Menu

Historiography

World History teaching resources for the high school classroom: lesson plans, worksheets, quizzes and simulation games for KS3, IGCSE, IB and A-Level teachers.
 

A. Why is history so important to society?

▪ History is to society what memory is to the individual. It

▪ An individual stripped of memory finds the world a confusing place; a society with no sense of history is unaware where it has come from or where it is going.

▪ The historian, by providing society with its collective memory, is a powerful individual. After all, "History" doesn't actually mean "What happened in the past". It doesn’t even mean "Surviving evidence from the past". It means "What historians have interpreted from the surviving evidence of the past".

▪ It is therefore important to consider carefully what the nature of the surviving evidence is, and how historians then choose to select and present it.

▪ Historians will approach the evidence with a "Big Question" in mind (e.g. Who was to blame for World War One? Was Nazism something which could only have happened in Germany?). With this question in mind, they will approach the historical record and assess the evidence in a number of ways outlined on the following pages.

 

< Prev
Next >

 


 


© 1998-2024 Russel Tarr, ActiveHistory.co.uk Limited (Reg. 6111680)
1 Torrin Drive, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY3 6AW, England

All rights reserved | Privacy Policy | Contact

  WARNING: Your account expires in days. RENEW NOW to avoid losing access!

testimonials

Buy the Books!

 

Latest Additions

New resources are added every single week of the year!

View more

About

ActiveHistory is the work of full-time history teacher Russel Tarr
.

Latest news from my classroom

Connect

Get full access now!

ActiveHistory provides vast amounts of worksheets, lesson plans, interactive simulations, self-marking quizzes, model essays and teacher support materials for the high school world history classroom.
Whole-school, 24-hour access for students and teachers costs less than a few textbooks!

CLICK HERE