HIS 422 Midterm Study Guide

Domesday book

"Domesday is our most famous and earliest surviving public record. It is a highly detailed survey and valuation of land holding and resources in late 11th century England. The survey was a massive enterprise, and the record of that survey, Domesday Book, was a remarkable achievement. There is nothing like it in England until the censuses of the 19th century." - British National Archives

Edward Carr

"History is an unending dialogue between the present and the past"

Tosh's discussion of history's place among the academic disciplines

"It trains the mind, enlarges the sympathies and provides a much needed perspective on some of the most pressing problems of our time."

MacMillan chapter 1

- "The past can be used for almost anything you can do in the present. We abuse it when we create lies about the past or write histories that show only one perspective. We can draw our lessons carefully or badly. That does not mean we should not look to history for understanding, support, and help; it does mean that we should do so with care." - History responds to a variety of needs: great understanding of ourselves and our world and answers about what to do - Humans have a beginning and an ending and in between is the story - Rapidly changing world, fear of losing the past - Student assumptions: History teachers can use the same lessons and lectures over and over again because the past doesn't change - Conceptions of history differ

MacMillan chapter 2

- Historians have tried to discern grand patterns or one big pattern, to explain everything - History can be an escape from the present, people try to look back at what seems like a simpler and clearer world - "We are also short of heroes today, or too aware of their shortcomings" - Political leaders have always known the value of comparing themselves to great figures of the past; it helps to give them stature and legitimacy as the heirs to the nation's traditions - We call on the past to help us because we no longer trust the authorities of today - We trust politicians back then more because it happened in the past and not under the intense spotlights that the media and Internet provide today - History comforts us, even though we know less and less about it - History can highlight our mistakes by reminding us of people who had similar problems but maybe made better decisions - Dictators have recognized the power of history and have tried to rewrite, deny, or destroy the past - If we look too much to the past trying to apologize or fix our mistakes, then we miss the problems of today - Should historians consider morals of ethics in their conclusions when looking at past grievances?

MacMillan chapter 3

- History in becoming more important in public discussions - Professional historians have largely been abandoning the field to amateurs and a lot of historical study is self-referential - Historians have increasingly turned to the social sciences for theory, method, and presentation, and as a result they have increasingly gone in for specialized language and long complex sentences - Sociology - Psychology - Anthropology - Economics - Political science - Linguistics - Historians are not scientists and if they don't make their knowledge public then others will rush in to fill the void = political and other leaders get away with using and abusing history because no one else knows enough to challenge them - Bad history tells only part of complex stories - Bad history: - Claims knowledge that is impossible to ascertain - Provides unspoken thoughts of historical actors - Implies motivation without sufficient evidence - Makes sweeping generalizations without adequate evidence - Ignores nuances - Often seeks simple tales of morality and thus devalues the complexities of the past - Historians need to know how to evaluate history properly and contest false history - Historians should challenge and "explode" national myths - Historians do not own the past, everyone does, but they are in the better positions to make reasoned judgments - Trained to ask questions - Trained on collection of evidence - Trained in methodological practice - Trained in theoretical approaches - Those who lived certain events might not have the superior understanding, it does not always mean they will have better insight (sometimes it's the opposite) - Collective memory: It is more about the present than the past because it is integral to how a group sees itself

Historicism and 3 principles: 1. Difference

1. Difference: A recognition of the gulf that separates our own age from all previous ages Nothing in history stands still, the passage of time has profoundly altered the way we live First responsibility of the historian is to take the measure of the difference of the past (without anachronism: the assumption that people in the past behaved and thought as we do) Difference is about the material conditions of life but more importantly the difference of mentality Earlier generations had different values, priorities, fears, and hopes from our own People use to gather in crowds to watch executions, nowadays people turn away from that kind of thing It's hard to label history has "modern", could be a wide or narrow focus A lot of labels are very Eurocentric "Merely to register such instances of difference across the gulf of time can give a salutary jolt to our modern assumptions. But historians aim to go much further than this. Their purpose is not only to uncover the strangeness of the past but to explain it, and that means placing it in its historical setting. What may seem bizarre or disturbing to us becomes explicable - though not necessarily less shocking - when interpreted as a manifestation of a particular society." The reason why we understand this phenomenon so much better now than we did thirty years ago is that historians have positioned it in relation to beliefs about the human body, the framework of popular religious belief outside the Church and the tensions over the position of women.

