About history
1. Intro slide
2. To begin with, this lecture is about history
— What it is
— What historians do
— Why it’s important
— Who were some of the great historians
— And what are some of the directions and branches of history
3. What is history — History is active investigation, of what happened in the past, and
what we can learn from it. History is collective memory, and it is just as essential to a
society as it is to an individual. It is frequently controversial.
4. History is the record of events and also to the academic discipline of studying or
helping create the record of events. One of the Humanities (study of human culture
along with Language, literature, philosophy, religion, music, theatre, Anthropology, law, linguistics
Allows broad questions – when and who, but also why and how
Reflecting on the past and preparing for the future are features of human intelligence.
The discipline of history, then, requires us to examine small events and sweeping trends,
to suggest patterns that might be found in the record, and to constantly ask the vital
question: why.
Historians search out facts and tell stories. Above all, they have what amounts to a sacred
duty to accuracy and the truth. Yet historians are free to explore and interpret without an
expectation of exact answers. In this sense history is not a science, nor is it a social
science. History is a separate discipline that plays by its own rules and answers very
much to its own muse.
History is a powerful discipline, not only in terms of analytical ability and scope, but also
in terms of the way it can be used to legitimize present day political agendas and projects.
In that sense, history has been called “the dressing room of politics.” Perhaps the most
important first lesson about history, then, is that historians have motivations that
influence the way they emphasize some facts instead of others. Or, to put it another way,
historians usually write with a purpose in mind.
5. History is NOT mythology or traditional folk tales. History is NOT a static
description of well-known facts It’s not useless memorization of dates It’s not only
concerned with “great men” and “great machines” — It’s not only concerned with the
US or European-Americans
History should be about what you want to know and need to know about the past. It
doesnt have to be boring.
6. Clio is the muse of history and the first of the nine muses of Greek mythology
7. This slide is from 1896 / it shows clio holding a pen and book. Clio, muse
of history, one of 9 muses. The woman on the left is mythology and the one on
the right is tradition. Why do you suppose they included them?
On both sides of her, there are tablets mounted in a marble wall with benches on
either side of the tablets. The tablets contain the names of great historians.
One tablet contains the names of the ancient historians Herodotus and
Thucydides in brighter gold, followed by Polybius, Livy, Tacitus, Bæda, Comines.
The other tablet contains the name of the modern historians Hume and Gibbon in
brighter gold, along with Niebuhr, Guizot, Ranke, and the Americans Bancroft
and Motley.
At the foot of one of the tablets is a laurel wreath symbolizing peace, and at the
foot of the second tablet is an oak wreath symbolizing war. A palm branch
designating success rests against the wreaths and tablets.
Mythology is the symbol of the theories of the universe, she holds a globe of the
earth in her left hand. The Greeks' female sphinx to her right represents the
eternally insoluble Riddle of the World.
On the right, Tradition, the aged woman seated on the other side of History,
represents medieval legend and folk tales. She is shown in the midst of relating
her old wives' tales to the young boy seated before her. The distaff in her lap, the
youth with a harp in his hand (a reference to the wandering minstrel of the Middle
Ages), and the shield are reminders of a past age.
The mosaic includes ancient buildings from the three nations of antiquity with
highly developed histories: an Egyptian pyramid, a Greek temple, and a Roman
amphitheater.
Along with the mosaic panel representing Law above the north fireplace, this
mosaic was prepared in Venice, Italy and sent to the Jefferson Building to be put
into place. Both mosaics were made of pieces, or tesserae, which were fitted
together to provide subtle gradations in color.
(Much of the preceding text is derived from the Library of Congress's virtual tour
of the Thomas Jefferson Building.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:History-Dielman-Highsmith.jpeg
8. Assignment (TEACHERS OPTION )
9. What is the historical method?
There are a variety, but just to summarize here: It’s Comparative & critical / not
experimental like sciences
We want to know what happened, when, where, by whom, who else, what medium,
source integrity & credibility
Like many professionals, there is a very strong Duty to truth and accuracy
Preference for eyewitness accounts, original documents,
If Journalism is “first rough draft” of history then history needs to be more than a
rough draft
Precise answers are always elusive , and we continue to look for insights & explanations
The end product is usually a blend of two things: a story (or narrative) and an analysis
or critical reflection on the facts
10. Two great historians were Herodotus and Thucydides — And they represent two
of the highest overarching purposes of history.
