the goldminers including the cost of mining licences, and the fact that they had no political representation – the main demands of the miners: the right of all adult males to vote, payment of members of Parliament, and no property qualifications for members of Parliament; note also that the miners created a new Australian flag: the Southern Cross on a blue background – the events leading up to the building of the Eureka Stockade: the murder of a miner named James Scobie and the formation of the Ballarat Reform League – the events during and after the attack by soldiers on the stockade: the deaths of about 30 miners and five soldiers, and the trial of the leaders of the Eureka Stockade – in relation to the effects of the Eureka Stockade: the introduction of the miner’s rights which included the right to vote, and the beginnings of the White Australia Policy – the views of historians: some see the Eureka Stockade as a misguided venture which achieved very little, while others view it as a revolutionary protest in favour of democracy and independence and against oppression by the Victorian colonial government and Great Britain. 46 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 4 Make sure that you don’t spend too much of your presentation just describing the events relating to your topic. Try to focus mainly on issues such as the causes and effects of your topic. Think about how you will present your findings. It could be in written or oral or multimedia form, or a combination of these. You could include a video or a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, a tape recording or a series of photographs. It is up to you to decide how you can best demonstrate what you have found out while undertaking your investigation. The length of your presentation will vary according to what form it is in. If it is a written piece, it should be around 2000 words with possibly some illustrations as well. 5 Include some quotes from both primary and secondary sources in your presentation. Start each quote on a new line which should be indented, and leave a space above and below the quote. References In addition, make proper references to the sources. If you are including a quote by the author of a book, you need to include: x the author’s surname x author’s first name or initials x year in which the book was published (within brackets)– you can normally find this on the page after the title page of the book x name of the book (put it in italics) x name of the publisher of the book – normally found at the bottom of the title page x page number in the book where the source is located concluding with a full stop. An example of this is: L F Fitzhardinge (1980), The Spartans, Thames and Hudson, p 160. If you are including a quote from a source (generally a primary source) that is in another source (generally a secondary source), it should be referenced in the following way, for example: O’Ballance Edgar, (1975) The Wars in Vietnam, Ian Allen Limited, p 53 cited in Harpur James (1995), War Without End: Conflict in Indo-China (2nd edn), Longman, p 62. Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 47 In the example above, what is the name of the primary source? _____________________________________________ Who wrote the secondary source? _____________________ When was the primary source published? ______ On what page in the secondary source can the primary source be found? ________ Did you answer? The Wars in Vietnam James Harpur 1975 page 62 References for websites are the same as for sources in books, except that you put the date when the site was accessed instead of the name of the publisher and the page number. The following example is of a primary source (a cartoon) which was found on a website: American History 102 Image Gallery: IWW Cartoon at http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/photos/html/1062.html (accessed 25 January 2000) Include a bibliography in your presentation. The bibliography should contain the details about all the sources that you have used. The details for each source should be the same as in the references you have included in the rest of your presentation except that the page number is replaced by the place where the publisher is located. This can normally be found at the bottom of the title page of the book or on the following page. If more than one place is mentioned, just put down the first one. An example of an entry in a bibliography is: Moore J M,(1975) Aristotle and Xenophon on Democracy and Oligarchy, London: Chatto and Windus. In this example, what is the name of the publisher of the book and where was the book published? ___________________________________ 48 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 Did you answer? Chatto and Windus; London Conclusion As you go through this investigation, seek advice and assistance from your teacher. A big task such as this one can be a bit daunting, so make sure you get all the help you need. Hopefully the explanations given here have also given you confidence about doing the investigation. Once you have found and organised all the evidence that you need to do this investigation, complete Exercise 5. Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 49 50 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 Exercises Name: _____________________ Exercise 1—Getting started On the line below, write down the general topic you are going to investigate. _________________________________________________________________________ Starting with each of the key words listed below, write one question about your chosen topic. If some of these key words are not relevant to your topic, make up your own. (a) Who _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ (b) What _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ (c) When _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ (d) Where _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ (e) Why _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 51 (f) How _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ If you have decided to focus on just one or on a couple of questions about your topic, highlight or underline the key words of those questions above. On the line below, write the title of your investigation. Remember that your title can be in the form of a question or a statement. _________________________________________________________________________ 52 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 Name: _____________________ Exercise 2—The building blocks of history Following the steps in the example on pages 14 to 16, write a page of notes below using information from three different sources that are relevant to one aspect of your topic. Heading: ______________________________ Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 53 Name: _____________________ Exercise 3—Using sources 1 The following is an extract from a conversation between the Russian dictator, Josef Stalin, and Emil Ludwig, a German writer, on 13 December 1931. Read the extract and then highlight or underline the main point being made in this source. Ludwig: What made you a socialist[communist]? Stalin: … I joined the revolutionary movement when I was fifteen years old, when I became connected with underground groups of Russian Marxists living in Transcaucasia. Ludwig: What impelled you to become an oppositionist [that is, opposed to the government of the time]? Was it, perhaps, bad treatment by your parents? Stalin: No. My parents were uneducated, but they did not treat me badly by any means. But it was a different matter at the Orthodox theological seminary I was then attending. In protest against the outrageous … methods prevalent at the seminar, I was ready to become and actually did become, a revolutionary, a believer in Marxism as a really revolutionary teaching. Source: F W Stacey, (1972) Stalin and the Making of Modern Russia,: Edward Arnold, London, p 6 2 Archaeologists have found two bodies buried at a place called Eynan which is to the north of Jericho. The bodies, which were laid out in an extended position on their backs, had their legs detached and placed neatly alongside the bodies. One of the bodies was partly propped up with stones and was facing the main mountain peak in the area. What would you deduce about the people who lived at Eynan from their practice of detaching the legs from the body of a person after death, and of facing bodies in the direction of a mountain peak? _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 54 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 3 Read the source below and answer the question that follows. The source is a description by a German soldier/writer, Rudolph Binding, of the First Battle of Ypres, October-November 1914, during World War I. … these young fellows we have, only just trained, are too helpless, particularly when the officers have been killed. Our light infantry battalion, almost all students … have suffered terribly from shellfire. In the next division, just such young souls, the intellectual flower of Germany, went singing into an attack … I can see no strategy in this manner of conducting operations … We are still stuck here for perfectly good reasons; one might as well say for perfectly bad reasons. Source: Terraine John (1987), The First World War 1914-1918, London, Papermac, p 44 How useful and reliable do you think this source is to an historian who is studying World War I? Give reasons for your answer. _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 55 Name: _____________________ Exercise 4—Using historians’ views Ngo Dinh Diem was Prime Minister and later President of South Vietnam from 1954 to 1963 when he was overthrown and murdered. Read the sources about him below and then answer the question which follows. This extract is from a magazine article by an American adviser to Ngo Dinh Diem: Ngo Dinh Diem could have ruled for many years as a dictator, had he chosen to do so. But he chose instead the path of limited government, out of a longstanding and unshakeable belief … that the keys to the restoration of Vietnam’s stature were ‘the independence of the nation and the liberty of the people’. … [Diem] has steered his little country from the edge of