History simply means ‘to enquire’ or ask questions about the past to help make sense of it
|
A person who studies the past is known as a HISTORIAN
|
|
|
LOOKING AT HISTORY IS VERY MUCH LIKE BEING A DETECTIVE.WE HAVE TO LOOK AT THE EVIDENCE CAREFULLY BEFORE DECIDING WHAT we think REALLY MAY HAVE HAPPENED. 
|
1ST TYPE OF EVIDENCE :
|
2ND TYPE OF EVIDENCE :
|
|
A SOURCE IS SIMPLY ANY PIECE OF EVIDENCE |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
WHY IS TIME SPLIT UP INTO BC AND AD?
|
We also divide time up into the years BEFORE the birth of Jesus Christ and the years AFTER his birth.
The years before are labelled BC. These initials stand for “Before Christ”. The years after the birth of Christ are labelled AD. These initials stand for “Anno Domini”, which are Latin words for “In the year of our Lord”. |
(REMEMBER for BC: YOU COUNT BACK FROM THE BIRTH OF JESUS. (SO THE OLDEST DATE WILL BE THE BIGGEST ONE) e.g. 5000 BC is a lot older than 53 BC as it is 5000 years before the birth of Christ compared to only 53 years.
(AFTER CHRIST)
(REMEMBER YOU COUNT UP FROM THE BIRTH OF JESUS. SO THE OLDEST DATE WILL BE THE SMALLEST ONE) e.g 25 AD is 25 years after Jesus was born compared to 2019 AD which is 2,019 years after his birth. |
|
|
|
‘ORDER OF TIME’
|
|
|
Historians have to get dates and events in the right order. The word they use for putting dates in the right order is CHRONOLOGY.
|
|
(A century = 100 years)
If you are 11 years old it means that you have lived for 11 complete years and are now in your 12th year.
A newborn baby is 0 years old but is living in its first year.
We count the centuries in the same way. Here are some examples:
· The 21st century includes all the years that start with 20 because there have been 20 complete centuries and now the 21st is happening.
· The year 1666 is in the 17th century.
· The 19th century includes the year 1815.
Another way to get the century is to simply do the PLUS ONE TRICK:
1666 ( So take the first 2 digits and add 1. So in this case 16 PLUS 1 = 17th century)
1432 (14 PLUS 1 = 15th century)
Be careful with early dates like 359AD (For this you take only the first digit and ADD ONE)
So 359AD would be the 4th century (3 PLUS 1)
|
|
|
Read this report:
|
“Newcastle were SO lucky on Saturday. The superb and skilful Man U players were beaten by the lucky, cheating Newcastle players. The referee was totally biased. He allowed five goals that were all offside. I have never seen so much luck and cheating!” |
This was written by a Man United fan after they were beaten 5 – 0 by Newcastle united. Can you see how she may have been BIAS (or giving unfair opinions?) |
Historians have to be very careful. if someone is biased they are not giving the full story or giving us a fair account of what happened.
This means it is important for us, as historians, to know who wrote or created a source and why they wrote what they did.
Were they being fair or unfair? Did they have a reason for writing what they did? Were they showing bias?
Bias can be very useful though because it helps us to learn about people’s opinions and beliefs. Spotting bias is a skill that all historians need to develop.
HTC HISTORY HUB 