These might be summarized as 1) to remember and honor the heroes and 2) to learn the
lessons of history. These were expressed very early in Classical Greece.
Many times when we feel that we are getting a high school version of history, with the
bad stuff cut out and only the positive things left in, we are getting history in the
style of Herodotus. We are honoring heroes. There isnt anything wrong with that
so long as its not the only kind of history available.
Herodotus (484 – 420 BCE) said he wrote history “… in the hope of … preserving from
decay the remembrance of what men have done, and of preventing the great and
wonderful actions of the Greeks and the Barbarians from losing their due meed of
glory…”
Thucydides (460 – 400 BCE) hoped his history would “be judged useful by those
inquirers who desire an exact knowledge of the past as an aid to the interpretation of the
future … I have written my work, not as an essay which is to win the applause of the
moment, but as a possession for all time.”
These two motivations are often at cross purposes. Heroic history often omits the
blemishes and controversies as a form of honoring heroes. When students are first
introduced to history in elementary and secondary school, the heroics usually get far
more attention, and the controversies are glossed over. It often comes as a shock to
discover that some views of history may have been influenced by heroic perspectives.
On the other hand, the “warts-and-all” school of history is also open to criticism, as
noted in a memorable William F. Buckley essay about Winston Churchill.
11. 1Two of the most important early modern historians are David Hume and Edward
Gibbon, and both wrote history as an attempt to make sense of the emerging power of
Great Britain. Hume wrote about it directly, Gibbon wrote about Rome but with an
obvious eye towards Britain.
12. The best-known idea about history comes from George Santayana (1863 – 1952),
who echoed Thucydides when he said: “Those who cannot remember the past are
condemned to repeat it.”
13 − 14 HG Wells and Barbara Tuchman had something to say about the importance of
history as well.
15. Is history objective? How should history be written? Objectivity is a difficult
question for journalists and historians.
One famous German historian, Leopold Von Ranke: (1795 – 1886) said that historians
should take a “scientific” approach and report “the way things really were.” But by that
he meant that an account of the battle of Waterloo should be based on facts commonly
accredited by French, German and English historians. But no one would suggest that the
rise of Napoleon would be seen in the same objective light by all nationalities. If you read
Von Ranke, you get meticulous detail about great men and great institutions. It’s difficult
to imagine anyone who would write a history of the Protestant Reformation in Germany
without a mention of the impact of the printing press. So objectivity and the scientific
approach needs to be considered not only from the standpoint of what is included, but
also what is left out.
It’s no surprise that the quest for objectivity is often seen as quixotic. In That Noble
Dream, Peter Novick describes American historians attempts to first incorporate and then
move away from Von Ranke’s presumed objectivity. Many historians abandoned this
constricted view of objectivity and devoted their histories to nationalistic purposes, he
notes. Several in the US and UK disliked the idea of holding up a string of cold facts
without an attempt at meaning, and focused on making history moral, or progressive, or
more relevant to the present. These included Charles Beard (1874 – 1948) and Lord John
Edward Emerich Acton (1834-1902). Acton believed in a moral approach to history. His
most famous aphorism is: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts
absolutely.” The phrase comes from correspondence about the doctrine of papal
infallibility and the idea that great men should not be judged harshly because they were
dealing with great issues. On the contrary, Acton said, they should be held up to an even
higher standard due to the suspicion that they had become corrupted by power.
16. Alan Nevins, a journalist and historian, wrote in a half-joking, half-disparing sort of
way that it wasnt history that had the objectivity problem, it was what people expected
history to do for them.
17. Arnold Toynbee tried very hard to create a scientific approach to history, and
compared 26 different cultures to find common threads. This is very broad-gauge history
and it has its place, but its not science.
