What is History?

1. What is History? A guide to understanding the role and function of the historian

2. Definitions of “history” “There is history in all men’s lives” – William Shakespeare

3. “History” - definitions • his·to·ry • n.pl.his·to·ries • 1. A narrative of events; a story. • 2. • a. A chronological record of events, as of the life or development of a people or institution, often including an explanation of or commentary on those events: a history of the Vikings. • b. A formal written account of related natural phenomena: a history of volcanoes. • c. An established record or pattern of behavior: an inmate with a history of substance abuse. • 3. The branch of knowledge that records and analyzes past events: "History has a long-range perspective"Elizabeth Gurley Flynn.

4. “History” - definitions • his·to·ry • n.pl.his·to·ries • 4. • a. The events forming the subject matter of a historical account. • b. The aggregate of past events or human affairs: basic tools used throughout history. • c. An interesting past: a house with history. • d. Something that belongs to the past: Their troubles are history now. • e. Slang One that is no longer worth consideration: Why should we worry about him? He's history! • 5. A drama based on historical events: the histories of Shakespeare.

5. Why History Matters “A generation which ignores history has no past and no future” – Robert Heinlein

6. Why History Matters • Civilizations have been shaped by and continue to be shaped by creative and destructive impulses that reside, side by side, in humans • The study of history requires an understanding that events of the past are influenced by different perspectives

7. Why History Matters • Forces that have shaped civilization include • Needs for power and control vs. needs for individual freedom • Needs for expansion, innovation, conquest vs. needs for protecting traditions • Globalization vs. protection of traditional communities

8. Why History Matters “ All human beings are practicing historians. As we go through life we present ourselves to others through our life story; as we grow and mature we change that story through different interpretations and different emphasis. We stress different events as having been decisive at different times in our life history and, as we do so, we give those events new meanings. People do not think of this as ‘doing history’; they engage in it often without special awareness. We live our lives; we tell stories. It is as natural as breathing.” – Gerda Lerner

9. Why History Matters • What is this text saying to you? • Give an example from your own life where this applies

10. Why History Matters “ Historical knowledge enables us to place our perceptions of the contemporary world into a meaningful context and to [discover] the cause-and-effect relationships between events that serve as the basis for future expectations. Without such knowledge we would be as bewildered as a quarterback entering the fourth quarter of a football game without knowing the score, the amount of elapsed time, or the successes or failures of plays and players.” – Allan J. Lichtman and Valerie French

11. Why History Matters • What is this text saying to you? • Give an example from your own life where this applies

12. Enter the Historian “You have to know the past to understand the present” – Carl Sagan

13. What Historians Do • Historians do what they do so we might come to understand the present by studying the past • Historians collect and analyze factual information from a variety of sources • But the facts only have meaning when the historian gives an interpretation of those facts

14. What Historians Do • Historians look for patterns and connections • they document large societal changes and reconstruct the experiences of ordinary people in the course of those changes • Historians study facts and records that previous generations have left, to find out what kind of lives they led and how they solved their problems

15. Is there only one correct history? • Of course not; history is as much interpretation as it is an account of factual information • We may all agree that there were a series of events that led to the American Revolution • But there may be many interpretations as to why those events occurred and what effects those events had on other events

16. How do historians work? • They do research -- read, and then read some more, and then read probably a whole lot more • And then they write – biographies, analyses, textbooks, etc. • So what’s the difference between what they read to learn about the history and the stuff they write after their research?

17. How do historians work? • Historians study primary sources • A primary source is any material that is created at the time of the events described (or very near in time), usually by someone with firsthand knowledge • Examples: printed publications (newspapers, books), visual materials (paintings, sculpture, photos, film), oral histories (interviews), personal records (diaries, journals, letters), artifacts (tools, household objects, weapons)

18. How do historians work? • Why do historians study primary sources? • Because they are usually more reliable than secondary sources • Secondary sources are material created by somebody removed from the event being studied - who was either not at the event, or was working later • For instance, all historical textbooks are secondary sources.

19. How do historians work? • Historians have to weigh evidence carefully and check one source against the other • The task of a trained historian is to arrange the material so that it supports a particular conclusion • The historian must also offer the evidence to show that the conclusion drawn is “proper”

20. Historians have help • There are other scientific disciplines that historians can use in their quest for answers (archaeology; anthropology) • Through scientific study and analysis of artifacts and human remains, we are able to piece together what happened in the past • Nothing is every exact but as science improves, we are able to move closer to what may be “the truth”

21. Historical Analysis • Historians must always consider these factors when doing their research” • 1) Time - how much time has passed between the event and the date the primary source was created; the greater the time, the more suspect the details may be) • 2) Reliability - who is the author? Can we trust him/her? Can the information in the primary source be verified by independent sources? • 3) Opinions – has the information been influenced by emotion, opinion, or exaggeration? Why did the person write the information down? Compare different descriptions of same event

22. A Guide to Historical Method (Garraghan) Six Inquiries: • When was the source written or produced (date) • Where was it produced? (location) • By whom was it produced? (author) • From what pre-existing material was it produced? (analysis) • In what original form was it produced? (integrity) • What is the essential value of its contents? (credibility)

23. “History is who we are and why we are they way we are” – David C. McCullough “History never looks like history when you are living through it” - John C. Gardner