Historical Thinking & Evidence Worksheet

Question 1

What is the difference between a primary source and a secondary source? Give one example of each.

Accepted Answer

A primary source is created at the time of an event (e.g., a diary, photograph, speech); a secondary source analyzes or interprets primary sources (e.g., a textbook, biography).

Question 2

What is the difference between correlation and causation in historical analysis?

Accepted Answer

Correlation means two events occurred together or in sequence; causation means one event directly caused another. Historians must use evidence to distinguish which relationship exists.

Question 3

What does it mean to evaluate the reliability of a historical source?

Accepted Answer

It means examining the author's perspective, purpose, audience, and proximity to the event to determine how trustworthy and complete the source is.

Question 4

Give one example of continuity and one example of change in American history between 1865 and 1920.

Accepted Answer

Answers vary. Change: abolition of slavery (13th Amendment), industrialization, women's suffrage movement. Continuity: racial inequality persisted despite legal changes; rural farming culture in many regions.

Question 5

What is historical context and why does it matter when analyzing a source?

Accepted Answer

Historical context is the social, political, economic, and cultural conditions surrounding an event or source. It matters because events and documents cannot be accurately understood without knowing the circumstances in which they occurred.

Question 6

A photograph shows a crowded factory floor in 1910. What can you infer from this image, and what can you NOT conclude?

Accepted Answer

Infer: factories were busy, used many workers, conditions may have been crowded. Cannot conclude: worker pay, hours, safety conditions, or whether this was typical. You need additional sources.

Question 7

Why might historians reach different conclusions when analyzing the same historical evidence?

Accepted Answer

Historians may have different perspectives, ask different questions, emphasize different evidence, or interpret the significance of events differently based on their frameworks and contexts.

Question 8

Choose one historical event. Describe one cause and one effect of that event.

Accepted Answer

Answers vary, e.g., World War I: cause = assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand; effect = redrawing of European borders and rise of nationalist movements.

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Historical Thinking & Evidence

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