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

2. Thinking about Evidence
Writing history means to incorporate primary sources into a narrative- connect the sources in terms of themes, concepts, ideas, etc…
“What does the source say?” or “What facts does it give me?”…..CRAP
History is a puzzle- imagine if in Grade 10 we only read primary sources from government documents during the 1970s
History is interpretation of evidence- there is a purpose in developing your own ability to interpret- infer about sources and (more importantly) corroborate those inferences

3. Terms Account- narrative or story
Context- circumstances at the time period when a source was created; the society and belief system in which the source was created as well as the events taking place at the time
Inference- conclusion based on “reading between the lines” of a source
Interpretation- an account of the past reached by making inferences from sources; a single event can have multiple interpretations
Sourcing- asking questions related to the creator of the source and the intended audience (OPCVL)

4. 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)

5. Reasoned and Insightful Inferences:
This clearly shows that…
From (detail) we can infer that…
This (detail) suggests that…
It doesn’t say so, but ….is probably the case, because (detail) …

6. Contextualizing
What was going on in this society at the time this document was written?
How might the context helps us understand what life was like for the people who wrote it?
What else do we need to understand this time period more?

7. Evidence
We can only know the history of what has been left behind and how that “history” has been interpreted….
We must be critical and source evidence before we make conclusions about the past

8. Topic: French Revolution
Source A: Preamble of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen Approved by the National Assembly of France, August 26, 1789
The representatives of the French people, organized as a National Assembly, believing that the ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole cause of public calamities and of the corruption of governments, have determined to set forth in a solemn declaration the natural, unalienable, and sacred rights of man, in order that this declaration, being constantly before all the members of the Social body, shall remind them continually of their rights and duties; in order that the acts of the legislative power, as well as those of the executive power, may be compared at any moment with the objects and purposes of all political institutions and may thus be more respected, and, lastly, in order that the grievances of the citizens, based hereafter upon simple and incontestable principles, shall tend to the maintenance of the constitution and redound to the happiness of all. Therefore the National Assembly recognizes and proclaims, in the presence and under the auspices of the Supreme Being, the following rights of man and of the citizen: