Thinking like a historian
Historians don’t just list facts. They use historical thinking to make sense of the past. Two of the most important concepts are:
- Cause and consequence: Why did events happen, and what did they lead to?
- Continuity and change: What changed over time, and what stayed the same?
These ideas help us understand not only the past, but also how the present came to be.
Cause and consequence
Causes
A cause is a reason something happened. Important events almost always have multiple causes.
Historians often sort causes into types:
| Type of cause | Example: causes of Confederation (1867) |
|---|---|
| Political | deadlock in the Province of Canada |
| Economic | need for a railway and new trade after the U.S. ended reciprocity |
| Military / security | fear of American expansion; Fenian raids |
| Social / ideological | growing sense of British North American identity |
| Individual actions | leaders like Macdonald, Cartier and Brown working together |
They also distinguish:
- Long-term causes: conditions that built up over years
- Short-term causes (triggers): the immediate event that set things off
Example: The long-term causes of the First World War included alliances, militarism, imperial rivalry and nationalism. The short-term trigger was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in June 1914.
Consequences
A consequence is a result of an event. Consequences can be:
- intended or unintended
- short-term or long-term
- positive, negative or mixed, depending on whose perspective you consider
Example: Building the Canadian Pacific Railway (1885)
| Consequences | |
|---|---|
| Intended | connected British Columbia to Canada; brought settlers west |
| Unintended | helped spread settlement onto First Nations lands; contributed to the decline of bison and starvation on the Plains |
| Long-term | growth of the Prairie economy; shaped Canadian identity |
Agency
Events aren’t just caused by big forces. People make choices. Agency is the ability of individuals and groups to act and shape events. Viola Desmond’s refusal to leave a whites-only section of a theatre in 1946 shows how one person’s choice can contribute to change. But people’s choices are also limited by the conditions of their time.
Continuity and change
Change
Change is when things become different over time. Historians ask:
- What changed? How quickly? Was it gradual or sudden?
- Was the change progress (an improvement) or decline, and for whom?
Continuity
Continuity is what stays the same. It’s easy to overlook, but just as important.
Example: Women’s lives in Canada, 1900–1960
| Change | Continuity |
|---|---|
| women won the right to vote federally (1918, though many women of colour and Indigenous women were excluded until later) | most women were still expected to be the main caregivers at home |
| more women worked outside the home, especially during the World Wars | women were paid less than men for similar work |
| the Persons Case (1929) recognized women as "persons" who could be appointed to the Senate | women remained underrepresented in politics |
Turning points
A turning point is a moment that changes the direction of history. To judge whether an event was a turning point, ask:
- Was there a clear difference before and after?
- Did the change last?
- Did it affect many people?
Examples might include Confederation, the 1982 Charter, or the invention of the printing press.
Progress and decline
Change isn’t always progress for everyone. The settlement of the Prairies brought opportunity for many immigrants but loss of land and way of life for First Nations and Métis. Good historians consider multiple perspectives.
Tools for analysis
- Cause and consequence web: put the event in the centre and connect causes and consequences.
- Timeline with categories: mark political, economic and social changes in different colours.
- Before-and-after chart: compare conditions before and after an event.
- Ranking causes: decide which cause was most important, and defend your choice with evidence.
Try it yourself
- Choose an event and create a cause-and-consequence web with at least three causes and three consequences.
- Compare your community 50 years ago with today. What has changed? What has stayed the same?
- Argue whether an event was a turning point, using the three questions above.
- Explain how one person’s agency shaped an event.
Quick recap
- Historical events usually have multiple causes, both long-term and short-term.
- Consequences can be intended or unintended, short- or long-term.
- Continuity and change help us understand how things develop over time.
- Turning points mark lasting shifts in direction.
- Considering perspectives and agency makes historical thinking stronger.