How do we know what we know about the past? EVIDENCE How do we know what we know about the past?

EVIDENCE History is interpretation based on inferences made from primary sources Asking good questions about a source will turn it into evidence Sourcing often begins before a source is read; who created it and when was it created? OPCVL Sources should be analyzed in relation to the context of its historical setting: the conditions and worldviews prevalent at the time in question Inferences made from a source can never stand alone- they must always be corroborated (checked against another source)

Evidence We can only know the history of what has been left behind and how that “history” has been interpreted…. Who started World War One?- think of all the potential variations to the answer- what would you base your answer on- good history is created by accessing what has been left behind and studying them, assessing them and inferring them