Source-oriented and problem-oriented approaches to research

1. Source-oriented approach: The historian takes one source or group of sources that falls within his or her general area of interest (say the records of a particular court or a body of diplomatic correspondence) and extracts whatever is of value, allowing the content of the source to determine the nature of the inquiry Problems with this: May yield only an incoherent jumble or data or compilation of keywords 2. Problem-oriented approach: (the opposite) A specific historical question is formulated, usually prompted by a reading of the secondary authorities, and the relevant primary sources are then studied; the bearing that these sources may have on other issues is ignored, the researcher proceeding as directly as possible, to the point where conclusions can be advanced Problems with this: Often difficult to tell in advance which sources are relevant Unwieldly sources, sometimes you might accidentally leave out important information

Distorting effects of social memory 1. Tradition

1. Tradition In many areas of life, belief and behavior are governed by the assumption that what was done in the past is an authoritative guide to what should be done in the present. Respect for tradition is sometimes confused with a sense of history That is why respect for tradition contributed so much to the cohesion of society among small-scale pre-literate peoples - and why indeed they are sometimes referred to by anthropologists as 'traditional societies'. But such conditions no longer exist. An uncritical respect for tradition is counterproductive. Suppresses historical changes Positively discourages any attention to those changes and leads to redundancy Consequences of tradition: nationalism Essentialism: immemorialism, creates a sense of exclusive identity

2. Context

2. Context: must know everything about the setting and location and details surrounding the historical event An exacting standards Need an adequate grasp of economic and social settings To the social historian, the history of the family is not fundamentally about the lines of descent, or average family size, but about placing the family within the shifting contexts of: Household production Health Religion Education State policy

3. Process

3. Historical process: the relationship between events over time which endows them with more significance than if they were read in isolation No human process stands still Marriage and hygiene has changed over time Should study large swathes of history So much emphasis on the virtues of documentary study and narrow specialism that major historical trends tend to disappear from view

2. Nostalgia

Backward-looking Past is redesigned to have all negative futures removed Past becomes better and simpler than the present Selective amnesia Unreliable guide to the past Nostalgia presents the past as an alternative to the present instead of as a prelude to it Encourages us to go after an unattainable golden age instead of engaging creatively with the world as it is Historical awareness should enhance our insight into the present and nostalgia indulges a desire to escape from it

Use of bias

Biased documents do not need to be immediately discarded An author's bias is likely historically significant Biases can explain a shift in public opinion Helps examine the culture of the writer

E.P. Thompson

British Marxist historian. Thompson was also active in socialist politics. His Making of the English Working Class was the first attempt to tell the story of the development of a distinctive working class culture and identity in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Foxe

Came up with the Book of Martyrs Wrote about the "evils of the Catholic Church" Protests against the Church, says everything they did is corrupted

Newton

Contributed to the field of science (gravity and laws of motion) Newtonian physics: The understanding of the operation of the natural world developed by Newton; theories were unchallenged until the writings of Einstein

Condorcet

Enlightenment Advocated economic freedom, religious toleration, legal and educational reform, the abolition of slavery, women's suffrage

External criticism

External criticism: to test a document's authenticity Are the author, the place and date of the writing what they claim to be? Helps especially with legal docs like characters, wills, contracts, etc. Forgeries have happened in the past (historical forgeries can be useful in telling us about society at the time though) If there is suspicion, the historian will pose a number of key questions 1. The issue of provenance Can the document be traced back to the office or person who is supposed to have produced it, or could it have been planted? 2. The content of the doc needs to be examined for consistency with known facts Given your knowledge of the period, does this doc line up with that? If it contradicts stuff from the period, then it could've been forged 3. The form of the document can yield vital clues If it's handwritten, you can have a palaeographer study the handwriting and see if it lines up with the time period Can also study the style of the language (philologist) 4. Get help from technical specialists Examine materials, for example they can determine how old the document is based on the parchment or ink

Foundation myth

Foundational myth: A story, usually much-treasured, about the foundation of a group or people Ex. Depicting George Washington as like a god, the glorification of the events of the Revolution (the signing of the Declaration)

Marc Bloch

French medievalist historian. He was one of the founders of the Annales school, which sought to link the study of history with an in-depth appreciation of the role of geography and other disciplines. He also wrote a perceptive study of The Historian's Craft. During the Second World War he fought in the French resistance, but was captured and shot shortly before the D-Day landings.

Comte

French political philosopher and founder of the positivist school. Positivism aims to integrate the different branches of knowledge into a coherent whole.

"total history"

Fully integrated picture of the past, which may seem impossible, but it is practical within the confines of a town or village Total history turns out to mean local history

Mythopoetic narratives

Giving rise to myths Ex. The beginning of the world being created by a god is mythopoetic - Not necessarily false, but no way to verify if it is true

Aristotle

Greek philosopher History vs poetry thing Formal logic Identified various scientific disciplines Founded School of Athens

Carlyle

Historian who wrote biographies Analyst of what humans did in the past, use that to help future events Great Man Theory (now called Great White Man Theory) Look at lives that have moved history "Believed fervently historical recreation" History has to be able to be pictured wholly as if it was right in front of us

Cobb

Historian's principle aim is to "make the dead live" Make history as accurate as possible Be inquisitive and prying Cross the frontiers of class, nationality, generation, period, and sex His principle aim is to make the dead live, allowed to add a few things to make history more alive

