1. Studying History
Chapter 1, Lecture 1

2. Chapter 1, Lecture 1 Objectives
After this lesson, students will be able to:
define history.
Explain how we can improve our understanding of people’s actions and beliefs through the study of history.
Discuss how historians use clues from various sources to learn about the past.

3. Studying History What is history? history - noun (plural histories)
The study of past events.
the past considered as a whole.
the past events connected with someone or something.
a continuous record of past events or trends.
History asks how and where people worked, fought, traded, farmed, worshiped, etc. It is the study of the past in order to try to understand culture – the knowledge, beliefs, customs, and values of a group of people.

4. Studying History Who studies history?
Historians are people who study history.
We are all historians, to some extent! (Yes, even you!)

5. Studying History Where is history studied? Where/When is history used?
historical sites and museums
primary and secondary schools
colleges and universities
libraries
government entities (like parks or departments of history)
anywhere humans are now or were in the past!
Where/When is history used?
academia (schools)
government (legal precedent, decision-making, arguments)
recreational/learning venues (historical parks/museums)
the entertainment industry
You use it everyday!

6. Studying History Why do we study history? History helps us to:
be good citizens
understand people and societies
understand change
develop skills (such as: assessing evidence, assessing conflicting interpretations, reading, and writing)
History helps us to understand the present and plan for the future.

7. Studying History How do we study history?
By reading and studying sources, both primary and secondary.

8. Who wrote the source and when?
Studying History
A primary source is an informational source from the time of an event.
Examples include:
Autobiographies
Diaries
Eyewitness accounts
Laws
Artifacts
Letters
Photographs
Documents
Who wrote the source and when?
Were they there?
Art
Speeches
Film footage
Music
Newspaper articles (?)

9. Studying History
A secondary source is an informational source that analyzes and/or interprets the event – it is NOT a first person account.
Examples include:
Biographies
Encyclopedias
History books
Textbooks
Secondary sources use primary sources.

10. Studying History Primary or Secondary? World History textbook

11. Studying History Primary or Secondary?
Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History by Dr. Patrick Hunt
secondary

12. Studying History Primary or Secondary?
Meditations, by Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelus, including his thoughts, maxims, and musings on life and death, c. A.D. 161 to 180
primary

13. Studying History Primary or Secondary?
Code of Hammurabi stela, law code dating to c B.C.
primary

14. Studying History Primary or Secondary?
Cannae, a book about the Battle of Cannae written by historian Dr. Adrian Goldsworthy
secondary

15. Studying History Primary or Secondary?
A letter from Pliny the Younger to the Emperor Trajan regarding how to treat Christians, written in A.D. 112
primary

16. Studying History Primary or Secondary?
Soldiers from the tomb of Qin Shihuangdi, better known as the Terracotta Army, c. 246 B.C.
primary

17. Studying History Primary or Secondary?
Penguin Encyclopedia of World History
secondary

18. Studying History Primary or Secondary?
The Middle Ages by Morris Bishop discussing the various class associations of Medieval Europe
secondary

19. Studying History Primary or Secondary?
Photograph of King Tutankhamen’s death mask, taken in A.D. 2014
primary

20. Studying History Primary or Secondary?
The Malleus Maleficarum, a textbook on the persecution of witches from the 15th century
primary, but would have been considered secondary in its day!
Can a secondary source become a primary source? Yes!

21. Studying History
When there are no written records available, we must depend on archaeology – study of ancient cultures through remains.
artifact – an object made by a human, like a weapon, pottery, or tool
fossils – traces of plants and animals preserved in rock

22. Studying History

23. Studying History How do we organize time? calendars dating events
Western calendar
based on the birth of Jesus
other calendars
dating events
b.c.
a.d.
b.c.e.
c.e.
“before Christ”
“Anno Domini”
“Before Common Era”
“Common Era”

24. Studying History calendar terms
decade – ten years
century – one hundred years
millennium – one thousand years
When referring to the sequential order or a century, the numbers appear a bit off because one has to account for the first century.
Example: Even though it is 2016, we are in the 21st century, not the 20th.

25. Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Studying History
Periodization
the business of identifying and recognizing patterns of change and continuity through time
imprecise dating
Prehistory
Ancient History
(c B.C. to A.D.500)
Middle Ages
(c. A.D. 500 – 1500)
Modern History
(c – Present Day)
The Future
Our Course!

26. Studying History
Civilizations are complex societies. So, how do we go about studying them?
We use the GRAPES acronym to try to organize and understand what we are studying.
characteristics: (GRAPES)
G eography
R eligion
A chievement
P olitical System (Government)
E conomics
S ocial Structure
The idea of civilization is a human construct… therefore it is not perfect.