Browse Examples of Historical Thinking
How do the speeches of Sojourner Truth and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper differ? Historian Carla Peterson examines documents for answers. [...] »
Diaries give a personal view of historical events. Historian Peter Hahn interprets the diary of Robert Ode, kept as he was held hostage in Iran. [...] »
How did the World War II internment of Japanese Americans happen? Historian Frank Wu examines Executive Order 9066. [...] »
If the U.S. interned you and your family, how would you respond? [...] »
Smithsonian Barbara Clark Smith looks at what a colonial newspaper article says—and doesn't say—about a Patriot protest. [...] »
What can an inventory tell you about daily life in Delaware in 1804? Curator Barbara Clark Smith asks this document four questions. [...] »
Is reading a piece of historic literature once enough? Not if you want to get the most out of literary sources. [...] »
What does an 1853 daguerreotype have to say? Plenty, says Frank Goodyear, particularly about tourist culture and the rise of railroads and photography. [...] »
Written primary sources only tell you so much. To learn about history that was never written down, listen to sources like these two songs. [...] »
Today, we accept paper—and electronic—money as a fact of life. Historian Michael O'Malley analyzes an 1876 cartoon criticizing "greenbacks." [...] »
