The geographically informed person must understand the importance of bringing spatial and ecological perspectives of geography to bear on the events of history, and vice versa, and the value of learning about the geographies of the past. An understanding of geography informs an understanding of history. There is a significant inherent link between the two disciplines.
Therefore, Standard 17 contains these themes: Using Geography to Interpret the Past, Changes in Geographic Contexts, and Perceptions of Geographic Contexts.
The geographies of past times carry important messages for understanding the world of today. The events of human history have played out on a vast and complex geographic stage; countless generations have tried to adapt to what Earth has provided in the form of climate, land and water resources, plants and animals, and transportation routes. All of these things are shaped by the ongoing interactions and interdependence of physical and human systems and have created the contexts in which history has unfolded.
History is about changes over time set into the context of space and environment. The events of history are all place-based. Students need to understand the fundamental processes of change in geographic contexts. Events are influenced by people’s perceptions of geographic contexts and by their perspectives on events.
Students must understand the spatial organization of the world in the past; consider the ways in which different people understood and assessed the physical and human geographical features of their spatial and environmental contexts; and pay attention to the beliefs and attitudes of people in the past regarding the environment, human migration, land use, and their own rights and privileges versus those of others.
Understanding these themes enables students to interpret and understand historical issues by knowing what the world was like in the past, how it changed, and how it was perceived by different people and groups at a given place at a given time.
1. Geographic contexts (the human and physical characteristics of places and environments) are the settings for events in the past.
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Describe the geographic context in which a historical event occurred, as exemplified by being able to
2. Places, regions, and environments change over time
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Analyze how places, regions, and environments change over time, as exemplified by being able to
3. People’s perceptions of the world—places, regions, and environments—are constantly changing
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Describe examples of people’s changing perceptions of the world, as exemplified by being able to
1. A historical event is influenced by the geographic context (the human and physical characteristics of places and environments) in which it occurred
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Analyze and explain the influence of the geographic context on historical events, as exemplified by being able to
2. Change occurs in the geographic characteristics and spatial organization of places, regions, and environments
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Describe and explain changes in the geographic characteristics and spatial organizations of places, regions, and environments in the past, as exemplified by being able to
3. Historical events were influenced by people’s perceptions of places, regions, and environments
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Explain how historical events were influenced by people’s perceptions of people, places, regions, and environments, as exemplified by being able to
1. Geographic contexts (the human and physical characteristics of places and environments) can explain the connections between sequences of historical events
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Analyze and explain the connections between sequences of historical events and the geographic contexts in which they occurred, as exemplified by being able to
2. The causes and processes of change in the geographic characteristics and spatial organization of places, regions, and environments over time
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Identify and explain the causes and processes of change in the geographic characteristics and spatial organization of places, regions, and environments over time, as exemplified by being able to
3. Historical events must be interpreted in the contexts of people’s past perceptions of places, regions, and environments
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Analyze and evaluate the role that people’s past perceptions of places, regions, and environments played as historical events unfolded, as exemplified as being able to