One of the greatest benefits of studying history is that it allows an opportunity to learn about the past. History is presented everywhere in numerous forms and historians like John Merriman allow people to take a look at the past. John Merriman, a professor at Yale University, is the author of “A History of Modern Europe;” this textbook consists of history from the Renaissance to present modern Europe. The text discusses subjects regarding world wars, revolutions, and colonial completion. Giles Milton, another historian, wrote “Nathaniel’s Nutmeg;” this text is a narrative non-fiction which further elaborates on the colonial competition of the 17th century. These two historical readings are different; one reading is a textbook and the other is a narrative non-fiction. Different historical texts can operate to foster different ways of thinking about the past. History presented as narrative non-fiction differs from accounts written by academic historians because of the form of writing, the engagement, and the opportunity of perspective it offers. Firstly, the difference between these two readings is the form of writing they contain. A textbook provides factual statements and straightforward information. A narrative non-fiction communicates information or history through a story which includes detailed descriptions. A textbook can contain precise dates and blunt statements about a given topic. For example in “A History of Modern Europe”, Merriman discusses how European
In conclusion, this student feels as though Edmond Morgan focused primarily on the initial failures of the Jamestown colony and judged it accordingly as a fiasco. One could see where Karen Kupperman’s argument is more relevant and a better way to judge the history of Jamestown. She takes into consideration the initial failures of Jamestown, but overall points out that Jamestown learned from its mistakes. Jamestown’s success can be attributed to its normal civilians grabbing ahold of the reins, and adopting capitalist style planning. The fact that Jamestown became successful and gave future colonies a successful model to study should be reason for it to be looked upon as a success story and not a chaotic failed fiasco.
The world is full of rich culture, diversity and experiences unique to each individual. When determining the validity of historic accounts we must factor in that particular historian’s point of view, which should be characterized by ethnicity, idealogy, theoretical or methodological preference. With these factors views of the past often vary from person to person. In this essay I will be discussing the four different stages that shaped the writing of American history over the last 400 years.
In Revolutionary Summer, Joseph Ellis attempts to display the importance of the summer of 1776 in a narrative form. In doing this, Ellis must balance his knowledge as a modern-day historian with his desire to ensure that the reader sees the narrative as it was in that time period. In his presentation of facts throughout Revolutionary Summer, Ellis recognizes that hindsight can be both a powerful historian tool to provide context as well as a negative mindset that can skew the true facts of the time. Therefore, he uses hindsight only in order to provide context and importance for certain actions, and, similarly to a textbook, strives to present the facts as they were at the time, without any modern perspective. However, Ellis’s writing
In the article Knowing History and Knowing Who We Are written by David McCullough, is an essay in which he informs how important it is to learn about our history and how it shapes who we are today. Throughout, he connects important events from American History and relates it to our lives and the world around us. The three main ideas; which are “Character and Destiny”, “Our failure, Our Duty”, and “Listening to the Past”. These ideas
(An analysis of how the authors Hughes, Clifton and McElroy and how they use history in their works.)
The study of the Atlantic as an interwoven community is a relatively new theory. Historians are beginning to see Atlantic History as “a sudden and harsh encounter between two old worlds that transformed both and integrated them into a single New World” , and not just separate entities with detached pasts. Atlantic History: Concept and Contours by Bernard Bailyn lays the framework for what Atlantic History is and how it should be studied. Bailyn states that the reasoning behind writing the book is that previous historians focus too much on the imperial history of the Atlantic world, when in fact the colonized areas had just as much of an effect on European powers as Europe had on their colonies. In this concise two part book, Bailyn’s main argument is that the concept of Atlantic History was inevitable because it is impossible to look at any major event of this time period without seeing its effects ripple throughout the entire Atlantic world.
James Loewen wrote the book ?Lies My Teacher Told ME? to help the students of the United States become aware of their true history. This book attempts to show how and why American history has been taught the way it has without regard for the truth. Mr. Loewen had compared twelve different history textbooks they are: The Great Republic, The American Way, Land of Promise, Rise of the American Nation, Challenge of Freedom, American Adventures, Discovering American History, The American Tradition, Life and Liberty, The United States ? A History of the Republic, Triumph of the American Nation and The American Pageant. Loewen has argued his cases for Heroification, Euorcentrism and the first settlers, and Racism in our history. He has done
The Shoemaker and the Tea Party by Alfred Young revolves around two bibliographies written about one of the last living participants of the Boston Tea Party, and the authors own interpretations of the events surrounding the Tea Party and the American Revolution as a whole. In this particular novel, Young explores what it means to rediscover history, and how history is continually redefined. Particular attention in the novel is given to public history, and how highlighting people otherwise lost to time can completely change how an event is perceived. Readers are given the opportunity to see the history behind the American Revolution through the lenses of an average man of that time. In this essay I will review the novel and the message
So we are presented with a narrative history quite similar to a modern history but which goes off on tangents on subjects when they first appear in the narrative (this of course includes tangents off of tangents).
Allison, Graham, and Niall Ferguson. “Don't Know Much About History.” The Atlantic, Sept. 2016, pp. 28–29.
The study of history and the teaching of history has come under intense public debate in the United States in the last few decades. The “culture-wars” began with the call to add more works by non-Caucasians and women and has bled into the study of history. Not only in the study of history or literature, this debate has spread into American culture like wildfire.
Colonial life in America was a time of many victories and failings. It was a learning experience for the people of the time. In a A People’s History of the United States and A Patriot’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn and Larry Schweikart tell contrasting stories of the issues of colonial life.
“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” (Albert Einstein Quotes) Albert Einstein says that using imagination can take you everywhere, meaning that you can become anything or anyone and understand what is going on while you are that person or thing. Fiction activates your imagination and has you connect with the character to better understand what that character is going through. Fiction would then be valuable to historians because it helps them see the emotions of people during the time they are studying. To prove this, this essay will test the historical accuracy of The Headstrong Historian , by Chimamanda Adichie, by comparing it to nonfiction accounts, the vital truth of colonial Nigeria will be established,
What is History? This is the question posed by historian E.H. Carr in his study of historiography. Carr debates the ongoing argument which historians have challenged for years, on the possibility that history could be neutral. In his book he discusses the link between historical facts and the historians themselves. Carr argues that history cannot be objective or unbiased, as for it to become history, knowledge of the past has been processed by the historian through interpretation and evaluation. He argues that it is the necessary interpretations which mean personal biases whether intentional or not, define what we see as history. A main point of the chapter is that historians select the facts they think are significant which ultimately
Historians use literary techniques and even poetic devices to craft historiographies that are compelling for readers. For example, a historian may construct a plot or narrative based on a series of events or on biographical data. A fiction author likewise relies on historical events and biographical data to construct plots: a process White calls "emplotment," (1714). Emplotment is basically the "encodation of facts," (White 1714). The storyteller is a historian, for no fiction is created out of thin air. Likewise, the historian is a storyteller, for readers of history require a