The Historian and types of sources copy
Items in this lesson
Learning Outcomes:
Learn what History means.
The difference between history and pre-history.
The reasons why we study history.
Homework:
Use the internet and give examples of 5 primary sources and 5 secondary sources.
Write them into you copy
Key words:
Historian – Someone who is an expert on, or a student of, history.
Source – Is something that gives us information or evidence about a person, place or thing in the past.
Archives – a place where old documents are kept.
Primary source – first handed information.
Secondary source – second handed information
Biased – one sided information
Propaganda – used to promote your point of view
What is History?
Is the story of the past based on evidence.
It is the story of people, places and events.
It provides an explanation for events and for the changes it brought about by those events.
Why we study History:
Through history we learn how people lived before us.
We gain understanding of how past events unfolded.
Studying history helps us understand how human experience has shaped society and the world.
Examining History helps us to see how to avoid the mistakes that our ancestors made.
Finding Evidence:
How do Historians collect evidence?
They collect their evidence from different sources.
Mostly from archives and museums.
Archives - collects mainly written documents.
Museum – collects objects for study and display.
Examining Evidence:
Sources help historians find out what happened in the past.
From the evidence, Historians can come up with different versions of the past.
Questions Historians have to ask:
When examining evidence Historians have to ask questions such as:
When was the source written or made?
Who wrote or made the source?
Can this source be trusted?
Does this source present any problems?
Sources:
Sources can either be Primary or Secondary.
Primary sources are first-hand accounts of what happened.
They are original sources. (newspapers, photographs).
Will give us a clearer overview of what life was like at that time.
Secondary sources come from after the time being studied.
Often based on primary sources (History textbook).
Can give us background info that will help us understand the primary source.
Who made sources?
Historians have to examine the point of view of the writer in order to determine if a source it reliable.
People can be biased to make their point of view seem better and stronger to make it work in their favour.
Propaganda is used to promote a certain point of view to convince people you are right.
Key Words:
Manuscript – books written by hand.
Artefact – Man made objects such as pottery.
Chronology – putting events in order of time.
Decade – 10 years.
Century – 100 years
BC/BCE. – Before Christ or Before Common Era.
AD/CE. – Anno Domini/Common Era
The different types of sources:
Written source
Visual
Oral
Non-written
Written sources:
Manuscripts
Autobiography
Government records
Newspapers
Visual Sources:
Photographs
Paintings
Documentary films
Drawings/maps
Oral Sources:
Interviews
Tape recording
Eyewitness accounts
These sources might be biased or may not provide all the information needed.
Homework:
Design a timeline based on your life.
Needs 7 important milestones.
Draw a picture with each milestone.
Use a blank A4 sheet of paper.
Non-written Sources:
Artefacts
Ruins/monuments
Archaeologist
Time Divisions:
Time helps Historians put stories in the right order.
This helps them explain how and why events happened.
The study of time and dates is called chronology.
Period of ages help Historians understand the time by making connections between the people and events.
