Why historians disagree about empire
Two historians can use the same documents and reach opposite conclusions. That is not a flaw in history.
Part of your national curriculum
- Historical enquiry: Discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed
Key learning points
- • Why interpretations differ
- • The context of the writer
- • Judging between them
This lesson at a glance
- 28 minutes
- 17 parts to scroll through
- 3 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 17
Watch first
Why historians disagree about empire
An English teaching video on this topic from Homeschool History. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.
In a nutshell
Discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed
What you already know
Part 2 of 17
Before we start
What you already know
You should already know that historians write from their own time and place, and that an interpretation is an argument built from evidence.
Key words
Part 3 of 17
Key words
Words you'll need today
- Interpretation
- A historian's argued view of the past, built from evidence.
- Context
- The circumstances in which a writer works, which shape their questions.
- Balance sheet
- The attempt to weigh benefits against harms, which can hide who experienced each.
- Perspective
- The standpoint from which the past is viewed.
Learning cycle
Part 4 of 17
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Why interpretations differ
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 5 of 17
Learn
Why interpretations differ
Historians choose different questions, different evidence and different scales. A study of trade figures and a study of famine records will not tell the same story.
Explore the idea
Part 6 of 17
Learn
The context of the writer
Interpretations carry the concerns of their own time. Accounts written in 1900, 1960 and today reflect changing politics as well as changing evidence.
Quick check
Part 7 of 17
Quick check
Why can two historians disagree using the same sources?
Reset break
Part 8 of 17
Pause
That's sitting 1 of 2 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Quick check
Part 9 of 17
Quick check
Why does the date an account was written matter?
Learning cycle
Part 10 of 17
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Judging between them
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 11 of 17
Learn
Judging between them
Ask what evidence supports the claim, what it leaves out, and whether the conclusion follows. Disagreement is settled by argument and evidence, not by preference.
Quick check
Part 12 of 17
Quick check
How should you judge between interpretations?
Common mix-ups
Part 13 of 17
Common mix-ups
Things people often get wrong
- People often think disagreement means someone is lying. Historians can use the same evidence and ask different questions.
- People often want a single verdict on empire. Effects differed enormously by place, time and group.
Challenge round
Part 14 of 17
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Challenge round
Part 15 of 17
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
____ carry the concerns of their own time.
Mastery quiz
Part 16 of 17
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Why historians disagree about empire
6 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. Historians disagree mainly because they…
2. A writer's context matters because it shapes…
3. A 'balance sheet' of empire is risky because it…
4. To judge between interpretations you should ask…
5. Which statement is most historically careful?
6. Interpretations are…
Lesson round-up
Part 17 of 17
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
Quiz score
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Points this lesson
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Best run
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Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaDo the work
Your written work for this lesson
This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.
A factory inspector's notebook, 1842
"I visited the mill at seven in the morning. The machines were already running. I counted fourteen children at the frames, the youngest no more than nine years of age. The overseer told me they work from six until seven, with forty minutes for dinner."
"The air is thick with cotton dust and the windows are kept shut so the thread does not break. Two of the children showed me hands cut by the shuttles. The owner assured me that the work is light and that the families beg him for the places, since without the children's wages the rent cannot be paid."
"I have written to the magistrates. I doubt much will follow from it."
Original source-style text written for Good Learning Co.
Reading questions
- Who wrote this, when, and why might that make it useful to a historian?
- What does the source tell you about children's work — and what does it not tell you?
- How far does this source show that mill owners were to blame? Answer with a judgement and evidence.
Source work
ReadingRead the source closely. Write who made it, when, and what it tells you — then what it does not tell you.
2 paragraphs
Essay answer
WritingAnswer the enquiry question with a clear judgement. Use two pieces of evidence and finish with a sentence that weighs them up.
300–400 words
Timeline
DiagramDraw a timeline of the events in this lesson with dates, then photograph it.
6–8 events
Saved as you type.
Part 1 of 17 · Watch & discover
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Discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed