DEVELOPMENT OF HISTORY AS AN ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE

BY

NYARKO1, JOHN ABBAM

1
History Department, University of Cape Coast (UCC).
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ABSTRACT

History plays a vital function in human thinking, and it implores thoughts and modification,
the role of material circumstances in human affairs, and the putative meaning of historical
events. History as a discipline lacks a universal definition of the term. However, elements of
the field include a community of scholars, research traditions, research methods that define
how data are collected and interpreted, definitions of the requirements that constitute new
knowledge, and communication networks. The primary focus of historians is to conceptualise,
describe, contextualise, explain, and interpret events and circumstances of the past. The
research paper examined the development of History as a discipline tracing its origin from the
19th century. The development of History as an academic discipline is traceable to Germany in
the late Enlightenment Era, marked out by the Enlightenment values and the aftermath of the
mid-19th century when History ceased to be a branch of literature. It was decoupled from
literature as historians in Germany, impressed by the gains of the natural sciences, asserted that
their craft had to become a science too and established elaborate scholarship machinery.
However, before these events that led to the development of social sciences in the attempt to
make History an academic discipline, the inaugural Head of the Department was established in
1804. It was in the early-19th century that History professionalisation began, and in the 1850s,
nineteen (19) universities offered the subject, and by 1931, the number had reached a peak of
two hundred and thirty-eight (238). These professors gradually developed rules and rituals for
admission. Admissions required postgraduate students to submit two doctoral theses. With the
inception of a professoriate in History, a guild, a fictional society of schools developed
developing rules and admission formalities. When students successfully defended both theses,
it qualified them for an academic career. German historian, Leopold von Ranke, is deemed the
‘father of empirical History. Leopold von Ranke was the first to establish a historical basis, and
his academic methods and teachings greatly impacted Western historiography. Dedicated to the
study of philology and the translation and interpretation of texts, he has greatly influenced the
development of highly influential techniques of philology and historical text criticism. Ranke
was concerned with the question of universality and exploring specific temporal limits. To
Ranke, the fundamental duty of History is the critical inquiry of tradition. Ranke argued that
History unfolds in the separate development of individual people, peoples, and nations that
collectively constitute a cultural process and reject universal principles. For Ranke, the most
historically critical individual beings were states, spiritual beings, the primordial creations.
Keywords: History, Academic Discipline, Leopold von Ranke, German, African History.

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History plays a fundamental role in human thought, and it invokes notions of human agency,
change, the role of material circumstances in human affairs, and the putative meaning of
historical events (Little 2020). Discipline is a grouping of courses that share standard academic
or vocational preparation. History as a discipline lacks a universal definition of the term. There
are various definitions of the discipline as espoused by scholars. History is “man in time”
History is the product of actions, creativity, invention, conflict, and interaction of humanity
(Bloch 1953); “History is a narration of the events which have happened among mankind,
including an account of the rise and fall of nations, as well as of other great changes which
have affected the political and social condition of the human race” (Anderson 1876); Numa
Denis Fustel de Coulanges also defined the discipline a”... is not the accumulation of events of
every kind which happened in the past. It is the science of human societies”, and Edward Hallett
Carr defined the discipline as “History is … a dialogue between the present and the past
(originally: Geschichte ist … ein Dialog zwischen Gegenwart und Vergangenheit” (Carr
1968).
There is no consensus as to what elements constitute legitimate subject areas. However,
elements of the field include a community of scholars, research traditions, research methods
that define how data are collected and interpreted, definitions of the requirements that constitute
new knowledge, and communication networks. In the Germanic discipline model, discipline
was to be built on the “scientific spirit” from which professional status was obtained (Becher
1987).
Additionally, Voltaire, in explaining History, posits that “History is nothing but a pack of tricks
we play on the de” and that “the foundations of all history are the recitals of the fathers to the
children, transmitted afterward from one generation to another; at their origin, they are at the
very most probable, when they do not shock common sense, and they lose one degree of
probability in each generation” (Voltaire 1757). The basis of historians is to conceptualise,
describe, contextualise, explain, and interpret events and circumstances of the past (Little
2020).
This paper examines the development of History as a discipline. History as a discipline can be
explained as the study of chronological records of events affecting a people based on critically
examining the material sources and explaining their causes (Luebering 2023). The
development of History as an academic discipline is traceable to Germany in the late
Enlightenment Era, marked out by the Enlightenment values and the aftermath of the mid-19th
century when History ceased to be a branch of literature (Stern 1970). It was decoupled from
literature as historians in Germany, impressed by the gains of the natural sciences, asserted that
their craft had to become a science too and established elaborate scholarship machinery.
However, before these events that led to the development of social sciences in the attempt to
make History an academic discipline, the inaugural Head of the Department was established in
1804. It was in the early-19th century that History professionalisation began, and in the 1850s,
nineteen (19) universities offered the subject, and by 1931, the number had reached a peak of
two hundred and thirty-eight (238). These professors gradually developed rules and rituals for
admission (Lambert and Schofield 2004). Admissions required postgraduate students to submit
two doctoral theses.
With the inception of a professoriate in History, a guild, a fictional society of schools developed
developing rules and admission formalities. The community was made exclusive of occupants
of full, recognised heads, ‘Ordinarie,’ apprentices (selected postgraduate students), and

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Habituation apprentices’ masterpieces). When students successfully defended both theses, it
qualified them for an academic career (Lambert and Schofield 2004).
German historian, Leopold von Ranke (December 21, 1795 – May 23, 1886), is deemed the
‘father of empirical history.’ However, in 1734, Johann Christoph Gatterer and August Ludwig
Schlözer emerged as historically-minded scholars at the University of Göttingen. The Scottish
Enlightenment primarily influenced these two scholars as they adopted a principle of the law
of nature and advancement, hostilities to despotism, a steadfastness to developing a polity, and
self-consciousness to emphasise the idea development and paradigms historically (Lambert and
Schofield 2004).
Leopold von Ranke was the first to establish a historical basis, and his academic methods and
teachings greatly impacted Western historiography. He studied theology and classical studies
at the University of Leipzig. Dedicated to the study of philology and the translation and
interpretation of texts, he has greatly influenced the development of highly influential
techniques of philology and historical text criticism (Vierhaus 2022).
von Ranke combined his enthusiasm for German History with the Roman History of Barthold
Georg Niebuhr (which pioneered the modern scientific method), the medieval historian, the
historical novels of Sir Walter Scott, and the romanticism of German poet and philosopher
Johann Gottfried von Herder who saw History as a record of human progress (Vierhaus 2022).
Ranke was concerned with the question of universality and exploring specific temporal limits.
In 1824 he wrote his first work, History of the Latin and Teutonic Nations from 1494 to 1514
(Geschichte der romanischen und germanischen Völker von 1494 bis 1514) between the French
and the Habsburgs over Italy, as a stage focused on the struggle to usher in a new era. To Ranke,
the fundamental duty of History is the critical inquiry of tradition. Due to these publications,
he was elected associate professor at the University of Berlin in 1825 and taught as a full
professor between 1834-71. He further wrote on the rivalry between Spain and the Ottoman
Empire using the reports of the Venetian ambassadors and published the book, ‘Die römischen
Päpste, ihre Kirche und ihr Staat im sechzehnten und siebzehnsten Jahrhundert’ which became
a masterpiece of narrative history (Vierhaus 2022).
Ranke argued that History unfolds in the separate development of individual people, peoples,
and nations that collectively constitute a cultural process and reject universal principles. He
assumed that socio-political principles should differ according to the characteristics of different
people. For Ranke, the most historically critical individual beings were states, spiritual beings,
the primordial creations of the human spirit, and even “divine thoughts” (Vierhaus 2022).
The academic discipline of History should concentrate on what is accurate and rational, and
that reason doesn’t justify what is absolute but historical continuity. Continuity is the
fundamental condition for cultural development and understanding historical reality. Here,
Ranke posits that History determines each event and not the justification of it. The development
of History as an academic discipline in Germany focused mainly on European states at each
significant phase of their development within the European system, predominantly on the Latin
and Germanic nations beginning in the 16th century. The academic focus of History in Germany
predominantly concentrated on political History – the foreign relations of states and their
systems of government and administration (Vierhaus 2022).
