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    History Notes For Class

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    abihannon2
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    History Notes For Class

    Uploaded by

    abihannon2
    11 views1 page
    This should be very helpful

    Original Title

    History Notes for Class

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    11 views1 page

    History Notes For Class

    Uploaded by

    abihannon2
    This should be very helpful

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    History: Introduction and Historical SourcesINTRODUCTIONHistory is the study of

    change over time, and it covers all aspects of human society. Political, social,
    economic, scientific, technological, medical, cultural, intellectual, religious and
    military developments are all part of history.HISTORYHistory refers to the study
    and interpretation by a historian on the data and other source of the past human
    activity, people in the definition. , societies and civilizations leading to the
    present day. There are three important concepts.First, history as we all know is
    based on past events.Second it is interpreted by someone usually by historian.
    They gather, discard and interpret the sources that they encounter.And finally and
    the most important, history rely on data and documents which historian call as
    historical sources.History’s Subject MatterFast CheckLike other social science
    discipline, the subject matter of history is the life of people and humanity. But
    history has always been known as the study of the past. While this definition of
    history is not wrong, it is incomplete.ClarificationsEtymologically, the word
    history came from the Greek word Historia which means inquiry. Clearly the word
    Historia does not mean past events. It denotes asking question or investigation of
    the past done byperson trained to do so or by persons who are interested in human
    past.Conclusion Hence, we can say that historical account must be based on all
    available relevant evidence. Therefore, a version of the past that cannot be
    supported by the evidence is worthless.History and the HistorianHistorian is an
    expert or student of history, especially that of a particular period, geographical
    region or social phenomenon. There are many duties of a historian. These historians
    seek not only historical evidence and facts but also to interpret these facts. He
    also gives meaning to these facts and organizes them chronologically.A person who
    must be able to recognize the evidence, decide how useful it is and come to
    conclusion based on what he has found out. The historian therefore is responsible
    for reconstructing the past.According to Gottschalk, historian is many times
    removed from the events under investigation. He added that only a part of what was
    observed in the past was remembered by those who observed it, only a part of what
    was remembered was recorded; only a part of what was recorded has survived, only a
    part of what was survive has come to the historian attention. Moreover, only a part
    of what is credible has been grasped, and only a part of what has been grasped can
    expounded ornarrated by the historian. (Louis Gottschalk, President of AHA,
    1953)Some authors define history as a study of historical perspective. In
    reconstructing the past, a historian can be subjective; after all he is human,
    fallible and capable error. People’s memories are filled with bias, self-
    righteousness, pride, vanity, spinning, obstruction and outright lies. Eachhas his
    own frame of reference or a set of interlocking values, loyalties assumptions
    interest andprinciple of action.The historian is influenced by his own
    environment, ideology, education and influence. His interpretation of the
    historical fact is affected by his context and circumstances. It’s like the Indian
    parable of an elephant and the blind men, historians have different historical
    perspective.Because certain events happened so long ago and because sometimes the
    evidence is incomplete, historians have different approaches and views about what
    happened in the past. This is the subjective nature of history, one historian
    claims an event happened a certain way, while another disagree completely. The best
    approach is to do all we can to reconstruct as fully as possible our picture of the
    past. To do this, most scholars use historiography or what they callhistory of
    history.

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