1. What Is History??? US History Mrs. Brown

2. What Is History??? Some thoughts… – History is written by the victors.” Winston Churchill History is written by the victors.

3. What Is History??? “History…is little more than the register of crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind” – Edward Gibbon “History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake” – James Joyce “If you do not like the past, change it” – William L. Burton “There is properly no history, only biography” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

4. What Is History??? A study of human past by investigating and analyzing the sequence of events and objectively investigating patterns of cause and effect

5. Tools to Discover History Historians use artifacts to study history Artifact – anything made by mankind – What are some examples? – What can artifacts be used for?

6. Artifact Activity Work with the person sitting next to you to examine an “artifact” Determine what people in the future might thing of products that are used today

7. Primary & Secondary Sources Primary Source – a document or object that was created during the time period being studied by someone who was there Examples of Primary Sources: – Christopher Columbus’ diary – The Constitution – Stone tools made by Native Americans

8. Primary & Secondary Sources Secondary Source – an interpretation or analysis of a primary source, which may or may not be from the time period being studied Examples of Secondary Sources: – A textbook – A magazine article – An interview with the grandson of a slave

9. Primary & Secondary Sources BOTH Primary and Secondary sources can be unreliable – Bias – Quality of source A good Secondary source is better than a bad Primary source!

10. Primary & Secondary Sources Activity: – With the people at your table, look at the documents you have been given. – Answer the questions on the worksheet about each of the documents. – Be prepared to share with the class.