Introduction to History for novice learners

1. HISTORY
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INTRODUCTION TO HISTORY

2. Define what is history?
Demonstrate that history is about how people view and record the past.
What is history?
❖ History is the story of people and the past, what they have done, why
they did it and what the results/consequences were.
❖ History is also about time. The past can be anything from yesterday to
thousands of years ago.
❖ History teaches us the mistakes that were made and the good things
that happened in the past.
❖ When we study history, we try to make sense of all previous events in
order to learn from them and not make the same mistakes again.

3. A person who studies history is called: A historian.
There are six questions that every historian should answer as to
help them find out about the past:
1. What happened?
2. When did it happen?
3. Where did it happen?
4. Why did it happen?
5. Who did it?
6. How did it happen?
A historian is a person who studies
and writes about the past and is
regarded as an authority on
it. Historians are concerned with the
continuous, methodical narrative and
research of past events as relating to
the human race; as well as the study
all history in time.

5. Why do we study history?
❖ We study history to find out more about ourselves, our people and our
country.
❖ We study history to see how things have changed over time.
❖ We study history to avoid past mistakes, and be able to plan for the
future.
❖ We study history to be able to make right decisions in the present.
❖ We study history to understand how society functioned and developed in
the past.
❖ Historian study in order to know and understand the past and to ensure
that the past is not forgotten. It is said that “a person without a past is like
a building without a foundation.”

7. HOW DO WE STUDY HISTORY?

10. Explain why primary sources are more useful/reliable than
secondary sources.
❖ They are original or first-hand sources.
❖ They can hardly be exaggerated or distorted.
❖ They came from the time when the exact event happened.
Explain why primary sources need to be supported by additional
evidence?
❖ Because many sources depend of people’s memory and people often forget
things.
❖ Some people also exaggerate to impress of to make a point.
❖ To verify facts and correctness of information.

11. Basic skills used in history
❖ recording
❖ interviewing
❖ research
❖ analysis
Time in history
Mention ways how to measure time in history
Explain AD and BC
AD = anno domini-the years after the birth of Christ, also known as the year of our
lord Jesus Christ.
BC = before Christ-the years before the birth of Christ.

12. Views on history
Objective views-means that someone is not influenced by their
own beliefs and feelings to make a decision
Subjective views-means that someone is influenced by their own
beliefs and feelings to make a decision, there are many different
interactions of evidence and therefore many different views on a
particular event. Different historian may draw different
conclusions based on the same evidence. We call this bias. Bias
means being influenced by one point of view.
A biased source may be useful to a historian. But biased source is
not reliable or trustworthy.

13. WHAT IS HERITAGE?
The word heritage comes from inherit, which refers to personal
possession or money you may receive from your parents or other relatives
after they have passes away.
In history heritage includes things of great value to the country, such as
traditional culture, historical buildings, paintings a tourism, sculptures
site or even documents that have been passed down the generations.
Heritage is therefore defined as places, people, objects and memories of
days gone by that are protected for future generations.
Heritage is something from the past or from our ancestors that is
worth preserving and protecting.

14. WHY DO WE STUDY HERITAGE?
We study heritage in order to remember what is
important to us from the past. It gives us a
foundation. It has been said that we must take from
the past all that is good and build our future on it.
Without our heritage we would have nothing to link
us to our history and remind us how we got to where
we are.

15. HERITAGE SITES IN NAMIBIA
The Brandberg national heritage
site
❖ The Sam Khubis battlefield
❖ Eduard Bohlen shipwreck
❖ Ten man house (Windhoek)
❖ Apollo 11 cave
❖ Orangemund shipwreck
❖ Namib sand sea world heritage
site
❖ Replica of original cross at cape
cross
❖ Monument at Kub
❖ Grave of john Ludwig
❖ Ghaub cave
❖ Rock engraving at Peet Alberts
Koppie
❖ Twyfelfontein
❖ petrified forest

16. IMPORTANCE OF HERITAGE SITES IN NAMIBIA
❖ Tourism attraction, tourist creates job opportunity
and brings in foreign currency.
❖ It links us to our history
❖ Help us learn about ancient history of Namibia