How to Think Like a Historian

What makes a historian? It is important to think like a historian. There are three skills you must have to be a historian. You need to be a storyteller, a scientist, and a lawyer.

First, you must be a good storyteller to be a historian because you must explain the story to others. In a good story there is usually cause and effect. This means something happens and then another thing happens as a result. In a good story there are also protagonists (good guys) and antagonists (bad guys). Stories from history have good and bad outcomes. In history there are good and bad people. A historian must describe stories from the past.

Next, a historian should be like a scientist. Historians must be able to research the facts and evidence. An artifact is evidence from the past, just like items found at a crime scene now. Historians also need to be able to do experimentation to see how people constructed materials and structures. This helps historians know how people built structures in the past.

Lastly, historians must be like a Lawyer. They must be able to look at the events factually, then come up with ideas for what happened in the past. They must also persuade others to believe that their theory is the correct idea of the past.

To think like a historian, you do not have to wear a jacket with elbow patches, have a long beard, or sit in a dark library. You should be like a storyteller, scientist, and a lawyer to be a historian. Everybody can be a historian if they try!

See you next time!