6 Historical Thinking Points

6 HISTORICAL THINKING POINTS

6 HISTORICAL THINKING POINTS

1. Historical Significance2. Primary Sources 3. Continuity and Change4. Cause and Consequence5. Historical Perspectives6. Ethical Dimensions

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE


Two descriptions of HS:

• An event or person of the past that results in an important change for many people over a long period of time.

• The event or person teaches us about issues in history and our lives today

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE IN MY LIFE

Task: Make a timeline / list of events that have happened in your life. Then, highlight the most important events.

How do you decide what’s important?Something that resulted in big changes for you over a

long period of time Something that helps us to understand you as a person And / orSomething that affected people around you

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: MRS. T’S TIMELINE EXAMPLE

• March 2, 1984: Born• 1980s - 1990s: Elementary School at A.E. Wright• 1990s: Middle School at Leila North• 1999-2002: - High school at Maples collegiate – Got a dog • 2002-2008: University of Winnipeg -Worked part time jobs

• 2008-present: History and English teacher• August 2015: Got married -Trip to London, England and Ireland

What is “historically significant” in Mrs. T’s life?


Task: After finding HS in your life, go through the examples and determine how significant the events were:Indigenous soldiers in WWIConfederationCanadian OlympicsExpo 67Shipwreck InvestigationsThe Early Chinese Canadians

Use the criteria as a guideline. Write answers on loose-leaf.

PRIMARY SOURCES

PRIMARY SOURCES

What is a Primary Source?• A Primary source is a document or piece created

at the time or soon after a historical event.• Primary sources are often first-hand accounts and

give an “inside view” of what happened

• Note: Oral histories and memoirs are primary sources, even if they are created long after the historical event.

PRIMARY SOURCE EXAMPLES• Oral histories • Memoirs and autobiographies• Photographs • Speeches• Diaries• Newspaper articles• Art / Sketches• Maps• Letters• Artifacts (a button, a coat, a pen, etc.)• Creative works • Government documents

PRIMARY SOURCES IN MY LIFE

PRIMARY SOURCES IN MY LIFE

• Primary Evidence to show I was here:• Birth certificate• Marriage certificate • School report cards /

transcripts• Driver’s license • Pictures of me (selfies?) • Social media pages• Old schoolwork • Phone• Passport • My signature• Pay stubs• Bank accounts, credit

cards, etc.

• Journal • Letters I sent• All my stuff (clothes, etc.) • Health card (doctor’s

records)• Videos • Social Insurance card • Will• Receipts • Trip itineraries • House title, insurance

records

SECONDARY SOURCES

What’s a Secondary Source?• A secondary source explains the primary source.• Often secondary sources are written / recorded

many years after a historical event• Some secondary sources have reproductions of

primary sources in them (example: Shaping Canada textbook)

Secondary sources may give opinions (bias) on a past event or on a primary source

SECONDARY SOURCE EXAMPLES

• Textbooks• Biographies• Encyclopedias• Movies about historical events • Review or critique of a speech, movie, etc.

PRIMARY SOURCE CHECKLIST

How to tell if it’s a Primary SourceWas it created at the time of the event, or soon

after?Was it created by someone who saw or heard the

event themselves?

PRIMARY SOURCE QUESTIONS TO ASK

• What was the purpose of the document / piece?• Who was the intended audience?• What historical facts can we determine from it?• What events were occurring at the time?• Is the document biased? Give examples• How does this help you understand the past

better?

CONTINUITY AND CHANGE


• Students sometimes misunderstand history as a list of events.

• Once they understand history as a mix of continuity and change, they reach a better understanding.

• There were lots of things happening at any given time in the past.

Example The decade of the 1910s in Canada: There was change in many parts of life, but not much change in government. If students say “nothing happened in 1911,” they are thinking of the past as a list of events.


• Some parts of life changed more quickly in some time periods than others. • Turning points help us to identify change.• Change does not always mean progress. • Chronology (a timeline of when things happened

by date / year) can help us understand Continuity and Change.

CONTINUITY AND CHANGE: QUESTIONS TO ASK

• Compare this time period to an earlier time: what changed and what stayed the same?• For whom did conditions change?• Why did conditions change?• What were some specific “turning points” that represent major change?o Was this a dramatic and quick change or did it happen

slowly and in stages?


