Module_One_Approaches_to_History

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(Click button for citation) Module One: Approaches to History Module One: Approaches to History Overview How can thinking like a historian be useful even if you're not looking to become a historian yourself? This course will show you how applying historical thinking skills can benefit you, no matter what you're looking to learn at SNHU. In this course, we'll show you the value of historical thinking across disciplines. To start, we'll explore the ways in which historians typically approach understanding historical events in the eight learning blocks that make up Modules One and Two. In order to understand how historians think, we'll first establish why historians look at historical events: they identify historically significant events of interest to them and choose a specific historical lens they will use to analyze those events. Next, we'll establish what historians do to analyze historical events: they develop and refine a research question to focus their analysis, develop search terms based on their research question, and locate primary and secondary sources to determine the context of their historical event. Finally, we'll close Module Two: Approaches to History, continued by walking you through the process of drafting a writing plan. Even if they don't write a formal writing plan like you will be doing, all historians begin to write a historical event analysis with some kind of strategy in mind—a plan for finding information in primary and secondary sources that will help them answer their research questions and enhance their understanding of the topic at hand. This approach is actually pretty similar to approaches used in different fields, if you think about it. In drafting a proposal for a business plan, an entrepreneur would identify a gap in the market for a new good or service, research what evidence could help make a case for this gap, and develop an argument to a potential investor in order to secure funding. This approach might also remind you of the scientific method used in the physical sciences in which a natural phenomenon is observed, investigated, and tested in order to draw a conclusion. Although we're looking at history in this course, keep in mind that the skills you are refining here are also relevant in other, sometimes unexpected, fields of study at the university. Course Outcomes After completing this section, you should be able to: Apply key approaches to studying history in addressing critical questions related to historical narratives and perspectives Select appropriate and relevant primary and secondary sources in investigating foundational historic events Modules One and Two consist of eight learning blocks that span two weeks in this course. These learning blocks are represented by the blocks at the bottom of this page. At the conclusion of Module One , you will submit your choice of topic and research question for the historical event analysis essay to your instructor for approval. At the end of Module Two , you will submit a draft of your writing plan, which will be helpful in mapping out your final essay. The following activities will be graded : Short response exercises—brief written exercises throughout the course Submission of your choice of topic and research question Draft of your writing plan Discussion board participation Copyright © 2023 MindEdge Inc. All rights reserved. Duplication prohibited.
1-1 The Rights of Immigrants Module One: Approaches to History | Learning Block 1-1: The Rights of Immigrants Over the centuries, millions of immigrants have journeyed to America. Most sought to fit into American society, yet most also sought to hold onto certain aspects of their native lands. The experience of different immigrant groups illustrates the difficulty of "fitting in" and attaining the full range of rights that the Constitution guarantees to all citizens, when one is perceived as somehow different from native-born Americans. In this module, we will look at the experiences of two different immigrant groups—the Irish and the Québécois, French-speaking immigrants from Quebec—who came to America in large numbers during the 19th century. Looking at the experiences of these two groups will help us learn how to begin to think like historians: to assess the historical significance of events, to place them in context, and to understand the different perspectives, or lenses, through which we can view these events. You will begin developing the historical thinking skills necessary to ask questions, investigate sources, and begin outlining your historical analysis essay, using these two immigrant groups as backdrops. Learning Objectives In this learning block, you will: Be introduced to the core concept of this section: the rights of immigrants Learn about the concept of historical significance Apply the concept of historical significance to your own experience The Rights of Immigrants Module One: Approaches to History | Learning Block 1-1 | Page 1 of 3 The Rights of Immigrants The United States, as the saying goes, is a nation of immigrants. In 2014, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 13.3 percent of all Americans were foreign-born (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014), while everyone else—including Native Americans—was descended from someone who, however long ago, came here from somewhere else. That simple fact defines America as something different from most other countries: a place whose national identity is not rooted solely in geography or ethnicity but which comprises such shared values as democracy, liberty, opportunity, and upward mobility. Copyright © 2023 MindEdge Inc. All rights reserved. Duplication prohibited.
