Historical Building Blocks
If you google the phrase “Doing History” you will come across several blogs, websites, and articles discussing the importance of taking part in the historical process. The building blocks of the historical process include understanding what primary sources are, how to find and study them, as well as how to critically analyze and interpret a variety of historical records. Secondary sources also play a role in the historical process. Historians create secondary sources when they write history articles or books on a historical topic.
Understanding how to use both primary and secondary sources is important, however it is also essential that history students learn a variety of ways to approach thinking about history. Studying the objects and artifacts of past civilizations helps us place people and events in historical context. Determining chronological sequences also helps historians figure out what decisions may have led to later events. Another concept that is harder to grasp, but just as important, is learning how to put yourself in the mindset of someone living in a different place and time.
Presentism is a term used by historians when someone is applying modern day
standards and judgments to historical events and figures. Professional
Historians work hard to recognize when their modern-day perspective is
influencing their interpretation of the past. It is something that takes
practice, but the main goal is to recognize the different perspectives and
points of view from which people research and study history. Another key
concept you might hear historians discussing is historiography. Historiography
is the study of the way historians have written about the past. Considering the
historiography for a particular topic, event, or person helps historians
recognize what political or social influences may have contributed to a
particular interpretation or understanding of the past.
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