History and Historians

I. History
A. What is it?
i. the study of past events and people
ii. to study history is to study humanity and all of our triumphs and failures
B. Why study it?
i. studying history is important because it allows us to understand our past, which in turn
allows to understand our present
ii. it can provide us with insight into our cultures of origin as well as cultures with which
we might be less familiar, thereby increasing cross-cultural awareness and
understanding
iii. humans make mistakes- to avoid repeating them, we must first know what they were
and how they came to be
a) the past caused the present, which will cause the future
II. People involved in History
A. Anthropologists
i. 4 studies of Anthropology
a) Cultural
• deals with the aspects of human lives that are learned. It examines the way
different groups keep societal control, delegate responsibilities, and other learned
behaviors
• can include fieldwork and analysis of written records
b) Physical (also forensic)
• studies the way humans have evolved over time and how different environmental
and cultural influences affected human evolution
• can include fieldwork and DNA studies
• fossil- evidence of early life preserved in rocks
c) Archaeology
• study of things humans have created in the past
• includes fieldwork, especially in excavation of artifacts and structures
• artifact- anything man-made or man-altered
d) Linguistics
• study of how languages are formed, evolve, and how culture and language
interact with each other
B. Geographers
i. GIS tracks geographic changes in land and populations
ii. satellite images and various types of maps allow recreation of historical settings
C. Historians
i. reading
a) primary source
• first-hand accounts of an event created by eyewitnesses or first recorders at the
time of the event
b) secondary source
• accounts of events created at a later date and by someone who was not present at
the event
c) oral history
ii. interpretation
 a) frame of reference
• the personal attributes and life experiences of an author that may have influenced
his/her point of view
b) historical context
• the circumstances of the time in which an event occurred or in which an author
lived that may have influenced his/her point of view
c) point of view
• an opinion or perspective presented by the author of a document, influenced by
the author’s personal circumstances
iii. determining validity
a) language
• if the work has been translated, it could have changed the meaning
• ex: Conticuere omnes intentique ora tenebant.
• Translation: A sudden silence fell on all of them.
• Google translation: All were silent, and watched intently holding their
mouths.
b) corroboration
• comparing different sources in order to
• gain a more accurate account of the past
• evaluate the validity of a source
• consider multiple perspectives
c) author
• who the author is greatly impacts their point of view
• ex: Trojan War
• Homer was Greek, and therefore wrote from the Greek POV- Achilles
was the hero of the Iliad and Odysseus the hero of the Odyssey
• Virgil was Roman, who believed they were descended from the Trojans,
so he wrote from the Trojan POV and described the Greeks as monsters
iv. check for bias
a) written
• just because it is written down does not mean it is 100% accurate
• most people want to be seen in the best light
b) oral
• oral histories commonly change over time, either on purpose or by accident
c) visual
• art tends to show different perspectives from writing or oral history, but can still
be biased
d) using multiple sources from many perspectives is the best way to pick out bias
v. analysis
a) sequencing
• having a set sequence of events is helpful in determining cause-and-effect
b) cause-and-effect relationships
• the most important part of studying history
c) comparing and contrasting
• historians must be able to see the similarities and differences in events
d) summarizing
e) making generalizations and predictions
 • by studying cause-and-effect, comparing outcomes to similar events, and having
a set sequence of decisions and actions, historians are able to predict the
outcomes of various developments
f) developing connections between historical events over time
• historians use the past to connect to the present