Introduction to the Historical Discipline

1
Introduction to the Historical Discipline
2
This presentation introduces

• The historical discipline, including the kinds of
  questions that historians ask
• The variety of primary sources that historians
  use
• How to analyze primary sources
• How to use secondary sources

3
Part OneThe Historical Discipline
4
Why History?
5
A People Without a History Are Like Wind in the
Buffalo Grass (Lakota Indians)

• Why is a people's memory of itself essential to
  its identity?
• How is the absence of a people's collective
  memory like the wind in the buffalo grass?
• What does this analogy tell us about the Lakota
  Indians?

6
What Others Have Said

• History is more or less bunk. (Henry Ford)
• Those who cannot remember the past are condemned
  to repeat it. (Santayana)
• History is a people's memory, and without memory
  man is demoted to the lower animals. (Malcolm X)
• History is a science, no less and no more. (J.B.
  Bury)
• History is an argument without end. (Peter Geyl)
• No single man makes history. (Boris Pasternak)

7
How is history different than other disciplines?
8
Historians Want To Know

• What?
• Why?
• How?
• When?
• Who?

9
The Historian as Investigative Reporter

• Study the data
• Conduct interviews
• Hear all points of view.

10
The Basic Steps of Historical Analysis

• Identify a historical problem or an interesting
  historical topic.
• Find appropriate sources.
• Analyze the sources by asking the right
  questions.
• Create analytical narratives or histories about
  the past.

11
The Big Questions Historians Ask Social
The Bg Questions that Historians Ask
How did those originally excluded from the
political process (the propertyless, women,
African-Americans, Latinos, Asians, gays
lesbians) win their way into the democratic
system?
12
The Big Questions Historians Ask Political
What explains the decline of new deal liberalism
after 1964?
13
The Big Questions Historians Ask Economic
What factors contributed to industrial
development in the Northern states during the
middle of the nineteenth century?
14
The Big Questions Historians Ask Cultural
How have definitions of success changed over
time?
15
Part TwoTypes of Sources

• Primary Sources sources written or created by
  the historical actors
• Secondary Sources findings of someone who did
  not observe the event, but who investigated
  primary sources other secondary accounts to
  retell the event

16
Primary Sources
Oral
Visual
Written
17
Types of Written Primary Sources

• Memoirs
• Diaries
• Letters
• Government records
• Newspapers

18
Types of Visual Primary Sources

• Paintings
• Cartoons
• Photographs
• Films
• Television

19
Types of Oral Primary Sources

• Stories and Narratives
• Oral histories
• Anecdotes
• Jokes
• Folk songs
• Radio recordings
• Popular music

20
Part Three Analyzing Primary Sources

• Basic Questions to Ask All primary sources
• The Time and Place Rule
• The Bias Rule
• Assessing the Quality of the Primary Source
• Special Instructions for Visual Sources

21
Questions to Ask All Primary Documents

• Who created the document?
• What is the nature of the document?
• When was the document created?
• Why was the document created?
• What does the document mean?

22
The Time and Place Rule

• Usually, the closer in time and place a source
  and its creator were to an event in the past, the
  better the source will be. Thus the best primary
  sources might include some of the following
• Direct traces of the event
• Accounts of the event, created at the time it
  occurred, by firsthand observers and participants
• Accounts of the event, created after the event
  occurred, by firsthand observers and participants
• Accounts of the event, created after the event
  occurred, by people who did not participate or
  witness the event, but who used interviews or
  evidence from the time of the event.

23
The Bias Rule

• Every piece of evidence and every source must be
  read or viewed skeptically and critically.
• No piece of evidence should be taken at face
  value. The creator's point of view must be
  considered.
• Each piece of evidence and source must be
  cross-checked and compared with related sources
  and pieces of evidence.

24
Assessing the Quality of the Primary Source

• Who created the source and why?
• Did the recorder have firsthand knowledge of the
  event?
• Was the recorder a neutral party?
• Was the source meant to be public or private?
• Did the recorder wish to inform or persuade
  others?
• Was the information recorded during the event,
  immediately after the event, or after some lapse
  of time?

25
Special Suggestions for Visual Sources

• Look for internal clues to determine when the
  visual source was created
• Look at the internal evidence by dividing the
  illustration into parts background and
  foreground, individuals, objects, or quadrants

26
Part Four How to Use Secondary Sources
27
Types of Secondary Sources

• Textbooks
• Monographs (published books on specific topics)
• Statistical tables
• Graphs
• Pictures and drawings
• Historical novels, short stories, movies

28
Ways to Use Secondary Sources

• As a collection of facts
• As a source of background material for a specific
  time, a specific place, or a specific concept
• As an interpretation to stimulate your thinking

29
Questions To Ask Secondary Sources

• What is the author's thesis?
• Is the thesis relevant to my research?
• How can I determine the accuracy of the secondary
  source?

30
How To Evaluate a Secondary Source

• Currency
• Authority
• Scholarship

31
Questions to Consider When Assessing a Secondary
Source

• What is the authors evidence?
• Does the evidence support the authors thesis?
• What are the authors biases? How much do these
  biases influence the authors interpretation?

32
Special Questions for Internet Sources

• Who published this document?
• What credentials does the author claim to have?
• What is the authors objective in producing the
  document?
• How current is the site?
• Do traditional sources of information
  substantiate information found in an
  Internet-based source?

33
Special Questions for Journal Articles

• When was the article published?
• Who publishes the journal?
•  What type of paper is it?
• Opinion paper?
• Empirical study?
• Literature review?
• What is the nature of the supporting evidence
• Is there a bibliography?

34
The End