18. Other historians like Acton never tried to be objective at all, but rather, to impose
their morality — Tuchman is accused of the same thing — but Acton said wrong is
wrong no matter what age it’s in. He was speaking of course about great wrongs —
murder, theft, destruction
19. Croce thought it was ridiculous of course
20. Time related historical terms
•
•
•
•
Chronological – In order of occurrence
Anachronic - contrary to flow of time
⁃
(Ex: Mad Men Anachronisms)
Synchronic – at one time
⁃
(Ex: synchronize clocks)
Diachronic – through time
⁃
(Ex: diachronic linguistics is the study of language change over
time)
21 Problems in history — Among the kinds of criticism about the work of history,
you will find:
•
Anachronisms
•
Chronological snobbery (things were better / worse in the past)
•
Historian’s fallacy (not recognizing fog of history)
•
Determinism – Strong causality (Usually there are many factors are at
work)
•
Revisionism – Re-consideration of orthodox views (sometimes negative,
but not usually)
•
Presentism / Whig history (next)
22. What is Whig history or “present-ism” ?
Objectivity wasn’t the real problem, according to some historians like Herbert Butterfield
(1900 – 1979). It was, instead, the tendency of historians to take sides. Butterfield
objected to the way historians would “write on the side of Protestants and Whigs, to
praise revolutions, provided they have been successful, to emphasize certain principles of
progress in the past, and to produce a story which is the ratification if not the glorification
of the present.” This is often called “Whig” history.
Thomas Macaulay, (1800 – 1859) saw these extremes as errors, and advised a balanced
approach:
There are two opposite errors into which those who study the annals of our country are in
constant danger of falling, the error of judging the present by the past, and the error of
judging the past by the present. The former is the error of minds prone to reverence
whatever is old, the latter of minds readily attracted by whatever is new. The former error
may perpetually be observed in the reasonings of conservative politicians on the
questions of their own day. The latter error perpetually infects the speculations of writers
of the liberal school when they discuss the transactions of an earlier age. The former error
is the more pernicious in a statesman, and the latter in a historian. (The History of
England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 2)
But Macaulay was exactly who Butterfield was talking about. Macaulay’s history of
Britain focused on every expanding rights, on reform, on liberalism and progress. It was
designed rather deliberately to keep that historical frame in view as an aide to present-day
political growth and reform. To Butterfield, that same method could be used for bad
ends.
It tended to omit irregularities and present history in a linear form.
23. A lot of students dont know what a “Whig” is — It’s the progressive political part of
the 1700s and 1800s. The US had a Whig party that was the fore-runner of the
Republican party. The name Whig derives from a derogatory nickname for
Scottish parliamentarians, whiggamores, which meant cattle drivers.)
24 − 25 also give examples of whig history. American progress is a gorgeous
picture but when you start thinking about it, and the things it omits, it seems one
sided.
25. The idea of progress in public relations, as if it has gone from one thing to
another, and constantly improving, is easy when you present people and ideas in
chronological sequence. And these ideas do influence each other, but not
necessarily as an evolutionary sequence.
26. Critiques of history — So now we have an idea of what some of the debate
has been about in history. Actually, history itself is debate, according to James
Loewen. The reason Loewen thought that teachers lied was not so much that
they had the facts wrong, but that they were teaching about the least interesting
subjects in history in the least interesting way. They wanted to honor the heroes
and preserve their memories, but they didnt want to learn the lessons of history.
27 − 30. Cultural history / People’s history
In recent years, many historians have moved away from objective and progressive
national histories, focusing instead on cultural history or other smaller topics. Cultural
history might involve the history of ideas, history of technology, women’s history, black
history, environmental history and many others not yet explored.
Howard Zinn more or less popularized this, but he wasnt the only one, and it was also an
optic that famous journalists like Ernie Pyle and famous interviewers like Studs Terkel
used a lot. They kept their eye on all levels of society, and wrote about things that
needed covering.
31. To some, such as Francis Fukuyama (1952 – present) and Jean Baudrillard (1929 –
2007), the collapse of ideology or even the end of an idea of historical progress
represents the “end of history.” According to Baudrillard, this comes from the
abandonment of utopian visions shared by both the right and left wing political
ideologies.
And yet, ideas about utopian futures re-emerged with the advance of communications
technologies, living on in the visions of social networks and free cultures described by
Vannevar Bush, John Perry Barlow, Howard Rheingold, Richard Stallman and others
engaged in the digital revolution.