A stated motive is a reason the person gave in a source you can point to. A speculative motive is one you are guessing, with no source behind it. Both can appear in causation answers, but only the first can be reported as what the person said, and the second must be flagged or left out.
This lesson belongs to causation and supported explanation and builds on linking a cause to evidence. The case is invented.
Why does the difference matter?
Marks in a History answer go to claims the evidence can support. “The owner said he cut pay because of cheaper imported cloth” is checkable. “The owner wanted to destroy the workers’ union” is a claim about a hidden thought, and without a source it is a guess presented as fact.
There are three safe levels of wording:
- Stated: “The letter says the owner cut pay because…” (a source’s viewpoint, reported as such).
- Supported inference: “The timing suggests the cut may also have been aimed at…” (an inference built on named evidence).
- Speculation: “He was just greedy.” (no evidence, so leave it out or label it clearly).
Worked example (invented case)
The material is invented for this lesson.
Invented source extract (a letter from the invented Harrowick mill owner, written on 2 March 1892): “Cloth from abroad now sells for less than it costs me to make. I cannot keep the present pay.”
Question: What motives lay behind the wage cut in the invented town of Harrowick?
Step 1, find the stated motive: the owner states that foreign cloth is cheaper than his production cost, so pay must fall. This is his own account.
Step 2, note the status: it is a viewpoint from one person with an interest in the decision. It does not prove the cloth price claim is accurate.
Step 3, look for corroboration: suppose an invented price list from 1892 shows imported cloth at a lower price than the mill’s own. Then the stated motive gains support.
Step 4, consider any further inference: suppose the invented records also show the owner bought new machinery the same month. This might suggest a second aim, such as replacing labour costs, but the evidence does not say so directly. It would be written as “may suggest”, and only if the machinery record is cited.
Step 5, write it: “The owner stated that cheaper imported cloth forced the cut, and an invented price list supports this. The purchase of machinery in the same month may suggest a further aim of reducing labour costs, though no source states this.”
The mistake to watch for
Mistaken answer: “The owner cut wages because he was greedy and wanted to crush the workers.”
No source in the case says this. It also passes a moral judgement instead of explaining.
The correction is to report the stated reason, test it against other evidence, and offer any further motive only as a worded inference tied to a named source. Phrases like “obviously”, “clearly wanted” or “must have felt” are a warning sign.
Check yourself
Use this invented case. In Fennick, the bridge-keeper wrote on 2 June 1810: “I raise the toll to pay for mending the bridge, which has cracked.” A later invented account says: “He was only filling his own purse.”
1. What is the stated motive, and whose view is it?
Show answer
Paying for repairs to the cracked bridge. It is the bridge-keeper’s own statement, so it is his viewpoint.
2. Is the later account a stated motive, a supported inference or speculation? Give a reason.
Show answer
On what we are given, speculation. It offers a hidden motive with no named evidence. It is also another person’s viewpoint, written later.
3. What evidence would turn the later claim into a supported inference?
Show answer
A record showing the money was not spent on repairs, such as accounts showing the bridge unmended and income kept. Even then the wording should be cautious, for example “suggests”.
Where this leads next
Now you can handle both causes and motives, so the next step is to build a proportionate explanation. The practice set mixes all four skills.
Words like “suggests” and “states” are easy to mix up when you write fast. In online one-to-one History tuition, a teacher can check the wording of each claim in your own answers.