But it is also a fact that America, as a nation, has not always embraced newcomers to its shores. For many immigrant groups, the path to acceptance—and the ability to exercise the full panoply of rights enjoyed by native-born Americans—has been a tortuous one. There is a strong strain of nativism that runs through American culture and society. Especially in times of economic hardship, immigrants have been demonized for "taking American jobs"; at other times they have been victims of religious or racial/ethnic discrimination. The struggle of different immigrant groups to overcome these obstacles, and to be incorporated fully into American society and economic life, is a crucial element of the American story (Schrag, 2010). Immigrants came here from many countries, and they entered the country through many different ports. Perhaps the most famous gateway was Ellis Island in New York Harbor—the first federal immigration station, through which 12 million immigrants passed. Today, Ellis Island, as part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument, stands as a symbol of the American immigrant experience. References Schrag, P. (2010, September 13). The unwanted: Immigration and nativism in America. American Immigration Council. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/unwanted-immigration-and-nativism-america U.S. Census Bureau. (2020). Foreign Born ACS Data Tables. U.S. Census. https://www.census.gov/topics/population/foreign- born/data/tables/acs-tables.html Historical Significance Module One: Approaches to History | Learning Block 1-1 | Page 2 of 3 Historical Significance Significance is one of the most important concepts in the study of history. (Kimball, 1997) Historical significance is closely related to the concept of importance , but it implies a higher standard: lots of events may seem important at the time they take place, but how many are historically significant? Historical significance can help us understand the experience of immigrant groups in the United States. Ellis Island was the main entry facility for immigrants entering the United States between 1892 and 1954. Click on the image above to take the Ellis Island virtual tour. (Click button for citation) Historians generally rate historical significance by asking four key questions : Copyright © 2023 MindEdge Inc. All rights reserved. Duplication prohibited.
Historical Significance From the historian's standpoint, significance is a measure of whether an event or person is worth remembering, worth teaching about, and worth being the subject of historical research. Human history consists of every event that's ever happened, but only a few are remembered and taught about many years later. Those are the events with historical significance. Think about your own personal history. You've probably done a lot of different things today: eat lunch, worked out, drove to work, walked the dog. Maybe you've done something genuinely important, such as paying your mortgage or calling your mother on her birthday. Thirty years from now, when you're writing your autobiography, would you write about any of the things you did today? If not, then those events are not historically significant moments in your life. An individual might be considered historically significant if he or she is connected in some way to a larger historical event or trend. John F. Kennedy, the great grandson of Irish immigrants, was a historically significant figure because of his close involvement in many momentous events: the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Space Race, and the American involvement in Vietnam, to name just a few. Other individuals may be considered more or less historically significant through their connection to historically significant events. Let's say your grandfather was an immigrant from Ireland who enlisted in the US army and fought in World War II. That fact alone lends him some degree of historical significance. He would be seen as a more historically significant figure if he had a direct impact on the course of events during the war, say, as a battlefield commander or as a participant in a major turning point in the war, such as the D-Day invasion. Similarly, if your great grandmother emigrated from Quebec at the turn of the last century, and then sang in a radio program broadcast by radio station KDKA in Pittsburgh, one of the first regularly scheduled radio stations in the nation, she would have had some measure of historical significance. She would be seen as a more significant figure if she had gone onto a career as a radio network personality in New York, say, or if she had become an official of AFTRA, the labor union for radio and later television performers. By this measure, most people can claim some measure of historical significance. The task of the historian, however, is to make a judgement about which events and people are significant enough to write about and to teach. Historians make those judgments after looking at evidence and considering events and individuals in light of the historical context. It's important to remember that historical significance is not an absolute. One group of people might consider an event or person to be historically significant while other groups may not. An event may be significant to people in one part of the world or one region of the country, but not to those who live elsewhere. But it remains the job of the historian to judge which events and individuals are so historically significant that they merit being written about and studied by future generations. References Kimball, A. (1997, March 31). Ways of seeing history. University of Oregon. http://pages.uoregon.edu/kimball/ways.html Phillips, R. (2002, March). Historical significance – The forgotten 'key element'? Teaching History, (106), 14–19. http://search.proquest.com/openview/535c4fbce3194b0a79d80f3f6dea5f7f/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=48308 Assimilation How notable, or important, was the event at the time it occurred? Did the event affect a great many people? Were the consequences of the event extensive and enduring? Does the event symbolize or relate to broader historical trends? (Phillips, 2002) Copyright © 2023 MindEdge Inc. All rights reserved. Duplication prohibited.
