Download Historical investigation - NSW Department of Education

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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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Read carefully
Using historians’ views
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Steps to follow
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References
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1
Conclusion
2
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Exercises
51
Student self-evaluation
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Bibliography
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List of illustrations
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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.
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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.
____________________________________________________________
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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
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What were the main effects of a particular person’s actions? (In other
words, What happened as a result of the person’s actions?)
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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.
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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
________________________________________________
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Proportion of colonies claimed by each power,1914
_______________________________________________
Greek wrestlers, statue in the Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek,
Munich
_______________________________________________
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Industrial workers of the world cartoon, about 1900
_______________________________________________
Tutankhamun’s sarcophagus (coffin)
_______________________________________________
Sites of industrial and technological innovation, 1900 – 1914
________________________________________________
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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:
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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)
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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)
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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)
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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
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Mind map: 19th Century Russia, Part 3, Page 23
Complete Exercise 2.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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31
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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 ……
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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?
___________________________________
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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.
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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
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
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(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.
_________________________________________________________________________
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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: ______________________________
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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?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
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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.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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