The first historical journal, “Gatterer’s Allgemeine Historische Bibliothek,” offered a window
for reviewing historical works and a specified historical approach. This journal promoted
rationally conducted research on historical sources and an arrangement of the information
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acquired from the sought-out sources, accorded with the view that History was a single process
(Lambert and Schofield 2004). The Göttingen historians postulated that History ought to guide
existing political approaches.
The second phase of historical development as a discipline occurred when professional German
historians established that the geneses of Germany as a state are connected to the
Enlightenment’s reaction, the French Revolution, and the Napoleonic Wars. The establishment
of scholarship machinery culminated in various historical journals, such as the Historische
Zeitschrift, founded in 1859 by Henrich von Sybel (1817-1859). After this, there was the
catholic and royalist periodical, Revue des Questions historiques, and after the defeat of 1870
France and the creation of the Third Republic, another journal was created, which was coedited
by Gabriel Monod (1844-1912) and Gustave Fagniez (1842-1927) named Revue historique in
1876; followed by the English Historical Review of 1886 with Reverend Mandell Creighton
(1843-1901) as its first editor and finally, the American Historical Review of 1895 with J.
Franklin Jameson as its managing editor (Stern 1970).
Aside from the arguments that History was a single process and that it could and should inform
contemporary approaches to national affairs, the emergence of romanticism (i.e., the period of
the late 18th and early 19th century when strong feelings, imagination, and return to nature was
more important than reason, order and intellectual ideas. In other words, the movement in the
arts, music, and literature that emphasises inspiration, subjectivity, and primacy of the
individual), the need for the German state to defend its presence, and the ascendency of an
educationally-oriented class were other factors that accounted for the development of the
discipline of History (Lambert and Schofield 2004).
The Enlightenment Era promoted reason and argued that reason has led to a critical approach
to the past, as it can ensure that society’s capacities are perfected. History has been explored to
debunk all the impediments inherent in defeating reason in early societies. Nonetheless, the
final stages of the French Revolution in the late 18th century and the subsequent triumph of
reason seemingly caused alienation, social turmoil, terrorism, and war, with the romantic
imagination recognising the past as a sanctuary or inspiration. It looked like a sanctuary to
deem it necessary to deal with customs and traditions via Verstehen (empathetic understanding)
(Lambert and Schofield 2004). Historians, therefore, looked for individuality against universal
transhistorical, natural laws espoused by the Enlightenment.
A new agenda emerged. In 1825, Leopold von Ranke proclaimed his intention to recapture,
understand and convey the past as it is. Past policies, their practitioners, and institutions should
be understood in their specific terms and contexts. Therefore, this became the starting point for
learning History and historicism. In Germany, historical research was usually an activity of
men and was mostly held in the form of seminar discussions which were held to be beyond the
female from 1804 to 1940. Between 1804 when the first History Chair was appointed, and
1945, only one woman was qualified (Hedwig Hintez) due to the dint of passing her second
doctorate thesis, yet she was denied due appointment due to gender, her nationality (Jewish)
and the fact that majority of Historians in Germany were Protestants (Lambert and Schofield
2004).
While History was a discipline that began developing in Germany after the French Revolution,
the fight for the recognition of History as a disciplinary field decoupled from literature and
classics spread to the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom, the development of History as
a discipline began in the 19th century when public awareness of the past had soared for an
extended period. The business success of books and scholarships on historical themes by
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individuals like Thomas Carlyle, Thomas Babington Macaulay, and others focus on the nature
of the composition of historian communities, the universities, and their changing role in mid-
Victorian society helped in History’s recognition (Burrow 1981, 14). History as a discipline in
the United Kingdom emerged due to the intense debate on the role of universities following
some criticisms of the curriculum of Oxford and the eminence of its instructional training
(Newman 1996, 271).
Nonetheless, around 1850-90, German historians built connexion with others across states to
provide a counterbalance to the limited intellectual influence of conservative governments via
mutual support, and close to the end of the 19th century, Europe experienced great debates
animated by Rickert and Windelband who claimed that there were two models of science:
“The model of the natural sciences,” which they labelled ‘nomothetic’ because it was
interested in regularities and thus in laws, and another totally different concept of science,
which they labelled “idiographic” because it is not interested in laws but in a particular and
the unique. Its aim is to give an accurate description rather than to discover laws and rules”
(Wessling 1998, 265-7).
