Historians keep in mind three contexts when analyzing evidence. First, they consider the context of the event that occurred. Second, they think about the context of the creation of the evidence about that event. Third, they consider the context today that influences their analysis of the evidence. Many factors associated with historical and present contexts can influence the way a historian thinks about the context.
- What was the physical setting where the event occurred, such as the topography of the landscape, the temperature, the distance between points, and the time of day?
- What was the social context during which a document was produced, such as how people viewed individuals of different races, how men and women interacted, how adults treated children, or how wealthy people interacted with poor people.
- What was the technological context of an event, such as the transportation limitations of the time, the communication limitations, how things were made, or what people knew about medicine or science.
- How has the meaning of certain words changed over time?
- How do my own biases influence my analysis of evidence? Do I think as carefully about the origins of information I want to agree with as I do about information I don’t like?
People have a tendency to project their own conditions on people who lived in the past, which can make it more difficult to use historical evidence effectively. Instead, it is important to remember the different physical, social, and technological conditions that existed in different times and places. The background information that is available on each inquiry webpage is designed to help students understand the context of the event they will study.
Contextualization Example
The inquiry on the incarceration of Japanese Americans found here provides students with an opportunity to engage in contextualization. Today there are very few people who think that the forcible removal of Japanese Americans from their homes on the West Coast and their incarceration in isolated camps under deplorable conditions was justified. How could this clear violation of civil rights have happened in the United States?
To understand how this could happen a student needs to think about the social, political, economic, geographic, technological, and global context of the time. Of importance, the purpose for engaging in contextualization is not to justify what was done to Japanese Americans, but to understand what people were thinking at the time.
Geographically, most Japanese immigrants had arrived on the West Coast after crossing the Pacific. Anti-Japanese feelings were strongest on the West Coast where some people opposed their arrival because of the competition for jobs. Years later, after war broke out, the West Coast was more vulnerable to an attack from Japan, as the attack on Pearl Harbor had shown.
Today technology allows the military to track enemy movements. But technologically was different in 1941. Radar was in its infancy, which left the coastal regions vulnerable to attack. Newly developed radio technology made it possible for people to communicate over distances in ways that were impossible just a few years earlier.
Economically, Japanese Americans had many successful farms and businesses, leading to jealousy by some Americans who already held racist views against Japanese Americans.
Socially, widespread racism existed in America. By 1942, a long history of anti-Asian propaganda and anti-immigrant legislation had led to widespread racism. Japanese Americans, though citizens of the United States, were viewed by many as inferior to White people. In addition, World War II contributed to nationalist feelings around the world. Nationalism is an extreme patriotism that gives people the mistaken view that a nation can commit any abuse that strengthens the nation.
Within the context of 1941, these feelings were magnified by the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor. With World War II raging in Europe and the Pacific, many Americans thought differently about the incarceration of Japanese Americans than most people do today. Within the social, political, economic, and global context of 1942, the President of the United States issued the order that led to the civil rights abuses that we condemn today. Within the context of 1944 the Supreme Court upheld the president’s actions in incarcerating Japanese Americans.
The background information on the website found here, as well as the documents included in the mini-archive are intended to help teachers and students understand the context during which incarceration occurred, a context that was very different from the way most people see the world today.