Year

11 ATAR

Understanding the Modern World: Capitalism

The American Experience
1907 - 1941

What is history?

What is history?

The study of the past.

Historians seek to piece together accurate pictures of what life was like in days
gone by.

They also look for paKerns(What has changed? What has remained the same?
Why?).

Historians use historical inquiry. This includes:

Asking quesPons.

Forming opinions and theories.

LocaPng and analysing sources.

Using evidence (from sources) to develop an informed explanaPon about the past.

Oral accounts, artefacts and archaeological nds form the basis of research and
invesPgaPon in history.

Concepts for historical

understanding
PerspecPves.
Consider some of the
perspecPves and opinions
of most Europeans at the
Pme of colonisaPon. What
did they think of the
Indigenous people of Asia,
Oceania and Africa?

Concepts for historical

understanding
ConPnuity and change.

Concepts for historical

understanding
Cause and eect.
IdenPes chains of development (short and long term).
Helps to idenPfy, examine and analyse the reasons why events

have occurred and the resulPng consequences or outcomes.

Think of cause as the why of history.

Think of eect as the what of history.

The discovery of gold in
NSW and Victoria (1851).

Gold rush.

ImmigraPon.

DiscriminaPon and violence
against Chinese miners.

Dispossession of Indigenous
people from their land.

Concepts for historical

understanding
Empathy.

Concepts for historical

understanding

Evidence.
Signicance.
Contestability.

Historical Skills
Chronology, terms and
concepts.
-

IdenPfy links between

events to understand
the nature and
signicance of causaPon,
conPnuity and change
over Pme..

Use historical terms and

concepts in appropriate
contexts to demonstrate
historical knowledge and
understanding.

BCE: Before the Common Era (the period of history

before the birth of Christ).

CE: Common Era (any Pme aber the birth of Christ).

Notes: These terms have largely replaced the old-
fashioned abbreviaPons of AD and BC.

Historical Skills
Historical quesPons and research.
-

Formulate, test and modify proposiPons to invesPgate

historical issues.

Frame quesPons to guide inquiry and develop a coherent

research plan for inquiry.

IdenPfy, locate and organise relevant informaPon from a

range of primary and secondary sources.

PracPce ethical scholarship when conducPng research.

Historical Skills
Analysis and use of sources.
-

IdenPfy the origin, purpose and context of historical

sources.

Analyse, interpret and synthesise evidence from

dierent types of sources to develop and sustain an
historical argument.

Evaluate the reliability, usefulness and contestable

nature of sources to develop informed judgements
that support an historical argument.

Primary and secondary

sources
Primary sources: A primary source is informaPon and/or records that
provide rst-hand evidence that can be used to create a picture of what
happened at the Pme. Primary sources may be unpublished.
Some examples include: artwork, artefacts, cerPcates (births, deaths,
marriages, etc), journal or diary entries

Secondary sources: Secondary sources can be thought of as second-hand
informaPon. Secondary sources analyse and interpret primary sources.
Some examples include: essays, journal arPcles, history books and text
books
SACE Board of South Australia, 2009, Primary and Secondary Sources:
h9p://students.adelaidehs.sa.edu.au/Subjects/SACE/PrimarySecondarySources.pdf

DO!

DONT!

Check catalogues at your school and local

libraries

Use informaPon from blogs

Use online search engines like Google and

Yahoo (but with cauPon!)

Take all your informaPon from sites like

Wikipedia

Visit museum and government websites

Ever cut and paste work from a website

into your own assignments

Look in magazine and newspaper archives

Use someone elses work without

referencing it!

Get in touch with local historical sociePes

Use too few (or too many!) references;

nd a good balance

Use sites that are linked to educaPonal

insPtuPons (universiPes)

Use only primary or only secondary

sources in your research

Historical Skills
PerspecPves and interpretaPons.
-

Analyse and account for the dierent perspecPves of

individuals and groups in the past.

Evaluate criPcally dierent historical interpretaPons of the

past, how they evolved, and how they are shaped by the
historians perspecPve.

Evaluate contested views about the past to understand

the provisional nature of historical knowledge and to
arrive at reasoned and supported conclusions.

Historical Skills
ExplanaPon and communicaPon.
-

Develop texts that integrate appropriate evidence

from a range of sources to explain the past and to
support and refute arguments.

Communicate historical understanding by selecPng

and using text forms appropriate to the purpose and
audience.

Apply appropriate referencing techniques accurately

and consistently.