Download What is this History?

What is history
and why do we care?
History?
• Merriam Webster dictionary defines history as a tail or a
story.
• History is understanding our past and where we came
from.
• "The study of history is the best medicine for a sick mind; for in
history you have a record of the infinite variety of human
experience plainly set out for all to see; and in that record you can
find yourself and your country both examples and warnings; fine
things to take as models” Livy
How do we know about the Past?
• Oral history- what people tell us
through spoken word.
• Graphics- drawings or pictures
that we learn from. (example: a
church window)
• Literature- Books, poems, and
other text that tell a story.
(example: Homers writings)
• Epics- specific type of literature
that usually tells a story of heroes
and villains. Many early recordings
are epics. (example: the epic of
Gilgamesh)
Primary and Secondary Sources
• When studying history the
literature or oral records we have
are called Sources.
• There are two different types of
sources:
• Primary Sources- meaning
literature that was written by
someone who experienced or
witnessed the event in question.
Examples are Diaries, letters,
journals, autobiographies,
Secondary Sources
• Secondary Sources- The
function of these is to
interpret primary sources.
• Secondary sources are
written by a person who did
not experience the situation
describe.
• Generally Secondary Sources
are written at a later date then
the primary sources they
build own.
How do we trust what is written?
• Authors often write with a Bias toward one
group or another.
• Bias- an inclination toward one side, group,
people, nation…
• People lie right?
• Historians are entrusted with the job of
assuring the accuracy of history.
At what part of history does this
class start?
• World history starts at prehistory or the time before recorded
history.
• Recorded history means stories or events that were written down
using written language.
• Written language invented about 5000 years ago.
Key Concepts of History
•
•
•
•
The concept of
The concept of
The concept of
The concept of
Time
Continuity
Cause and effect
perspective
Time
• Time-a moment, hour, day, or year as indicated
by a clock or calendar.
• Time is continuous and cannot stop.
• In World History we often measure time on a
continuum or a timeline.
Continuity
• Continuity is a word that describes the
continuousness of time.
• Hours, minutes, seconds, days, years go by never
to return.
• Those moments are in a since gone forever
You can compare the continuity of time to a waterfall.
Cause and Effect
• Cause and Effect are
the two major questions
asked by historians.
• Cause- What brought
about the event? Why
did this happen?
• Effect- What did the
event bring about.
Perspectives
• When people observe an
event they see it through
there own perspective.
• Example: United States and
Al-Qaida have two very
different perspectives
regarding 9/11.
• Why would a historian
need to be aware of
different perspectives
when reading a primary
source?
Why Study History?
Some Concepts Never change.
Why not learn from them?
• CONFLICT- Why cant we get along?
•RESOURCES- How to they motivate us?
•GOVERNMENT- What has worked best in the
past?
•ORDER/DISORDER/REVOLTS/
REVOLUTION/ and the list goes on…
History teaches:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Where we came from
Who we are as a society
What works well.
What we shouldn’t do.
Patriotism and pride in our nation.
Past injustice.
How to analyze information and solve problems.
Does History repeat itself ?
Famous History Quotes
• We are not makers of history. We are made
by history.- Martin Luther King Jr.
• History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be
unlived, but if faced with courage, need not
be lived again.
-Maya Angelou
• The farther you look back in history, the
farther you can see ahead- Henry Ford