What is history? This question may seem really easy, even silly. Most people would say that history is the study of the important people, dates, and events of the past. This answer is true as far as it goes. But who decides what people, dates, and events are important? And why should we bother learning about them in the first place?
Let's dig a little deeper into the question “What is history?” First of all, history is an important way of thinking about the world. To see what this means, imagine waking up tomorrow and not being able to remember a single thing about your past. You can't remember your name, who your parents or family members are, the rules to your favorite game, or anything you ever learned in school.
Without a knowledge of your own past, you might feel lost and lonely. You wouldn't even know who you are. And you would have a difficult time making good decisions about what to do next.
In a similar way, history helps us make sense of the world. It is the memory of communities, peoples, and nations. Without history, individuals and whole countries would lose their sense of direction. The next time you watch the news on TV, notice how often reporters, politicians, and others mention something about the past. Humans constantly use their knowledge of the past to make sense of what is happening today.
History is not just important to understanding what happened. It also allows us to understand why something happened. Events can be connected in several different ways: cause and effect, correlation, and sequences. Historians look at cause and effect, or how one event caused another event to happen. For example, if you get a high score on a test, you might say this is because you spent a lot of time studying. The effect of studying was a good grade. However, sometimes events might appear to be related, but one does not always cause the other. This is known as correlation. If you ate toast for breakfast and then later did well on a test, you might think that you did well on your test and start to eat the same breakfast before every test. You may also look at your day as a series, or sequence, of events. You studied, ate toast, went to school, and received a high score on your test.In examining the details of your day, you may be able to come up with an answer about why you are doing well in school.
Historians look at history like this, too. They must ask themselves what caused something to happen, what might just be a correlation of events, and what was the a series, or sequence, of events that led from one event to another? Sometimes, it is hard to tell how one event affects another. The answer might not be immediately clear because it takes a long time to come to an understanding.
History is also an academic discipline. It is a systematic way of using evidence to make sense of the past. When you think about it, the past is not an easy thing to study. After all, it's not here any longer for historians to observe. So, historians turn to many kinds of evidence to describe and understand the past. They're fascinated by things like old letters, diaries, photographs, paintings, film footage, speeches, political cartoons, newspaper articles, maps, tools, and many other kinds of evidence. They want to know who created them and for what reason, and what they can teach us about the past.
History as an Ongoing Argument
Some people think that history is just a listing of facts. That is not true. Historians argue all the time. They argue about what the facts really are. They also argue about how to interpret the facts.
Think about it this way. Suppose you, your parents, and a good friend sit down to write separate versions of your life story. Would the stories be alike in every way? Or would each of you include events that the others don't know about or don't think are important? And even when you included the same events, would everyone's version describe the events in the same way? What if you or others were embarrassed by some part of the story?Might you change things a little to make yourself look better? Now suppose a historian came along to write your life story. How would the historian make sense of these different versions?
History works in a similar way. Historians have countless pieces of evidence to work with, and yet there is no complete record of the past for them to look at. To make sense of the past, historians must weigh the available evidence and try to figure out what the facts are. Then they need to stitch the facts together to answer the questions that interest them. In doing this, they must use their judgment. And that means that their own viewpoints come into play.
Historians will often make an argument by attempting to identify patterns in the facts. If historians can identify these patterns, then they can also identify how people and societies change, and how they remain the same. This is called historical continuity. Events are important, but they cannot only be listed as separate facts. As historians build arguments that combine their ideas about the past with the facts of what happened, new patterns begin to emerge.
History, then, is much more than a listing of “facts.” Some people have even described history as an ongoing argument about the past. Why does the argument go on? Sometimes historians find new evidence, such as a forgotten document or a new archaeological discovery. The new evidence may lead them to challenge old interpretations. Sometimes historians reconsider existing evidence and see things that others have overlooked.Historians are always considering evidence from new angles. As they do so, they may correct an earlier historian's error or explain events in a different way.
Reading History
Our discussion leads to some key points about how to read history. You can't just assume that what you're reading is the final truth. If you read more than one version of history, you are likely to find differences. So, when you read history, ask yourself these questions:
• Who wrote this document?
• When was it written?
• What kinds of evidence does the author use?
• Is the evidence reliable?
• Does the author have a particular viewpoint that he or she is trying to promote?
An Example of a Historical Argument
Let's look at one example of a historical argument. In History Alive! The Ancient World, you will learn about the Roman Empire. This was the greatest empire of the ancient world. It stretched across much of Europe, North Africa, and western Asia. People in the empire thought of its capital city, Rome, as the center of the world.
Protected by its armies, the empire lasted for about 500 years, from about 31 B.C.E. to 476 C.E. Then a dramatic change happened. The western half of the empire was overrun by tribes of people the Romans called barbarians, meaning “uncivilized.” In 476, the last Roman emperor in the west was forced to give up his throne. The western half the empire broke up into separate kingdoms ruled by the barbarians. Although the empire's eastern half survived for another 1,000 years, the mighty Roman Empire of old was gone forever.
The breakup of the empire shocked people throughout the Mediterranean world. A great argument began that continues to this day. How could such a powerful empire disappear? What caused Rome to fall?
Edward Gibbon's Explanation
In the 1700s, an English historian named Edward Gibbon became fascinated by these questions. He gave his answers in a famous work called The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
Gibbon certainly did his homework. His work was so huge that it was published in six volumes over a period of 12 years.
So, why did Rome fall, according to Gibbon? He mentions a number of causes, but two of them stand out. The first was the pressure from the barbarians outside the empire. The second was a kind of decay inside the empire itself. The Romans, Gibbon said, became soft. They became too fond of luxury, and they lost their sense of public spirit. They forgot the virtues of strength and citizenship that had made Rome great.
The Argument Goes On
Modern historians still admire Gibbon's work. Most of them, though, would say that his explanation of Rome's fall was overly simple. They argue that many causes worked together to bring down the empire. In addition to the moral decay that Gibbon wrote about, they point to a number of economic, social, military, and even environmental problems. These problems range from high taxes that hurt the economy to lead poisoning. (The Romans used lead in their pottery and water pipes.) Many other causes have been named as well. One historian lists more than 200 of them!
Historians don't yet agree on which causes were the most important. In part, that's because new generations of historians bring fresh thinking and new discoveries to old problems. For example, the study of economics was in its infancy in Gibbon's time. Today historians are much better equipped to look at economic problems as a possible source of Rome's troubles.In addition, different historians' viewpoints may lead them to notice different aspects of a complex story.
The argument also goes on because history is a way of thinking about the present, not just the past. Every generation finds its own lessons in the events of history.
Gibbon, for example, lived in a time of great progress and prosperity in Europe. He was fascinated by Rome partly because he wanted to know whether the Europe of his own day might decline and fall, too.
Similarly, many people today compare the powerful Roman Empire to the United States. Like Gibbon, they want to know whether there are lessons in Rome's story that might apply to their own time. No doubt the historians of the future will have their own reasons for asking once again why Rome fell.
Skills You'll Acquire by Studing History
As you continue to study history, you'll ultimately gain a certain set of very valuable skills. These skills can be applied to any historical time, place, event, or individual. You'll be able to
Conclusion
We started with a simple question: What is history? As you have seen, this question has many answers. History is a study of the past. It is a way of making sense of the world. It is an academic discipline. It is a combination of facts and interpretations of facts. It is also an ongoing argument that changes with new evidence and new thinking. And that is the most exciting thing of all because it means that history is very much alive.