The model of the natural sciences became the first strategy used by historians to have their
discipline accepted as a science. This disposition was heavily critiqued for being too narrow,
too focused on great men and political events, and that History should also focus on studying
anonymous people who have always represented the masses who form the majority of the
population (Stern 1970). With the criticism faced by the earlier proponents of the concept of
History to be a science, Social History and methods were developed to study the unknown
people of the past, first in Europe, the peasants and the labouring class and the ‘people without
history.’
In 1852, John Henry Newman made a statement that academies were “a place of teaching
universal knowledge,” ensuring “the diffusion and extension of knowledge” instead of its
“advancement” – universities are not research institutions. However, they are places where
liberal education turned the mind and encouraged the habit of thought. The debate had been
ravaged by arguments that universities could not adequately meet the needs of the evolving
society and that universities are responsible for the moral and political soundness of their lives
and the cultural and religious life of a country (Lambert and Schofield 2004).
This fierce debate prompted establishing the Royal Commission on Universities in England,
paving the way for challenging the traditional dominance of mathematics and classics and, in
the process, History finding a place in the higher education program. The controversy arose
with the expansion at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in the 1860s, the obliteration
of religious texts, the emergence of professional tutors, and a movement to donate research
courses (Smith and Stray 2001, 57-8). John Keyon cited reasons for the acceptance of History
as a discipline, and his reasons included the French Revolution, the rise of nationalism, the
external recognitions of German historians such as Ranke and Mommsen, the emergent
realisation among parliamentary activists to encourage the appreciation of the British
constitutionalism, and the influence of Darwinian theory in connection to ideas of social
evolution (Keyon 1983, 149-150).
History in the United Kingdom has been an additional study in the universities of Cambridge
and Oxford since 1742 when the institution of the first ‘Regius Professorships’ of History.
However, their holders are not formally attached to the university or involved in its
management, and their lectures are, at best, at the lowest level in undergraduate programmes.

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Benighted and modern History was considered an ‘inadequate’ and undefined knowledge
because “modern” History is still developing, having no rules of thumb and unified text on
which students’ concentration is centred. It was unclear how examining historical knowledge
might be (Lambert and Schofield 2004).
In Britain, with William Stubhs elected to the ‘Distinguished Chair’ at Oxford in 1866 and
John Keyon, England’s first professorial historian and the occupant of the ‘Chair’ in Oxford,
immense contributions to historical knowledge were made through the publication in 1870 with
the ‘Select Charters’ leading to the commencement of the professionalisation of History
(Keyon 1983). From 1866-1884, when J. Keyon was Chair, Oxford saw significant strides in
teaching History and research as, in 1872, the first history degree programme in England was
established. From 1848, History became more widely known at Cambridge, partly as a
proactive measure to divert criticism of parliament from its programme, which many
considered too narrow. In 1851, History was officially included in the Cambridge curriculum,
although it initially matched the poll (Soffer 1994, 54).
However, developments in the 1870s changed the disdain for History as an academic discipline.
It was dropped from the ethical science trilogy in 1867 because it was incorporated into law
despite fierce resistance from two directions: History was perceived as vast and challenging
that it lowered the test scores of law students and threatened their future careers as lawyers.
Few historians took the opportunity to turn the tide and made History an academic subject in
its own rights (Soffer 1994). Adherent proponents of History as a distinct university discipline
included John Seeley and A.W. Ward. To Ward, History involved acquiring skills that could
be examined at an extraordinary level of expertise, while Seeley argued that History was
essential in appreciating the present state of affairs.
To Seeley, British historians must emphasise the importance of their colonies and recognise
History as a “school of statesmen” (Seeley 1870). For him, anyone who examines political
institutions, whether ancient or modern, engages in History, and what History learners learn is
the immediacy of reflecting our views and judgement about the things around us, not the
storage of knowledge for tomorrow. History shines simultaneously on global politics, the world
of nations, and state institutions and serves as an illumination like natural science throws at the
world the forces of matter and vitality (Seeley 1870). The establishment of History as an
independent subject at two of England’s oldest universities commenced in 1873 (Soffer 1994).
