United States History Student Edition

Preserving or restoring historic sites helps us remember the past. This building in York, Pennsylvania, is a reconstruction of the courthouse in which the Articles of Confederation, an early form of government in the United States, were signed.

Who Studies History? Those who study the people and events of the past are called historians. Historians are like detectives of the past; they study how events are connected. They use clues to reveal the causes, or reasons, that an event occurred. Historians also look for the effects, or results, of the event. They ask questions, such as, “What happened?” and “Why did it happen?” They ask, “How did things change?” and “How has it influenced today?” Sometimes they ask, “What might have happened if . . . ?” Studying history helps us understand how we fit into the human story. Some of the clues to the past are the languages we speak, the technologies we use, and the pastimes we enjoy. All of these customs and activities are results of events that happened in the past. Studying history also helps us develop the knowledge and skills we need to participate in public life as informed and responsible citizens.

By understanding the events that led to and caused our situation today, we can make better decisions on what to do about that situation. By knowing how people in different societies in the past met their challenges, we can be better prepared to meet the challenges we face. In the same way that it is important to know our own personal history, it is also important to know the history of our nation and of the world. We can all be historians. Time and Place Historians look at people and events of history in the context of time and location. They work with other historians who are specialists in related fields. They often combine their study of history with geography, as it is important to understand the physical features of the places where people lived and why events happened there. Historians also use a number of skills to research, organize, and write about history.

reveal to uncover; to show

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