What is History?
WHAT IS HISTORY?
• it is a kind of truth
• What is the past?
• How do we know anything
about the past?
• Who or what should be
studied?
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FIELDS OF HISTORY
• What is the past---Time
• How do we know anything about the past--Sources
• Written texts
• Archaeology
• Material culture
• Historians divide sources into two different types:
• Primary Sources
• Secondary Sources
• Can you trust sources?
• Who or what should be studied---Subject Matter
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WHO IS A HISTORIAN?
• What exactly do historians do?
• A historian is not Google!
• historians essentially use evidence
from the past to create a story about
what happened in the past, these
stories help explain the world around
us
• This is why history is a kind of truth.
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WHY IS HISTORY IMPORTANT?
• understanding
• skill building
• shapes identity
• Video: How the Lost Cause Narrative
Became American
History<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y6luq3aUvc>
• Video: How Southern Socialites Rewrote
Civil War History<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOkFXPblLpU>
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Let’s Practice History!
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