The following state to have developed History as a discipline aside from Germany and the
United Kingdom was the United States of America. In the mid-19th century, historical writing
in the United States was the domain of novices and non-historians like the clergy, lawyers, and
traders. Professional historians wrote no history as none existed. In the United States, the latter
part of the 19th century saw a growing interest in History; thus, in 1930, more than a million
students were reading History (Jameson 1993). The conventional combination of classics,
mathematics, and ‘philosophy’ made up American colleges’ curriculum before the war. Later,
universities offered a range of elective subjects, including History, from which students could
select. Before 1870, few historical courses were offered, with no postgraduate training
(Jameson 1993, 268).
The first cohort of professional educators of History in the United States consisted mainly of
German-educated males with higher degrees. These scholars included Herbert Baxter Adams.
Nonetheless, by 1907, American universities had awarded 250 doctoral degrees in History,
with most of them tutoring in universities; hence PhD became the prerequisite criterion for the

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historical profession, and in a few decades, academic History became recognised as a new
profession (Higham 1965).
This event culminated in a second strategy to have History accepted as science when the name
social sciences were adopted. The French Annales Group primarily promoted the school of
thought of social sciences in the 20th century, and it had a substantial impact on History not
only in France but also elsewhere as it played an essential role in the renewal of historical
studies through the introduction of new themes, new methods and approaches and new
techniques (Wessling 1998). The Annales Group was established by Lucien Febvre (1878-
1956) and its roots are found in the journal Annales: économies, sociétés, civilisations. Here,
History didn’t focus on the study of leaders but rather the study of the lives of ordinary people
and the replacement of the examination of diplomacy, politics, and wars with inquiries into
agriculture, climate, commerce, communication, demography, technology, transportation as
well as social groups and mentalities (Luebering 2023). The Annales School advanced
approaching the past via the focus on interdisciplinarity that placed a premium on problem-
driven History over a history of events and of great men.
The ancestors of the African history faculties in the U.K. were private corporations founded by
wealthy intellectuals and people in business in the 18th century. One such organisation is the
Society for the Promotion of Inland Discovery of Africa, aka the African Society, which was
founded in 1788 by a group of wealthy individuals, including Sir Joseph Banks (Hallet 1964).
The primary function of corporations like the African Society is to fund the discovery and
acquisition of knowledge in foreign territories. The African Society sponsored the pioneering
expeditions of Mungo Park along the Niger River, Frederick Hornemann’s voyage to Fezzan,
John Lewis Burckhardt’s voyage through Egypt and Nubia, and the Ethiopian and Egypt
expedition. Update by artist Henry Salt (Hallet 1964). The information gathered by these
explorers has been published and exhibited and represents some of the earliest popular accounts
of Africa and its people. The African Society merged with the Geographical Society in 1831,
and the association received its Royal Charter in 1859 (Watterson 2008). The primary function
of the Royal Geographical Society was to record and map the globe scientifically; therefore,
its information is of strategic commercial and military importance—expansion of the Empire.
In addition, the discipline emerged in African universities in the 20th century. While the likes
of A. P. Newton, Fredrick Hegel, and Trevor Roper argued that Africans had no history;
establishing African History as an academic speciality has changed the narrative of Africans
lacking History. African History as a branch of learning was made possible by chartered
historians who advocated for the search for pre-colonial sources, both documentary and non-
documentary sources, to challenge such aforementioned historical professions’ assertions
(Watterson 2008).
Recognised historians established university programmes in African Universities to produce
scholars with the requisite proficiencies to sustain the new discipline. The emergence of
African History as an academic speciality can be traced to the aftermath of WWII when several
significant government papers espoused the need and sponsoring of the academic
institutionalisation of African History and the emergence of the Cold War. Before the 1950s,
no records of African historiography existed on a general history of the whole African continent
(Watterson 2008; Boakye 2022).
