5 Steps to a 5TM AP European History

The Ways Historians Think (^) ‹ 17
historian must identify and use evidence. The use of evidence is part of the third set of skills
identified by the AP European History Exam and is discussed below.
Multiple Causation
The sophisticated student of history understands that significant events in history usually
have many causes. Accordingly, one looks for multiple causes in order to explain events.
For example, if the historian discovers evidence (such as correspondence between high-
ranking German Army officials) that supports the logical assertion that successful Russian
incursions into East Prussia caused both a change in command for the Eastern Front and
the decision to launch a counterattack, he or she still asks additional questions and looks
for evidence of other contributing causes. What else was happening on the Eastern Front
at that time? What did the overall German war effort look like at that time? What other
considerations may have gone into those decisions?
Continuity
The historian recognizes that change does not come easily to people or to civilizations.
Accordingly, the historian is sensitive to the persistence of certain forms of human activity
(social structures, political systems, etc.). Sensitivity to the power of continuity forces the
historian to ask questions about the forces that were strong enough to bring about change.
For example, sensitivity to the power and importance of continuity in the way in which
people live and work reminds the historian that a change from a localized and agriculturally
oriented economy to an interconnected, commercial economy was neither inevitable nor
even particularly likely. That realization sets the historian looking for the powerful forces
that fostered those changes. Likewise, to understand and connect the periods being cov-
ered in AP European History, it is useful to look for patterns of cause and effect. Historian
Jacques Barzun, in From Dawn to Decadence, said that study of the modern world discusses
the “desires, attitudes, purposes behind... events or movements, some embodied in lasting
institutions.” He characterized the four periods covered in AP European History as follows:
1450–1648—dominated by the issues of what to believe in religion; 1648–1815—what
to do about the status of the individual and the mode of government; 1815–1914—by
what means does one achieve social and economic equality; and 1914—present–the mixed
consequences of all the previous efforts.
Comparison
When seeking to explain change over time, the historian often looks for patterns. Some
patterns can be detected by asking basic questions, such as who, what, where, and when.
For example, when seeking to understand the gradual and persistent shift from an agricul-
tural economy to a commercial economy in Europe between the fourteenth and eighteenth
centuries, the historian asks: What kinds of people tended to be in the vanguard of such
change? Which type of work tended to change first? Did the changes occur simultaneously
or follow a geographical progression? What type of economic activity changed first? The
next step is to make comparisons. For example, the historian compares the nature of the
changes that occurred in Britain to those that occurred in France and in the economies
farther to the east. The comparisons reveal both similarities and differences, which the his-
torian then explores, hoping to establish patterns of both change and continuity.
Contingency
Finally, the historian seeking to understand the cause-and-effect nature of historical events
understands the role that contingency can play in human events. An event is said to be
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