Module One: Approaches to History | Learning Block 1-1 | Page 3 of 3 Assimilation The process by which immigrant communities, over time, integrate themselves into their host society is known as assimilation. In America, this process generally involves the gradual adoption of the English language, along with American culture and values, by the immigrant group. Full assimilation is said to occur when members of a particular group are indistinguishable from the rest of American society (Brown & Bean, 2006). Throughout American history, assimilation has generally been assumed to be the logical and desired end result for any immigrant group coming to America. (Schrag, 2010) This assumption is not universally shared, however, and some immigrant groups have resisted assimilation by holding on to their native language, food, and cultural practices. Other immigrants saw themselves as "birds of passage," coming to America to take advantage of the greater economic opportunities here but returning home after they'd earned enough money to live comfortably in their native lands. Barriers to Assimilation The classic theory of assimilation holds that immigrants inevitably become more "Americanized" with the passage of time. But there are many barriers to assimilation that can delay or even prevent a group's full assimilation (Brown & Bean, 2006). Language is one of the primary barriers to assimilation. Immigrant groups whose members speak English may find it easier to assimilate than members of other groups, though this is not always the case. Race may also block a group's assimilation into American society. The nation's tragic history of racial division has had a long- lasting impact on American society; the simple fact is that having a darker skin color undeniably marks a person as different from the majority of white Americans. For that reason alone, an English-speaking immigrant from Nigeria, for example, might find it harder to "blend in" than an English-speaking immigrant from Scotland. Finally, religion has historically been a major barrier to assimilation. From the earliest colonial days, religious minorities have often faced prejudice and discrimination in America. From the anti-Catholic riots of the 19th century to the widespread anti- Semitism of the 20th century to the anti-Muslim sentiment of the post-9/11 era, religious prejudices have proven to be a powerful impediment to assimilation. Review Checkpoint To test your understanding of the content presented in this learning block, please click on the Question icon below . Click your selected response to see feedback displayed below it. If you have trouble answering, you are always free to return to this or any learning block to re-read the material. 1. Which of the following events has the least historical significance, in terms of Abraham Lincoln's presidency? a. Abraham Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg Address b. Abraham Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Proclamation c. Abraham Lincoln writing a letter to the widow of a Union soldier d. Abraham Lincoln lobbying Congress to pass the Thirteenth Amendment 2. The events and opinions that prevailed at the time of a particular historical event are known as ________? a. Historical lenses b. Oral history Sociologists measure assimilation by the extent to which members of an immigrant group: Improve their socioeconomic status, making it comparable to national norms; Increase geographic mobility, moving beyond the ethnic enclaves in which many immigrants first settle; Adopt English as a second and, eventually, first language; and Intermarry—that is, marry people from outside their ethnic group or community (Waters & Jiménez, 2005). Copyright © 2023 MindEdge Inc. All rights reserved. Duplication prohibited.
c. Historicity d. Historical context References Brown, S. K., & Bean, F. D. (2006, October 1). Assimilation models, old and new: Explaining a long-term process. Migration Policy Institute. http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/assimilation-models-old-and-new-explaining-long-term-process Schrag, P. (2010, September 13). The unwanted: Immigration and nativism in America. American Immigration Council. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/unwanted-immigration-and-nativism-america Waters, M., & Jiménez, T. (2005). Assessing immigrant assimilation: New empirical and theoretical challenges. Annual Review of Sociology, 31 (1), 105–125. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.29.010202.100026 1-2 Historical Thinking Module One: Approaches to History | Learning Block 1-2: Historical Thinking Studying history is not a matter of memorizing names and dates. Studying history is an effort to make sense of the past—to understand why certain events took place and to draw from that understanding larger conclusions about human society. To do all that requires a particular mindset, a way of looking at the events of the past that allows us to see connections and causalities that may elude the casual observer. Thinking like a historian is a vital skill, and learning that skill is one of the central goals of this course. The skills you learn in this course will be useful both in completing your historical analysis essay and in your future studies at SNHU. Learning Objectives In this learning block, you will: Be introduced to the concept of historical lenses Learn to look at historical events through different lenses Thinking Like a Historian Module One: Approaches to History | Learning Block 1-2 | Page 1 of 3 Thinking Like a Historian For too many people, history is an unconnected list of names and dates—a litany of people and events that needs to be memorized but not necessarily understood. Needless to say, that's not the way historians think about history. They know that history, in the most fundamental sense, is a story : a complex narrative with lots of moving, interdependent parts, all of which inform and instruct us about the past. And historical thinking is a way to think about the world that helps us understand not only the past, but the present (Wineburg, 2016). Copyright © 2023 MindEdge Inc. All rights reserved. Duplication prohibited.
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