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The Tools of an Historian Chronological Thinking Why its important the order in which things happened be able to tell

le to tell what happened before an event, during an event and after an event be able to explain the beginning, middle and end of an historical event be able to explain how an historical event developed calculate calendar time by days, weeks, months, years, decades, and centuries be able to distinguish between BC (before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini in the year of our Lord) or be able to distinguish between BCE (before the common era and CE (common era) create and interpret timelines historians need to know the order in which things happened in order to be able to explain why it happened history is about telling a story (his story), those stories are about relationships between people, countries and events it gives historians a way to organize information

Adapted from : National History Standards, Part I Standards in Historical Thinking http://www.oah.org/pubs/magazine/standards/nhs1.html Page 1

The Tools of an Historian Historical Comprehension this is a lot like reading comprehension understanding what youve read o identifying who was involved o what happened o where it happened o when it happened o cause and effect (why did it start and what happened when it was over) read historical narratives (stories) to learn about the people involved o what were they afraid of o what were their strengths and weaknesses o what motivated them to become involved look at historical maps to find information on the setting in which the event happened o what natural and man-made features were nearby o its absolute and relative location o distances and directions involved read visual and mathematical data in charts and graphs use photographs, paintings, cartoons and music to get more information about an historical event and to add to the information in the historical narrative historians use primary sources to find different points of view to more fully understand the whole story, not just one side historians have to understand what was going on at the time of the event, not just how it looks from the future

Why its important

Adapted from : National History Standards, Part I Standards in Historical Thinking http://www.oah.org/pubs/magazine/standards/nhs1.html Page 2

The Tools of an Historian Historical Analysis and Interpretation history is not just a series of dates and facts that will never change historians need to o identify the author of the source and decide if the source is believable o compare and contrast different sets of ideas o understand the difference between historical fact and historical interpretation (example: Fact: George Bush was elected president of the United States in 2000. Interpretation: He is one of the best (or worst) presidents in our history. o consider different perspectives (slave and slaveowner, Loyalist and Patriot, etc.) o analyze cause and effect o challenge historical arguments, explain how different choices may have led to different consequences o understand that history can change if new information is uncovered Why its important the study of history is not only remembering answers history is also about evaluating arguments based on the available evidence explains how history happens how change occurs, that intentions matter, how the result is influenced by how it is achieved history should always be seen as having multiple causes

Adapted from : National History Standards, Part I Standards in Historical Thinking http://www.oah.org/pubs/magazine/standards/nhs1.html Page 3

The Tools of an Historian Historical Research historians do history o ask questions based on historical documents, letters, diaries, photos, art and other records o obtain historical information from a variety of sources photos, maps, eyewitness accounts o look for information on the society, politics and economics of the time period o decide if a source is credible (believable), looking for bias, propaganda, completeness and consistency o first analyze a source who wrote it, when was it written, why was it written historians often find new information which changes our understanding of the past new ideas can change how we view the past textbooks are not perfect, they may contain mistakes, students should know how to check out the information history is about debating why things happened

Why its important

Adapted from : National History Standards, Part I Standards in Historical Thinking http://www.oah.org/pubs/magazine/standards/nhs1.html Page 4

The Tools of an Historian Historical Issues & Decision Making historians identify issues and problems in the past, analyzing the perspectives of the people involved historians understand what happened before an event to help explain the cause and what factors contributed to the event evaluate why a decision was made based on who benefited from it, what kind of power the person who made the decision had and the costs and benefits of the decision o Example: Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation freed only slaves behind Confederate lines. Why didnt he free ALL the slaves? If he couldnt free all the slaves should he have freed any of the slaves? debate is central to living in a democracy all decisions have consequences good and bad historians must decide (and debate) whether the decision made was right or wrong understanding the consequences of past decisions may help us make better decisions in the future

Why its important

Adapted from : National History Standards, Part I Standards in Historical Thinking http://www.oah.org/pubs/magazine/standards/nhs1.html Page 5

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