What is History?An Introduction

• But first….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZE0TuKTpo4

Primary Sources: How do we know what we know?• The litter of history - accounts and pieces left

behind by those who have passed.• These are primary sources that can give up

the secrets of life in the past. • Help us understand more about what was

going on when they were created.• Historians learn to read these sources.

Primary Source Example #1

Primary Source Evidence

Primary Source Evidence

Letter #1: December 14, 1915• My Darling Wife. • I hope dear you are just well as I am fine. I

received letter allright. Wish you darling first a merry xmas from a Loving Husband – Bert xxx

• May God Bless all in the Coming Year & Prosperity

• Writing soon.

Letter #2: May 18, 1916 .Bugler H.H. Goss, 59381, 21 Battalion, Second Division, 4 Brigade, Canadian Base Depot, Bouelles Camp, LeHarve, France.

• My Dear & Loving Wife & Child. • Just a P.C. hoping dear you & dolly are just well

as I am filling time at present dear. • I received your loving hand letter last night & I

am finding you a card for the lass as you ask dear.• I will write tomorrow all well as I am on duty

now.• From your loving husband & daddy. xxxxx

Bert

death notice for Herbert Goss – author of “a kiss from France” – “killed in action,” in the Ypres salient, Belgium, June 24, 1916.

Primary Source Example #2

Primary Source Evidence• Record everything you did in the last 24

hours• Put a checkmark beside any item for which

there will be a trace.• How many of these traces will likely be

preserved? Circle those.

Primary Source Evidence

DISCUSS:• How well do those traces

represent your life?

• What do they say about you?

• What might be some of the challenges historians face?

TASK:

• As a group, generate a list of historical primary sources

Cause and Consequence: What is hidden from view?

The historian, like the insurance investigator, sifts through evidence to determine the causes of events — often from a multitude of possibilities. 

Cause and Consequence• what were the actions, beliefs, and

circumstances that led to these consequences?

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1VL-y9JHuI

Cause and ConsequenceCauses

My Math Mark

Consequences

Historical Perspectives• Taking historical perspective means

understanding the social, cultural, intellectual, and emotional settings that shaped people’s lives and actions in the past.

Historical Perspectives: Can we understand the past?

• What is the poster about?

• What similarities and differences exist between the style of dress in the poster and that of today?

• Do images of beauty change over time?

Historical Perspectives• For your consideration….

Why were Canadians so willing to fight in 1914 in a foreign war that had so little to do with Canada's self-interest?

Historical Perspectives

Historical PerspectivesInterview with Canadian WW 1 veteran Leslie Hudd, aged 86, August 25, 1983.Q. Did you want to be in this war?• A. Yes.• Q. Were you crazy?• A. Yes, we were crazy, but we didn’t know it.• Q. Did you have any idea what it was going

to be like?• A. No, we didn’t have any idea what it was

going to be like.

Historical Perspectives• Q. What did you think war was?• A. An adventure. We never thought about

being killed, you know. I thought I was going to be able to come home and tell everybody about it. It never entered my mind that I might not come back. We wanted to get to it as fast as we could, because it might be over before we got there.

Historical Perspectives• Why in 2001 with Afghanistan War and 2003

with Iraq was there so much opposition to Canadian participation?

Ethical Dimensions of History: what do injustices mean for us today?

•  Historians attempt to hold back on ethical judgments about people in the midst of their accounts, but, when all is said and done, if the story is meaningful, then there is an ethical judgment involved.

• We should expect to learn something from the past that helps us to face the ethical issues of today.

Ethical Dimensions of HistoryWhat do we owe the people of the past?

Ethical Dimensions of HistoryAre we obligated to right injustices of the past?

Ethical Dimensions of HistoryAre we obligated to memorialize soldiers?Does this glorify war?

Ethical Dimensions of History

What does it mean if we say yes, we are obligated?

What does it mean if we say no, we are not obligated?

Who decides what history is considered important?

Continuity and Change: Is change always progress?• Watch the video on Chinese Canadians to

understand the concept

• Study the picture on the next slide of a classroom from 1903

• List all the things in the picture that are different from today (change)

• List all the things in the picture that are the same today (continuity)

Continuity and Change

Historical Significance• Look at the list of historical events on the

next slide

Of the ones you have heard of:

• Which do you think is the most important?

• Which do you think is the least important?

Historical Significance• European exploration of

the Americas

• Industrial revolution

• The Plains of Abraham

• Underground Railroad

• Louis Riel

• The war of 1812

• The end of slavery in the British Empire

• Free public schools

• Canadian Confederation

• World War I

• Canadian women vote

• Chinese Head Tax

• Prohibition

• The Great Depression

• World War II

• The atomic bomb

• Birth control is legalized

• Birth of rock music

• The Charter of Rights

• The end of the USSR

• September 11, 2001

Historical SignificanceDiscuss

• Come to a group consensus on which is most and least important

• How did you decide? What was your criteria?

Task

• Generate a list of criteria you can use to determine if an event is historically significant.

Historical SignificanceCRITERIA

• Did the event result in change?o How profoundly were people affected?o How many people were affected?o Was the change long-lasting?

• How does the event reveal to us of the past?

• Is the event relevant to the present?• Who is the event important for today?• Has the event become more important over

time?

Show Your UnderstandingIndividuallyWhich is the most significant moment of your

life? Why? • Write a paragraph or create a display.• Explain why it’s significant using the criteria.• Choose one other historical thinking concept

to relate to your event. • Use key questions from the posters to guide

your discussion.