In October 1970, after the FLQ kidnapped a British diplomat and a Quebec cabinet minister, the federal government invoked the War Measures Act, and hundreds of people in Quebec were detained, most of them never charged with any crime. Was that justified? People argued about it then and still do. You cannot answer by looking up a single fact; you need a plan. A historical inquiry is that plan: you ask a focused question, gather evidence from different perspectives, analyse it with the concepts of historical thinking, reach a judgement you can defend, and communicate it clearly. You will use this process throughout the course, from the conscription crisis of 1917 to Canada–US relations today.
Asking good questions
| Type of question | What it asks | Example from this course |
|---|---|---|
| Factual | What happened, who, when, what did it say? Answers can be checked. | What were the provisions of the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923? |
| Comparative | How were two places, groups or times similar or different? | How was the impact of the Great Depression different on the Prairies than in Ontario? |
| Causal | Why did something happen, and what did it lead to? | What were the key causes of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec? |
| Evaluative | How important, how successful, how justified? Requires a judgement based on criteria. | To what extent was the use of the War Measures Act in 1970 justified? |
The inquiry process
- Formulate questions: narrow a topic into a focused question, decide which concept of historical thinking fits it, and set the criteria you will use to judge.
- Gather and organize: collect evidence from a variety of primary and secondary sources (including community sources such as local museums and archives), check their credibility, make sure they reflect multiple perspectives, and record every source as you go.
- Interpret and analyse: find the key points in each source, compare points of view, identify bias, notice which voices are missing, and use graphic organizers such as timelines, cause-and-consequence webs or comparison charts.
- Evaluate and draw conclusions: weigh the evidence, synthesize it, make connections between the past and present, and reach a judgement you can support.
- Communicate: share your argument and conclusion in a form that suits your audience, using historical terms correctly and citing your sources.
The process is not a straight line. Evidence often sends you back to sharpen your question, and a missing perspective sends you back to gather more. While you gather, ask whose voices you have: an inquiry into the 1920s that uses only English-language Ontario newspapers will miss French Canadians, First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities, Black Canadians, immigrants, workers and women. To organize, sort notes under headings that match your question (for example, causes, consequences, perspectives), and tag every note with its source so you can cite it later. To interpret, ask what each piece of evidence shows, how reliable it is, and how it fits with the rest. Placing events on a timeline is often the first step, because order matters for cause and consequence.
Evaluating and synthesizing means combining your evidence into one judgement, not listing what each source says. Weigh the evidence: which sources are strongest, which points are most important by your criteria, and what evidence goes against your view? Evaluative questions are often answered on a scale, not with yes or no: "to a great extent", "to a limited extent" or "only for some groups". Your conclusion should state your judgement, give the main reasons, and admit its limits. Historians may also make careful predictions, such as how a current policy might play out, based on patterns in the past.
Communicating: thesis, evidence and argument
- "The Second World War affected Canadian women." (A fact everyone agrees with; nothing to argue.)
- "In this essay I will talk about women in the war." (Announces a topic, not a position.)
- "The war changed everything for women." (Too absolute to defend.)
- "The Second World War changed Canadian women's work to a great extent in the short term, as the number of women in paid work roughly doubled, but many changes were reversed after 1945, so it was a step forward rather than a lasting turning point."
- Takes a clear, debatable position.
- Previews the main reasons and uses a concept (continuity and change).
- Thesis: your answer to the inquiry question, stated clearly near the start.
- Topic sentences: each paragraph or section makes one point that supports the thesis.
- Evidence: specific facts, dates, statistics and sources, cited consistently (for example, with Chicago-style footnotes).
- Analysis: explain how the evidence proves the point; evidence without explanation does not argue anything.
- Counter-argument: acknowledge the strongest evidence against your view and explain why your judgement still holds.
- Format and audience: the same argument can be an essay, a seminar, a debate, a podcast, a video or a presentation; choose language and form that fit who will receive it.
Skills that transfer beyond history
| Essential skill (Ontario Skills Passport) | How a history inquiry builds it | Where else you use it |
|---|---|---|
| Reading text | Reading primary sources and historians' arguments closely | Contracts, instructions, news articles |
| Writing | Writing a thesis-driven essay or report with evidence | Reports, emails, applications |
| Document use | Reading maps, tables, census data, timelines and posters | Schedules, forms, charts, plans |
| Computer use | Searching databases and digital archives, checking images | Research, spotting misinformation online |
| Oral communication | Seminars, debates and presentations | Interviews, meetings, customer service |
| Numeracy | Interpreting statistics such as casualties, vote shares or unemployment rates | Budgets, comparing data, reading polls |
| Thinking skills | Finding information, judging credibility, solving problems, making decisions on evidence | Almost every job and everyday choices |
These skills matter for informed citizenship. When a story about a current event goes viral, you can ask who made it, why, for whom, and whether other sources confirm it, the same questions you ask of a 1917 poster. When a government proposes a policy, you can look for its causes and predict its possible consequences from past patterns. You can also compare present and past responses: Canadians debated school closures, masks and limits on gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic, much as communities did during the 1918–1920 influenza pandemic. History does not tell you what to think about today's issues, but it gives you the evidence and the habits of mind to think them through.
| Career | How it uses historical skills |
|---|---|
| Archivist | Acquires, organizes, preserves and describes records, such as those at Library and Archives Canada or a provincial archive, so others can find them |
| Museum curator | Researches collections and builds exhibitions that interpret the past for the public, as at the Canadian War Museum |
| Journalist or editor | Checks facts and sources, gives context to current events, and spots manipulated images |
| Lawyer | Builds arguments from evidence; treaty and Aboriginal title cases such as Delgamuukw rely on historical evidence, including oral histories |
| Policy analyst | Studies how past policies worked to advise governments and organizations on new ones |
| Heritage planner | Researches and helps protect historic buildings, sites and landscapes when communities plan development |
| Mediator | Understands multiple perspectives and the history behind a conflict to help people reach agreement |
| Politician | Uses history to understand issues, communities and the consequences of past decisions |