WHAT IS HISTORICAL THINKING?

HOW TO TAKE NOTES

NOTES Notes will count for a classwork grade (25%), so please keep them neat and organized. I will do surprise notes check periodically, so always be prepared! Always bring your notes to class. Use a notebook that is just for this class.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A HISTORIAN? Take a few minutes and write at least one paragraph to answer this question in your notes. Give it your best educated guess.

THE STUDY OF HISTORY What is history? Is it ever certain? Is it all just facts? Can you always prove it? Historians are like detectives. We can never be fully sure about all the things that happened in the past. All we have are records that people left behind. Studying history requires a lot of thinking. There are a lot of things that historians do, but there are 5 main ways that they think.

HISTORICAL THINKING 1. Putting together the many stories that different people tell in order to get the best picture of what really happened. It’s like putting together a puzzle, except for that the puzzle pieces are different stories.

HISTORICAL THINKING 2. Understanding primary sources Primary source : a firsthand record of an event from someone who was actually there when it happened. Primary sources are the “bread and butter” of a historian. Can you think of some examples of primary sources? List them in your notes.

HISTORICAL THINKING 3. Not only do you have to understand what a primary source is saying, but you also have to figure out where the primary source is from. This is called sourcing. Historians are able to source documents and artifacts by looking for clues like dates, location, language, etc. Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man's nature -- opposition to it is in his love of justice. These principles are an eternal antagonism; and when brought into collision so fiercely, as slavery extension brings them, shocks, and throes, and convulsions must ceaselessly follow. Repeal the Missouri Compromise -- repeal all compromises -- repeal the declaration of independence -- repeal all past history, you still can not repeal human nature. It still will be the abundance of man's heart, that slavery extension is wrong; and out of the abundance of his heart, his mouth will continue to speak. -- Abraham Lincoln October 16, 1854 Speech at Peoria

STOPPED AT THE PREVIOUS SLIDE ON 9/3/2014 Must confirm that Abe Lincoln said the quote

HISTORICAL THINKING 4. Once you’ve sourced a document or artifact, you will need to understand the person who made it, what was happening during their time, and what life was like for them. People from the past lived very different lives from the one you live. You have to understand where their coming from to truly understand what they mean by the things they’ve said. This is called contextualizing. Let’s try to contextualize the quote from Abraham Lincoln.

HISTORICAL THINKING 5. Finally, as a historian, you have to know how to create a theory about what really happened (make a claim) and connect it to evidence. This is called claim-evidence connection. This is the ultimate goal of a historian. It’s like when a detective solves a crime. They study the evidence, and from their evidence they figure out the best possibility and connect it to what they have learned. Detectives are always asked for proofs to their claims.

HOMEWORK Please write at least two paragraphs using what you learned today. Now that you know what historians do and how they think, do your best to describe history. Reminders: (write in your notes) What is a paragraph? What does it look like? How long should it be?