The Method of Historical Inquiry

1. The Method of Historical Inquiry Why Do We Study History?

2. Method of Historical Inquiry 1) Recall: History is what we choose to remember about the past. 2) Interpret: History involves explaining people and events. 3) Application: Use what we know about the past to understand the present. 4) Analyze: History involves figuring out complicated situations. 5) Synthesize: History involves making sense out of jumble of facts. 6) Evaluate: History involves making judgments about people and events

3. The Scientific Method 1.Observe some aspect of the universe. 2.Invent a theory that is consistent with what you have observed. 3.Use the theory to make predictions. 4.Test those predictions by experiments or further observations. 5.Modify the theory in the light of your results. 6.Go to step 3

4. Recall 1. History is what we choose to remember about the past. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/travel/30footsteps.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

5. Recall History is what we choose to remember about the past. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.lbdassociates.com/salphotos/SAL%2520Photos/NYC/twin%2520towe http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://home.epix.net/~rplr/4th_NY_Battery.jpg&imgrefurl=http://gettysburg-acw

6. Recall 2. Our common experience binds us together. http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/Photography/Images/POD/f/football-game-494839-lw.jpg

7. Interpretation 1. History involves explaining people and events. http://www.arts-info.co.uk/Images/AssassinationofPresidentLincoln.jpg http://davefaq.com/Pics/Politics/Famous_People.gif

8. 2. Historians read between the lines. The Ghost Ships of Coney Island Creek http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/06/nyregion/thecity/06grav.html

9. History can illustrate ideas. http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=65572&rendTypeId=4

10. Applying what you know Application Use the past to understand the present. Use personal experiences to make sense of the past. The past must engage in dialogue with the present. Examine situations in the past.

11. Analysis History involves figuring out complicated situations. Break the event down into its parts: Which parts can you identify? Which battle was the turning point of the Civil War?

12. http://www.posix.com/CWmaps/Gettysburg_Battle_Map_Day2.png

13. Examine each part. How are the battles related? Try to create a time line of events: Which are causes? effects?

14. Synthesis History involves making sense out of a jumble of facts. You can search for patterns. You can speculate: Guessing at reasons for outcomes. Speculation means guessing about the past. You can predict: Could World War II have been avoided? You can make generalizations: broad statements that summarize. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2229/1802725006_97b809db4c.jpg?v=0

15. Synthesis:Creating A New Idea Draw your own conclusions: Dropping the atomic bomb - justified or unjustified? http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=76528&rendTypeId=4

16. Evaluation History involves making judgments about people in events. Example: You can examine all sides of the Civil Rights issue. You can debate the pros and cons of integrating the schools. You can describe the strengths and weaknesses of the President's policy.

17. Evaluation You can examine the advantages and disadvantages of the strategy of non-violence.

18. You can examine the advantages and disadvantages of the strategy of violence.

19. You can judge whether a person, policy, or event measured up to a high standard.

20. Example: To what extent did Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. measure up to the standard of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Golden Rule?

21. Why Study History? The supreme purpose of history is a better world.Herbert Hoove History belongs to the winner. ~ Anon. Most of us spend too much time on the last twenty-four hours and too little on the last six thousand years. ~ Will Duran History is a vast early warning system ~ Norman Cousins

22. "History is for human self-knowledge. Knowing yourself means knowing, first, what it is to be a person; secondly, knowing what it is to be the kind of person you are; and thirdly, knowing what it is to be the person you are and nobody else is. Knowing yourself means knowing what you can do; and since nobody knows what they can do until they try, the only clue to what man can do is what man has done. The value of history, then, is that it teaches us what man has done and thus what man is." R. G. Collingwood

23. With a partner, discuss and give your own interpretation of the quotations. after several minutes of discussion, the groups will present their interpretations to the class.

24. "I know of no way of judging the future but by the past." (Patrick Henry) "The present contains nothing more than the past, and what was found in the effect was already in the cause." (Henri Bergson) "We are tomorrow's past." (Mary Webb)

25. Write your own quotation or saying that reflects your view on history or the importance of the past. You can add illustrations if you wish.

26. Why Study History? “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be.” — Thomas Jefferson

27. 1) The Colonial Period2) The American Revolution3) Westward Expansion4) The Coming of the Civil War5) The Civil War6) Reconstruction7) the Industrial Revolution8) The Progressive Period9) World War I10) Economic Expansion11) The Great Depression12) World War II13) the Cold War14) The Post Cold War Period

28. Creating a Time Line • The Cold War • World War 2 • The American Revolution • The Post cold war Period • The Progressive Period • The Colonial period • The Great Depression • World War 1 • The coming of the Civil War • Economic Depression • The Industrial Revolution • The Westward Expansion • Reconstruction • The Civil War