Aim: Why study history?

What is History?

The story of the past. HISTORY…His Story› History is often told by different people or

spin their own interpretations into the story they are telling.

What is the role of an Historian? A person who studies the past.

› Historians use: Documents Books Writings Verbal Communication And other items to study the past

› They retell stories with their own biases and views

SourcesPrimary Sources Secondary Sources

Original Records of an event Writings and interpretations of historians and other writers

Documents left by eyewitnesses Textbooks

Records written at the time of the event

Biographies

Texts of speeches and reports Articles and essays

Letters, paintings, photographs, and artifacts

What are the main historical periods?

Historical Period Dates

The Dawn of Civilization 3500 BC to 500 BC

The Classical Civilization 500 BC to 500 AD

New Centers of Culture in an Age of Turmoil

500 to 1200

Warriors on Horseback and the Revival of Europe

1200 to 1500

The Birth of the Modern World 1500 to 1700

Revolution, Nationalism, Imperialism

1700 to 1900

The World at War 1900 to 1945

From Cold War to Global Interdependence

1945 to Present

Key Historical Terms

Decade- a ten year period Century- a hundred year period Millennium- a thousand year period 19th Century- the years 1800 to 1899 20th Century- the years 1900 to 1999 21st Century- the years 2000 to 2099

Timelines The earliest events start to the left and

the latest events to the right.› Time is divided into periods. BC refers to

time before the birth of Christ and AD refers to the time after Christ.

› To measure the years between a BC event and an AD event you add the numbers together.

› To measure the years between an AD event and an AD event subtract the earlier date from the later date.

Document #1: History is objective. The historian’s task is to give readers the facts… to tell “how it actually happened”… Everything has a history… Traditional historians think of history as essentially a narrative of events. (Peter Burke- National Perspectives

on Historical Writings pg. 3)

According to Document #1: What is the task of the Historian?

Document #2:History is the story of humanity’s past. History systematically records and explains what people have thought, said, and done. History deals with political, economic, and social matters… History describes humanity’s efforts to improve the world. It recounts the achievements and setbacks in the long upward climb toward a high level of civilization. (World History: Amsco pg. 1)

According to Document #2: What does History deal with?

Document #3:Knowledge of the past comes from many sources- from written records and from knowledge revealed by science developed in the last century or so. New sciences of some importance to the historian are Anthropology which is the study of man’s physical and cultural development; Archaeology which is the discovery and study of material remains; Geology which is the study of rock and earthly formation; Philology which is the study of language and written records; Sociology which is the study of conditions and change in groups; and Psychology which is the study of human behavior.

According to Document #3: Where does knowledge of the past come from?