Primary and secondary sources
A primary source comes from the time you are studying: a letter, a speech, a treaty, a photograph. A secondary source is a later account, like a textbook or this website, built from primary sources.
High School Social Studies · World History
World History
Ask questions like a historian, and the past starts to answer back.
Welcome, traveler. I am Herodotus of Halicarnassus. Some 2,400 years ago I wandered the known world asking people why things happened, and I wrote down what they told me. People have called me the Father of History ever since.
In this course we will do what I did: ask questions, listen to many voices, and weigh the evidence. Each unit gives you a timeline, maps, the words of people who were there, and a quiz to test what you have learned.
"This is the Showing forth of the Inquiry of Herodotus of Halicarnassos, to the end that neither the deeds of men may be forgotten by lapse of time, nor the works great and marvellous ... may lose their renown; and especially that the causes may be remembered for which these waged war with one another."
The Greek word I used, historia, means "inquiry." That is still what history is: asking questions about the past and testing the answers against evidence.
How Historians Work
Cause and effect
Big events rarely have one cause. Historians look for long-term pressures and short-term sparks, and they trace effects that can last for generations.
Perspective
A soldier, a factory worker, a diplomat, and a colonial subject could live through the same war and tell four different stories. To understand the past, we listen to all of them.
How do we know?
Every claim needs evidence. When sources disagree, as numbers often do, historians compare them, ask who made them and why, and say how sure they are.
Units
Unit 1 · Live now
World War I, 1914–1918
How an assassination in Sarajevo set off a war of empires. Explore the MAIN causes, the alliances, the Western Front and its trenches, the home front, America's entry and Russia's revolution in 1917, the armistice, and the Treaty of Versailles. With maps, a filterable timeline, four primary sources, vocabulary, and a 10-question quiz.
Start the World War I unit →Coming Soon
Here is the road ahead. These units are still being written, so they are not linked yet.
- Coming soon
The Age of Revolutions
1750–1850The Enlightenment and revolutions in America, France, Haiti, and Latin America.
- Coming soon
The Industrial Revolution
1750–1900Steam, factories, cities, and new ideas about work.
- Coming soon
Nationalism and Imperialism
1800–1914New nations in Europe and the race for empire in Africa and Asia.
- Coming soon
Between the Wars
1919–1939The Great Depression and the rise of dictators.
- Coming soon
World War II
1939–1945The war, the Holocaust, and the world it left behind.
- Coming soon
The Cold War
1945–1991The superpowers, the nuclear age, and a divided world.
- Coming soon
Decolonization
1945–1975Independence movements across Asia and Africa.
- Coming soon
A Globalized World
1991–todayTrade, technology, and shared challenges.
Talk About It
- Herodotus wanted "the causes" of war to be remembered. Why might remembering causes matter more than remembering dates?
- Think of a recent event you heard about from two different people. How did their stories differ, and why?
- Which event from the past do you think still shapes the world most today? What evidence would you use to argue your case?
Sources
- Herodotus. The History of Herodotus, Vol. 1, translated by G. C. Macaulay. Project Gutenberg eBook #2707. gutenberg.org/ebooks/2707
- Sources for each unit are listed at the bottom of that unit's page.
Credits: The globe and scroll illustration is original artwork made for Jugami.