HIS 100 3-1 Activity: Examining Historical Context

This Owlisdom How-To Guide will provide a brief yet detailed overview of the HIS 100 3-1 Activity: Examining Historical Context. The third module of HIS 100 is focused on Examining Historical Context. For this demonstration, I am using the templates of the HIS 100 by SNHU. If you are taking Perspective of History from another institute, then this template contains the exact instructions for this activity. You can get a dummy solution of the template accompanying this guide from me. For the course research, I have selected The Great Depression and the US economy as the historical event.

Describe the historical context surrounding your historical event. Use one of the perspectives mentioned in this module’s overview (social, political, economic) to focus your description and highlight influences on the event.

Historical Context of The Selected Event

In this section of HIS 100 3-1 Activity: Examining Historical Context, let us dwell on the historical background of the historical event you chose. Thus, I have decided to write about the Great Depression. Consequently, I will be solving the provided template on this topic as follows:

• Provide background information about your topic with special emphasis on its beginning, consequences, and duration.
• While having mass influence and consequences, the events of the past must be viewed in the context in which they occurred.
• Choose whether to concentrate on social, political, or economic factors. From the financial perspective, if you choose, research the stock market crash, failure of banks, and unemployment rate.
• Employ the use of scholarly books and journals as well as credible sites and other historical sources. One should read them through newspapers of the time, personal correspondence, and government documents.

Example

Describe a critical historical figure or group’s participation in your historical event.

Key Figures or Groups During The Historical Event

Now, let us dive into this next section of HIS 100 3-1 Activity: Examining Historical Context, which will focus on the main historical personalities during your chosen historical event.

• Research Key Figures/Groups: Search for personalities or organizations during your selected historical period.
• Analyze Their Roles: Explain what they did during the event and why their actions were important.

Example

Explain the critical historical figure or group’s motivation to participate in your historical event.

Motivations Behind Participation

Let us explore this section of HIS 100 3-1 Activity: Examining Historical Context, where we will analyze the purpose of the characters for participation in the historical event chosen.

• Understand Their Beliefs: Research on the epistemology, that is, the systems and beliefs about knowledge in the figures or groups selected. Think through how these beliefs affected them.
• Connect Motivations: To what extent were personal or group motives connected to the greater issues of the economy and society of that period?

Example

Articulate how the historical context caused or influenced your chosen historical event.

The Impact of Broader Society on The Selected Historical Event

In this section of HIS 100 3-1 Activity: Examining Historical Context, it is now the time to analyse the outcomes of various factors in the chosen historical period. 

• Analyze Social Conditions: Consider how different aspects of societies—economic, political, religious, beliefs—influenced or were influenced by the occurrences of the event.
• Draw Parallels: Compare these historical social conditions against the current economic realities.

Example

Explain how connecting your historical event and current event improves the understanding of your topic.

Linking Historical and Current Events

The last section of HIS 100 3-1 Activity, Examining Historical Context, will explain the correlation between historical and contemporaneous events.

• Compare Past and Present: Enumerate how the event relates to the current economic issues and differentiate it. Look at aspects such as technology, the politics of the country, and international relations.
• Understand Historical Context: Subsequently, consider how the knowledge of the event can explain some of the features of modern economic challenges.

Example

Closing

When analyzing The Great Depression, it is possible to understand that governments, legislatures, economic policies, and societal resilience in addressing economic problems. It is important to take time and learn from history so as to come up with effective solutions to financial challenges in the present-day world, irrespective of other forces, into a more stable and fair one.

From this guide, you should be able to analyze and understand a historical event you selected from the course HIS 100 in its broad entirety and draw relevant comparisons with current economic realities on the ground. It improves the knowledge of history and develops analytical thinking skills. Good luck!

You can also read our HIS 100 next module, 3-2 Activity: Questions That Can Be Revised with Evidence From Sources.

References

Calomiris, C. W. (1993). Financial Factors in the Great Depression. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 7(2), 61–85. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.7.2.61 

Ferguson, T. (1984). From Normalcy to New Deal: Industrial structure, party competition, and American public policy in the Great Depression. International Organization, 38(1), 41–94. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818300004276 

McNally, D. (2009). From Financial Crisis to World-Slump: Accumulation, Financialisation, and the Global Slowdown. Historical Materialism, 17(2), 35–83. https://doi.org/10.1163/156920609X436117 

Roosevelt, F. D. (1992). FDR’s Fireside Chats. University of Oklahoma Press.

Stock Market Crash of 1929 | Federal Reserve History. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2024, from https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/stock-market-crash-of-1929