chaos to peace, stability, and a gradually increasing tempo of development. … No one who has known Ngo Dinh Diem well can fail to be impressed by his determination to keep his country alive and bring increasing benefits, happiness and freedoms to his countrymen. Fishel Wesley R, (1959), The New Leader, Number 42, 2 November, pp 10– 13 cited in Marvin E Gettleman and Others (1985), Vietnam and America: A documented history, New York: Grove Press, pp 111, 114–115. O’Ballance Edgar (1975), The Wars in Vietnam, Ian Allen Limited, London, p 53 cited in Harpur James (1995), War Without End: Conflict in Indo-China (2nd edn), Longman, p 62. From a magazine report: Diem was in more trouble than ever. He was once a national hero. Now, thanks to his increasingly high-handed policies his best [military] units could not be relied on. Source: Life (magazine), 28 November 1960, cited in Marvin E Gettleman and Others (1985), Vietnam and America: A documented history, New York: Grove Press, p 152. An extract from a joint declaration by United States Vice-President Lyndon Johnson and Ngo Dinh Diem, 13 May 1961: The United States … is conscious of the determination, energy and sacrifices which the Vietnamese people, under the dedicated leadership of President Ngo Dinh Diem, have brought to the defense of freedom in their land. The United States recognises that the President of the Republic of Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem, is in the vanguard of those leaders who stand for freedom on the periphery [edge] of the Communist empire in Asia. Source: Marvin E Gettleman and Others (1985), Vietnam and America: A documented history, New York: Grove Press, p 162. 56 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 An extract from a book by an American historian in 1971: … the Diem government launched a wave of repression which soon resulted in a rebellion in the South. … the barbarities and the terror perpetrated by the Diem regime and its agents began to generate their own reaction and, in 1958, the Communists … began to fight back. Source: Horowitz David, (1971) From Yalta to Vietnam: American Foreign Policy in the Cold War, Middlesex: Penguin Books, pp 151–152. An extract from a book by a British historian in 1975: President Diem had made South Vietnam what it was, and although far from perfect, he had given it a form of cohesion and pulled it up by its own bootstraps, contrary to the prediction of most experts. But his later tendency towards dictatorial rule, and the malign [evil] influence of his family, alienated practically all sections of the population. … had he been a Buddhist instead of a Catholic, his story might have had a different ending. Source: O’Ballance Edgar, (1975) The Wars in Vietnam, London: Ian Allen Ltd, p 53 cited in Harpur James, (1995), War Without End: Conflict in IndoChina {2nd edition), Melbourne: Longman, p 62. A comment by a British journalist in 1987: Diem had many faults: remoteness, inflexibility, and an authoritarian belief that he alone knew what was best for his country and had no need to listen to any critical voices. But Diem was also an authentic nationalist with a sense of purpose and national identity that none of his successors ever regained. Source: Isaacs Arnold R, The Guardian, 2 August 1987, cited in John Wood, (1997) Vietnam and the Indochina conflict (revised edition), Auckland: Macmillan, p 34. For each of the sources you have just read, tick whether it has a ‘positive’ viewpoint about Ngo Dinh Diem or whether it has a ‘negative’ viewpoint about him, or ‘both’. ‘Positive’ ‘Negative’ ‘Both’ Source Arnold R Isaacs David Horowitz Edgar O’Ballance Life magazine, 28 November 1960 Vice-President Johnson Wesley R Fishel Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 57 Name: _____________________ Exercise 5—Presenting your findings Once you have found and organised all the evidence for your investigation, complete a plan for the presentation of your findings on a separate sheet of paper, using the headings below. If you can’t remember what’s involved in each of the different steps in planning your presentation, read the first two pages of this Section again. The headings are: x Title of investigation x Overall viewpoint or interpretation about the topic x 1st broad argument and specific details in support of your interpretation x 2nd argument and details in support of your interpretation x 3rd argument and details in support of your interpretation x Additional arguments and details in support of your interpretation x Form of the presentation of your findings. 