In the first 26 pages of Canadian History: Pre- Confederation by John Douglas Belshaw, the main aspects of historical studies are emphasized. At the beginning of chapter, we learn that historical studies “demand we learn something about the past” and “requires us to ask how it is we know what we think we know about the past”. The study of history requires us to look deeper into past events rather than just analyzing the surface. Historians want to prove something about the past, they research and write with a purpose and a goal in mind. Another large aspect that influences history is how it is viewed. For example, the textbook emphasizes how Canada liberalism became popular and how the history being written could change drastically depending on the main ideologies present during that time period. Not only can history be viewed differently dependant on perspective, but it’s constantly changing through new discoveries and written work. This cannot be done without the use of primary and secondary sources. Primary sources are mostly found in archives, museums and online. When analyzing primary and secondary sources for your work, you have to be careful. This chapter emphasized looking at the entire picture when studying history and being able to recognize all the influencing factors present. Certain parts of what actually happened might have been left out and other parts embellished. For example, the textbook uses how the Jesuit Relations knew whoever was the reading their letters had the power to either send in reinforcements or take them away. I didn’t find this chapter particularly convincing or full of Canadian history but rather informative of how and why we do history. I understood everything in the reading but I found myself interested in learning more about how ideologies such as liberalism effects historical writing.