The institutionalisation of African History as an academic field became possible through the
works of many Africanists, such as Kenneth Onwuka Dike, J.E. Casely-Hayford, renowned
English-trained scholars, and a few distinguished scholars of American background. These
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non-African scholars included John Fage, Roland Oliver, A.D. Roberts, and Lewis Hanke. The
Journal of African History was launched by John Fage and Roland Oliver in cooperation with
Cambridge University Press in 1960, a significant year in acknowledging African History.
Archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, and linguists contributed articles to the journal,
which became the first history journal to delve into African History from a multidisciplinary
perspective (Wessling 2008; Boakye 2022).
The 1957 Lectures on African History and Archaeology, held at the School of Oriental and
African Studies (S.O.A.S.), significantly resulted in the apperception of African History as an
academic discipline (Watterson 2008). Scarbrough’s reports have influenced the emergence of
the discipline. The first decade after the Scarbrough Report was essential in developing
university infrastructure. Two significant reports emerged, the Hayter and the Robbins reports,
which eventually established Africa History in academic institutions in the U.K. (Watterson
2008,31). Accordingly, the Scarbrough report stated that:
“a nation which does not possess a sound foundation of scholarship is ill equipped to deal
with world affairs, for scholarship is the source from which a knowledge of other countries
and an interest in their ways of living is spread among the people. At a time when great
efforts are being undertaken to make cooperation between the nations the basis of world
peace and future prosperity, this foundation of scholarship has an importance which cannot
be disregarded without injury to the national and to international and to imperial interest”
(The Report of the Interdepartmental Commission of Enquiry on Oriental, Slavonic, East
European and African Studies 1947,24-28).
In the words of Professor John Fage of African History at the Centre of West African Studies,
University of Birmingham,
“The modern period in the writing of West African history begins…with the development of
the history departments in the new universities established in West Africa itself from 1948
onwards, and with the more or less contemporaneous development of the serious study of
African history in universities elsewhere, first perhaps in Britain and the U.S.A.” (Fage 1971,
244).
The Asquith report of 1945 was responsible for developing African History as a discipline,
which was introduced at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, in 1948. Hence,
John Fage and Roland Oliver are considered the fathers of African History as academic subjects
(Rimmer 1986). Developing an educational infrastructure in Africa was the origin of this
discipline, which resulted from the British’s strategic interests in trade and security. Strategic
interests arose due to the evolving political association between England and its African
colonies from 1787 to 1948, ultimately resulting in the founding of Fourah Bay College in
Sierra Leone in 1827. The Church Missionary Society established the college, which, later in
1876, partnered with the University of Durham to offer English university courses (Watterson
2008).
African History owes its timeliness to the realisation of the 1945 Asquith Report with two key
recommendations: to encourage British scholars to staff new institutions and to insist that staff
keep with the traditions of British scholars and undertake independent research. The Report
stated:
“His Majesty’s Government has entered upon a program of social and economic development
for the colonies which is not merely the outcome of a desire to fulfil our moral obligations as
trustees of the welfare of Colonial peoples but is also designed to lead to the exercise of self-
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 government by them. In the stage preparatory to self-government, universities have an
important part to play; indeed, they may be said to be indispensable” (Asquith cited in
Watterson 2008, 22).
There were significant changes in higher education across all British colonies as a result of the
Asquith Report, which recommended the establishment of additional universities in Uganda
and Sudan aside from Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. This Report became the overall
development plan for establishing universities in British colonies, and by 1949 all five
university colleges were built in Africa, with all four aside from Fourah Bay College being
affiliated with the University of London (Watterson 2008). The requirement for original
research by academic staff facilitated the recruitment of British scholars who played a critical
role in local research, thus contributing to developing the African History field. The acceptance
of African History as a distinct academic discipline was not realised until the 1960s. As Africa’s
past was recognised and academically justified, African History moved away from imperial
History (Watterson 2008).
In summary, the development of History as a discipline began in the 19th century with German
scholars who advocated for the critical inquiry of traditions and the establishment of historical
journals to review historical literature and promote specific historical methodologies. History
as an academic discipline became decoupled from literature as it sought to determine the
actualities of events, not their justification. However, by the 20th century, History had become
a thriving field of discipline producing more than two hundred doctorate holders, and with the
independence of the Global South, especially Africa, the discipline became the haven of
scholars to showcase their displeasures of colonialism and exploitation.

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Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4543233