"It is no doubt important to know that the great battle was fought in 1066 and not in 1065 or 1067, and that it was fought at Hastings and not at Eastbourne or Brighton. The historian must not get these things wrong. But when points of this kind are raised, I am reminded of Housman's remark that 'accuracy is a duty, not a virtue.'"
"History consists of a corpus ascertained facts. The facts are available to the historian in documents, inscriptions and so on, like fish in the fishmonger's slab. The historian collects them, takes them home, and cooks and serves them in whatever style appeals to him"
“Study the historian before you begin to study the facts.”
- E. H. Carr, What is History?
"History consists of a corpus ascertained facts. The facts are available to the historian in documents, inscriptions and so on, like fish in the fishmonger's slab. The historian collects them, takes them home, and cooks and serves them in whatever style appeals to him"
“Study the historian before you begin to study the facts.”
- E. H. Carr, What is History?
What is History?
History is commonly taught as a series of facts to be remembered, which is why it is so common for students think of history as their least favorite subject despite doing well in it. Far too often, history teachers will give multiple choice tests that emphasize the memorization of facts. This is akin to giving a math test where one must correctly identify numbers; that is not math, just as memorizing facts is not history.
History is about interpretation, for without interpretation the facts are useless. Throughout this class, we will be reading primary sources from throughout America's past. We will be discussing in class what we found interesting about the documents and what we found significant from them. Often, our interpretations will differ, so we must then learn to acknowledge different approaches than our own and be able to support our arguments with evidence.
This is "doing history," rather than "learning about history." In doing history, we will gain a better understanding of the American past, and therefore a more complete understanding of America's present. Thinking historically allows one to sift through all available information, evaluate the validity of sources and arguments, assess biases, and identify narratives that give a slanted view of the past.
History is commonly taught as a series of facts to be remembered, which is why it is so common for students think of history as their least favorite subject despite doing well in it. Far too often, history teachers will give multiple choice tests that emphasize the memorization of facts. This is akin to giving a math test where one must correctly identify numbers; that is not math, just as memorizing facts is not history.
History is about interpretation, for without interpretation the facts are useless. Throughout this class, we will be reading primary sources from throughout America's past. We will be discussing in class what we found interesting about the documents and what we found significant from them. Often, our interpretations will differ, so we must then learn to acknowledge different approaches than our own and be able to support our arguments with evidence.
This is "doing history," rather than "learning about history." In doing history, we will gain a better understanding of the American past, and therefore a more complete understanding of America's present. Thinking historically allows one to sift through all available information, evaluate the validity of sources and arguments, assess biases, and identify narratives that give a slanted view of the past.
History can take on many forms, and this class will touch on the following approaches:
- Political History: America's major legislation, policies of presidents, and the long and short term effects of them.
- Military History: Why did the U.S. go to war? What was the lasting impact of these wars?
- Social History: How did non-elite Americans live? What was important to them? How did they think? What did it mean to be an "average" American?
- Global History: How has the U.S. fit in with the world historically, and what precedent does that set for today?