CLASS 7 · LEARNING KNOWLEDGE

Historical Perspectives and Source Criticism – Basic Principles

How it works

Historical perspectives mean that people in the past perceived their world differently from the way we do today. Source criticism is the methodical examination of records (e.g. texts, images, objects) for origin, purpose, credibility, and informative value. Historians use different types of sources (e.g. material sources, image sources, text sources) to reconstruct events and examine them critically. Different perspectives and interests influence both the creation and the interpretation of sources.

Note
Source criticism requires examining the origin, purpose, perspective, and context of a source in order to assess its informative value for historical research.

An example

A knight writes a letter in the year 1250 about a battle. What must be especially taken into account when evaluating this source?

One must check whether the knight was directly involved, what purpose he had with the letter (e.g. glory, justification), and whether he describes the events objectively or from his own point of view. The historical context (e.g. hostilities) is also important.

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50 Exercises

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Own explanation and own practice exercises by AmyMath. Subject reference framework: History. The topic assignment may vary by federal state.