how does one go about assesing causes for historical events?

Answer 1

Using records from the time or speaking with eyewitnesses or their descendants (if any are available). That's the only way to get a true picture. Anything else would be interpretation from known events and/or analysis of artifacts.

Answer 2

The causes you attribute to a historical event would really depend on your theoretical orientation. Sounds like a big phrase, but it really just means they way you think the world works, and what *kinds* of things you think cause changes. Do you think people revolt against a government because they are hungry and poor, or because they don't agree with the government's ideas? If you think it's because of hunger and poverty, you're taking a materialist perspective - the theory that material causes (changes in the economy, changes in technology, scarcity of needed resources, etc) initiate change in society. If you think it's ideas that motivate people to act, you're taking an idealist perspective. There are a whole bunch of other perspectives out there, and no one has the definitive answer to everything, although some theories fit the facts better than others. So how do you assess the causes of a historical event? Read as much as you can about it, read primary sources (documents written in the time period of the event), talk to people, maybe take a history course or two, and above all, think. Think about what's causing change in the world around you, and decide for yourself.

Answer 3

World Wide Web

Answer 4

When written records no longer exist (or never did) an archaeologist looks at the material culture left behind. This is done with both prehistoric and historic sites. Through inference we are able to link activities to the objects left behind in the archaeological record.