History is all about dates. I don't mean those dried up fruits that make you think of the Middle East; I mean the things we use to denote time: days, months, years, etc. What many people don't realize is that the context of a time period can be one of the deciding factors in whether they get the right answer or not. The reason for this is usually because of a recurring theme in history lectures: boredom/lack of attention. If you can't name the time period that something like the Epic of Gilgamesh occurs in, your whole timeline will be thrown off (yes, just by not knowing one thing in history, it can mess up the rest of it), and it's all because you had to talk to Johnny for 5 minutes about whether the Cubs were going to beat the Cardinals. Learning context can open up history and make it easier to understand; at the same time, it may even make history fun to learn when you actually know when it happened. Here's how you can use historical context in your next history class.
First, there's always the question of Who Is Involved?, usually when there are written documents or statements as the subject. When you know the person or people that a question is talking about beforehand, there's a good chance you'll know what context the document or statement is dealing with, because you'll have to put it between the years or that person's birth and death. For instance, Ben Franklin was a big supporter of the Albany Plan of Union. Since he was born in 1706 and died in 1790, the context of the Plan happens between those years, as well as any statement he made on the subject. Already this has lessened the the gap of the years from oldest known date to modern times to within 84 years, and the context becomes limited to that time period (on tests with statements, dates will normally be given to you, but it's still good to know for any multiple choice question!).
The next question one should ask is Where Did This Happen? Being able to localize a historical event to a specific region can do wonders for the context. Usually, public opinion and feelings at the time of the statement will be reflected in it, which can help historians track where it was made; the Albany Plan of Union, for instance, discusses how British colonies will be joining together to protect themselves against "savages" (native peoples). Using the time period of Franklin's life and his citizenship, and the specificity of British colonies, one could assume that these statements were made in the Thirteen American Colonies in the 1700s; to further specify, there is a city in one of the colonies (New York) called Albany. Now that the subject has been localized, public mood from the era can be applied to better understand the context.
Finally, one of the best questions to ask is What Happened Before/After? Now that you know the time period and location of the subject, it is the student/historian's task to look at events they believe occurred around the same time. Why is this, you may ask? It's to fully grasp why the statement or document was made in the first place; the context in general is all about what happened before or after an event in history. Using our "Franklin timeline", we can see that by 1790, America is it's own country; because the Albany Plan was a petition to Britain by the Colonies, this is too late in the era. In 1705, however, there were no petitions sent to Britain about government, so that year is too early; you can keep going like this until you reach a set point: the French and Indian War, which began in 1754, was an effort by the natives to try driving out the English colonists from America and a year where colonial governments began shifting due to the Enlightenment. This not only narrows down the Plan to one year, but provides great insight into feelings before and after the historical event, and how it perhaps shaped those events into unfolding.
Context is all about questions. If students keep asking as many as they can, they'll eventually reach a point where finding context becomes second nature. For many of you, it already is, and you may think the previous three paragraphs were all redundant (why wouldn't I know the dates of events?). Well, first, why did you read this whole post? and second, is it not valuable to be reminded of what you need to do? Even if these points seem like a given, for many students out there, they simply aren't. It's also good practice to see examples of how historical context is put together, as many teachers and professors may have their own definition of what it is.
In conclusion, ask questions for context! If you understand enough of the material you're given, you'll be able to throw out dated events like they were always in your memory! The who, what, and where of history will never become less important; context is key when it comes to being a historian!
-Pharaoh Noh-Tyep
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