Tasks:

1. Identify Continuity and Change in your life “timeline”

2. Discuss: If you could preserve or change on practice or feature of life in your community, what would it be? Explain.

CAUSE AND CONSEQUENCE


• Human beings cause historical change • Constraints come from:o the environment,o geography, o historical legacies, o other people who want other things.

• Actions often have unintended consequences


Consider a car crash:Potential Causes

• Skill of the driver• Distracted driver• Violation of driving rules• Condition of the cars

involved• The weather• Road signage• Traffic lights, etc.

Potential Consequences• Demerits or suspended

license • Harm to driver and others

CAUSE AND CONSEQUENCE: QUESTIONS TO ASK

• What specifically triggered this event? • What were the immediate consequences or

results of this event?o What groups or people were most affected by these

immediate results?• Did the immediate results of this event lead to further consequences? o Which people or groups were involved?

• What were the long-term consequences of this event?


Task:1. Identify examples of Cause and Consequence in

your life. 2. Find Cause and Consequence in Manitoba’s

entry into Confederation.Why did the Red River Resistance happen? (Cause)Why did Manitoba become a province? (Consequence)

CAUSE AND CONSEQUENCE: MB ENTRY INTO CONFEDERATION

Cause Role Played (short or long term)

Consequence / Result

How much of an effect this had

Rupert’s Land “up for sale”: Metis living there were not consulted

Short term decision with long term consequences

The gov’t of Canada bought Rupert’s Land

The Metis resisted

Gov’t would not negotiate at first = Red River Resistance

Eventually gov’t agreed to grant rights = Prov. of MB in 1870

Long term: Riel as leader (Northwest Resistance, etc.)

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES


• Taking historical perspectives means understanding the social, cultural, intellectual, and emotional settings that shaped people’s lives and actions in the past. • At any one point, different historical figures may

have acted on the basis of conflicting beliefs and ideas.• Therefore, understanding different perspectives is

key to taking historical perspectives.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES• Taking historical perspectives requires evidence in order to

be able to make inferences about how people felt and thought.

• We cannot imagine how a person felt without finding out what was happening at the time.

Example: Louis Riel (used to be considered a traitor) • Any particular historical event or situation involves people

who may have diverse perspectives about that event or situation.

• Therefore, understanding multiple perspectives of people in history is key to understanding the event.

• Understanding HP does not mean that you necessarily agree with their behaviors and actions.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES: QUESTIONS TO ASK

• Why did this person/these people act the way she/he/they did? o What feelings could this person have felt?

• What was going on in history when this decision was made? • What were the beliefs/values of this

society/people at the time? • Imagine yourself in that person’s place. How

would you have responded to the historical situation?


Tasks:1. Imagine someone is studying your life 50 years

from now. What Historical Perspectives would they see? Explain.

2. Read “The Voyages of Champlain, May 27, 1603” account. Answer the questions on HP.

-Note: You may need to find out some background on Samuel de Champlain. Check the Canadian Encyclopedia.

ETHICAL DIMENSIONS

ETHICAL DIMENSIONS

• What does “Ethics” mean? What is Right, what is Wrong?

• Are we obligated to remember the fallen soldiers of the First World War?

• Do we owe reparations to the First Nations victims of Aboriginal residential schools, or to the descendants of those who paid the Chinese Head Tax?

• In other words, what responsibilities do we have based on historical crimes and sacrifices of the past?

• We should learn something from the past that helps us to face the ethical issues of today.

ETHICAL DIMENSIONS: QUESTIONS TO ASK

• What ethical questions does this event, action, or development raise?

• What were the values or beliefs of people at the time when this event took place?

• If this event were to take place today, how would people react?

Tasks:• Think of an ethical situation from your past and

explain why it was an issue• Discuss: o It is often said that we learn from mistakes of the past.

Do you think this is true? o Consider an example that contradicts this statement.

Why do you think the same error would have been repeated?

• Examine the historical example: Residential Schools. Answer the Ethics questions.

-Prime Minister Stephen Harper Official Apology

6 Historical Thinking Points

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