58 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 Student self-evaluation This self-evaluation gives you the opportunity to assess whether or not you have achieved the outcomes which are listed on page 3 of the Module Overview. If you have successfully completed the activities in this Part and your historical investigation, then you have achieved the relevant outcomes. In this module, did you learn to: R plan and conduct an historical investigation R comprehend archaeological and written sources R locate, select and organise relevant information from a variety of sources R use a variety of sources to develop a view about historical issues R analyse sources for their usefulness and reliability R identify different historical perspectives and interpretations evident in sources R formulate historical questions and hypotheses relevant to the investigation you are undertaking R use historical terms and concepts appropriately R synthesise information from a range of sources to develop and support an historical argument R present and communicate the findings of your historical investigation using appropriate and well-structured oral and/or written and/or multimedia forms including ICT. Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 59 60 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 Bibliography American History 102 Image Gallery: IWW Cartoon at http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/photos/html/1062.html (accessed 25 January 2000). Andrewes A, ‘Eunomia’, Classic Quarterly XXXII. Andrewes A (1980), The Greek Tyrants, London: Hutchinson University. Ashmolean Museum, photo of second coffin of Tutankhamun. Binding R in Terraine J, (1987), The First World War 1914-1918, London: Papermac. Bishop B (1991), The Hell, The Humour and the Heartbreak A Private’s View of World War I, Kenthurst: Kangaroo Press. Bradley P, photo of temple. Brown M, (1986), Tommy Goes to War, London: J M Dent and Sons. Fishel W R, The New Leader, New York: 2 November 1959. Fitzhardinge L F, (1980), The Spartans, London: Thames and Hudson. Forrest W G, (1980), A History of Sparta (2nd edn), London: Gerald Duckworth and Co. Gammage, B, (1990), The Broken Years Australian Soldiers in the Great War, Ringwood: Penguin Books. Gettleman M E and others, (1985) Vietnam and America: A Documented History, New York: Grove Press. Harpur J, (1995), War Without End: Conflict in Indo-China (2nd edn), Melbourne: Longman. Herodotus, The Histories, (1954), London: the Estate of Aubrey de Sélincourt, Penguin Books. Horowitz D, (1971), From Yalta to Vietnam: American Foreign Policy in the Cold War, Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books. Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 61 Isaacs A R, The Guardian, 2 August 1987 cited in John Wood (1997), Vietnam and the Indochina Conflict (revised edition), Macmillan, p 34. Life magazine, 28 November 1960, cited in Marvin E Gettleman and others, (1985), Vietnam and America: A Documented History, New York: Grove Press, p 152. Johnson L, joint declaration with Ngo Dinh Diem, 13 May 1961 cited in Marvin E Gettleman and others, (1985), Vietnam and America: A Documented History, New York: Grove Press, p 162 (in Conflict in Indochina 1954-1979, Part 3, Page 12). Mercer D (ed-in-chief), (1993), Chronicle of the 20th Century, France: Jacques Legrand SA International Publications. Michell H, (1964), Sparta, London: Cambridge University Press, pp 20, 22. Moore J M, (1975), Aristotle and Xenophon on Democracy and Oligarchy, London: Chatto and Windus. O’Ballance Edgar, The Wars in Vietnam, Ian Allen Limited, 1975, p 53 cited in James Harpur, (1995), War Without End: Conflict in Indo-China (2nd edn), Longman, p 62 (in Conflict in Indochina 1954-1979, Part 3, Page 13). Parker R, (1989), Spartan Religion, in Classical Sparta: Techniques behind her success, edited by Powell A, Routledge. Perelman S J in Sutherland I, (1993), Conflict in Indo-China (2nd edn), South Melbourne: Thomas Nelson. Plutarch, ‘The Life of Lycurgus 2–5’, cited in Talbert R, (1988) On Sparta, London: Penguin Books. Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek Munich, photo of sculpture. Stacey F W, (1972), Stalin and the Making of Modern Russia, London: Edward Arnold. Taylor A J P, (1969), The First World War–An Illustrated History, London: Hamish Hamilton. John Terraine, (1987), The First World War 1914-1918, Papermac, p 44. Vaughan E C, (1985), Some Desperate Glory The Diary of a Young Officer, 1917, London: Papermac. Wood J, (1997), Vietnam and the Indochina Conflict (revised edition), Auckland: Macmillan. Xenophon, ‘The Politeia of the Spartans 1.1-2’ cited in J M Moore, (1975), Aristotle and Xenophon on Democracy and Oligarchy, Chatto and Windus, p 75. 62 Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 List of illustrations Force-feeding of a suffragette, cartoon, 1909, in D Mercer (ed-in-chief), 1993, Chronicle of the 20th Century, Jacques Legrand SA International Publications, p 132. Greek Temple of Neptune at Posidonia (Paestum) in southern Italy, photograph by P Bradley. IWW (International Workers of the World) cartoon, about 1900, American History 102 Image Gallery at http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/photos/html/1062.html (accessed 25 January 2000). Sculpture, located in Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek Munich Second coffin of Tutankhamun, photograph by Ashmolean Museum (in Tutankhamun, Part 1, Page 54, Figure 30) Xenophon, ‘The Politeia of the Spartans 1.2-2’ cited in J M Moore, (1975), Aristotle and Zenophon on Democracy and Oligarchy, Chatto and Windus, p75. Historical Investigation 44369 P0030478 63