History is based on events from an earlier time. By talking about these, analysing them from different points of view and examining them, we make history. That way, events (can) suddenly seem completely different and are handled in a different way than when they happened. And this is what I learned about historical thinking this term: The way we see events can change over time. An example for this is the Chilcotin War – when discussing this during a group assignment, me and my group came to the conclusion that it was not really a war, but that it resembled more an act of resistance. The changed view of Indigenous peoples is just one example of many. This bias was examined in the first reading for the first reading log, and I learned during this semester that when thinking historically, this is an important influence that one should consider when using (old) sources.
Taking this into closer consideration, this is an important issue when talking about my research topic. The role of women has changed a lot in the last few hundred years. When I read primary sources about this, I always had to take a step back and think about who wrote this and why. Was this someone who was in favor of how women were treated? Or was it someone, who had an interest to show women as powerful and independent? And that is, next to all I learned about Canadian history itself and pre-confederation society, the one thing that I will take back home with me.