Investigating History....
How do we judge the "truth" of history? Here are some questions as you look at contradictory or complementary sources.
* Who is telling the story? Whose viewpoint is taken? What interest might he or she have in skewing the story one way or another?
* Primary source? Secondary Source? Is the account contemporary, or years after the event? Did this person have the opportunity to witness/actually know about the events portrayed? Could memory interfere with the veracity of the account?
* Remember, just because a lot of people say it doesn't make it so. Can you discern the original source of the story?
* Everyone has a point of view. Look at different perspectives on the same topic. In sifting through these, what can you determine? Surmise? Be sure to state if you are speculating.
* Historiography is how history is presented. Examine the same topic and how it is presented over different time periods. How has the narrative changed? (An excellent resource for this: Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W Loewen)
* Whose story is not told? Why is there difficulty obtaining information on women and African Americans? Does this mean we can't tell their stories? How can we find out what their lives were like?
* Just because it's on the Internet or in a book doesn't make it true! Great place for primary sources is the Library of Congress (loc.gov). It will take longer to navigate that site than some others. History Channel, PBS, Smithsonian, National Park Service all have sites that are quite reliable (not necessarily completely error-proof!).
* Our understanding of history changes, and new information can sometimes contradict what was previously held as true. Look for reliability and how current your information is.
How do we judge the "truth" of history? Here are some questions as you look at contradictory or complementary sources.
* Who is telling the story? Whose viewpoint is taken? What interest might he or she have in skewing the story one way or another?
* Primary source? Secondary Source? Is the account contemporary, or years after the event? Did this person have the opportunity to witness/actually know about the events portrayed? Could memory interfere with the veracity of the account?
* Remember, just because a lot of people say it doesn't make it so. Can you discern the original source of the story?
* Everyone has a point of view. Look at different perspectives on the same topic. In sifting through these, what can you determine? Surmise? Be sure to state if you are speculating.
* Historiography is how history is presented. Examine the same topic and how it is presented over different time periods. How has the narrative changed? (An excellent resource for this: Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W Loewen)
* Whose story is not told? Why is there difficulty obtaining information on women and African Americans? Does this mean we can't tell their stories? How can we find out what their lives were like?
* Just because it's on the Internet or in a book doesn't make it true! Great place for primary sources is the Library of Congress (loc.gov). It will take longer to navigate that site than some others. History Channel, PBS, Smithsonian, National Park Service all have sites that are quite reliable (not necessarily completely error-proof!).
* Our understanding of history changes, and new information can sometimes contradict what was previously held as true. Look for reliability and how current your information is.