History Notes

Source Criticism

  • History is a science; narratives must be based on primary sources.

  • Historical criticism involves scrutiny of sources to ensure accuracy and credibility.

  • Establish authorship, date, and place of production to confirm authenticity and detect forgeries.

  • Examine the language for symbolisms and idiomatic expressions that may not be literal.

  • Mastery of the language of the document is essential to understand its nuances.

  • Historical criticism principles are applicable in real-life scenarios.

Pawn Stars Examples

Alfred Hitchcock Autograph

  • An autograph self-portrait of Alfred Hitchcock is brought in for evaluation.

  • The signature and silhouette are examined for authenticity.

  • The expert confirms the authenticity and estimates the value at 12001200.

  • The seller's bottom price is 25002500 but accepts expert's valuation.

Napoleon Document

  • A letter purportedly signed by Napoleon is presented, accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.

  • The buyer purchases it for 20002000 without verification.

  • A history professor identifies it as a replica of a proclamation made after the Battle of Austerlitz.

  • The original document is located in a military museum near Paris.

  • The replica is deemed worthless due to the lack of handwritten ink and faded color.

Applying Historical Thinking

  • The importance of verifying signatures and handwriting to avoid fakes and forgeries.

Examples for Applying External and Internal Criticism

  • An online news item is presented for scrutiny regarding external authenticity and internal credibility.

  • Questions to ask:

    • Who produced the news?

    • Is the information corroborated or cross-referenced?

    • What are the legal grounds?

    • Questioning the language used, such as "make herself look dumb."

  • Doubts arise regarding the authenticity of the news item.

  • Missing information includes the specific news site where it was published.

Analyzing a Meme

  • There is no source indicated.

Deep Fakes

  • Be cautious about videos that could be manufactured and fake.

Three Effective Historical Thinking Skills

Multiple Causation

  • When studying events, it's important to identify multiple factors.

  • Looking into all circumstances that led to an event happening.

    • Example: March 2020 lockdown – caused by the Covid-19 pandemic sanctioned by the World Health Organization.

Sensitivity to Context

  • Be mindful of the temporal gap between generations.

  • Temporal: time; melting culture.

  • Understanding historical events based on the values and beliefs of the time period

  • Example: measure or the standard of beauty: Africans, Mayans, Chinese.
    * We cannot pass moral value judgments.

  • Abortion practices in precolonial culture should be understood within their historical values and beliefs.

    • You cannot say that it is against the teachings of the church.

Interplay of Continuity and Change

  • History is NOT a study of facts alone.

    • Establish continuities and changes over time.

  • Focus on discerning patterns of continuities (things that have continued on to the present) and changes.

  • Examine perceptions, materials used, and symbolism in artifacts and material culture.

Class Activity

  • Attendance-based activity under quizzes.

  • Tool used is quizzes phrases: True or false, yes or no, multiple choice.

  • Two-minute time limit for the assessment. Five multiple-choice questions.