"history for its own sake"

Historians believed what their audience assumed, that a historical education offered a training for citizens and statesmen alike. They took it for granted that history furnished the basis for a rational analysis of politics. Professionalization of history Featured in the university curriculum all over Europe in the late nineteenth century controlled by a new breed of historians whose careers were largely confined to academic life No longer trying to offer practical guidance Adhered strictly to the central tenet of historicism that history should be studied for its own sake, without paying much attention to the practical benefits that could come about from this approach

Wheare

History has already happened, result of God's will and His providence Scornful about people who just talk about military history (the size of armies, generals, etc.) Reemphasize moral order

Aristotle's discussion of history vs poetry

History: Things that happen, affirms biographical facts based upon evidence Poetry: Relate the kinds of things that happen , illustrates types of characters in types of situations

Homer

Illiad and the Odyssey Is this history?

Internal criticism

Internal criticism: interpretation of the document's content What do you make of this document? Question the meaning Compare how old language is used vs modern language that we understand Is it reliable?

Bede

Known as the father of English history Ecclesiastical history Talks about Jesus, first real biographical account of Jesus as divine Very deep within the Catholic church

3. Progess

Looks at the current world with optimism (opposite of nostalgia) Progress is about change over time (like process) but the positive value is placed on the change Process gives no negative or positive implication, but progress does

Examples of metahistory

Metahistory is the history of humanity over time, both the large-scale events throughout history and also what direction people are going in now. Ex. 1. Divine Providence: Everything happens because of God 2. Enlightenment: Believed in a divine essence, but God gave us the intelligence to think for ourselves; look at the past to see where we need to go 3. Marxism

Types of mainstream history - Political - Diplomatic - Constitutional - Biography - Economic - Social - Local - World

Political history: Politicians abusing history for their benefit Diplomatic history: Focus on the intentions of people, specifically diplomats and their tactics Constitutional history: idk Biography history: The problem with biographies is that some historians are stricter than others when it comes to maintaining historical truth as they write them. Tosh writes how biographies from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance often focused too much on the good character of an individual, trying to maximize their Christian virtues and conduct. The same kind of issue existed with biographies in Victorian times, since they were meant to serve as commemorations for people. In this respect, these biographies would only include all the good and virtuous aspects of a person's life to try and honor their memory. Tosh writes that biographies written now have to be a massive undertaking and the writer has to be willing to look at every aspect of the person's life. It is not enough to just understand the historical context, they have to study every document they can about the person and the time period, and the people around them. It is tempting for historians to view biographies as a linear set of events, but they are so much more than just a beginning, middle, and end. Despite all these problems, Tosh does not believe that biographies should be done away with entirely. He gives the example of writing biographies for major influential figures, like Hitler. In one biography, the author was able to understand him more and teach that through his writing. But then also for historical figures who may be less significant, like Elizabeth March, reading about them can shed light on other aspects of history that may not be discussed as much. It helps create more context for the time period where the person is from. Tosh states that the most important reason to keep biographies around is that they explain motive and intention. As historians in the present age, it can be incredibly difficult to bridge the gap between our mindset now and people's mindsets back then. When writing biographies, you reach so deep into someone's life that it becomes easier to understand why they did the things that they did. This helps create such a more vivid picture of what history is when you can explain that. Economic history: idk Social history: Social history refers to three aspects of history. The first one is the history of social problems (like poverty, inequality, disease, etc.) and how humanity has dealt with those issues, which would include studies of philanthropy. The second aspect of social history is the history of domestic life, so in the homes and the workplace and in communities. Social history also refers to generally the history of the working class, who were labeled as forgotten in a lot of history for a long time. Social history is prominent now because a lot of current events see the lack of social history being taught as a major issue. They also include in this realm the history of women and immigrants. In terms of expanding history, there have been a lot of movements vying for it because there has been a lot of uproar about making sure people are heard and represented in history. Local history/World history: Global history and local history do have one thing in common, and that is both are generally criticized in the academic field. There are two different reasons for this, however. Global history is criticized because people say it is impossible to understand everything that has happened in the entire world. Local history is then dismissed because a lot of times, it is approached in a less than professional way. Since its local history, historians will only consider what they know and not look at all of the proper sources. The raison d'être, or the most important reason to have global history, is that it helps us understand the ideal of globalization. Globalization is the idea that our world is interconnected and united. Global history helps us understand the extent to which it was happening back then and how much it is happening now. Local history is significant because it helps us to better know social history. When we know about the history of the place we are from, we will then be more knowledgeable about the social history because we know what the people are like.

Ranke

Professionalization of history A romantic "History has had assigned to it the task of judging the past, of instructing the present for the benefit of the ages to come. To such lofty functions this work does not aspire. Its aim is merely to show how things actually were."

Tacitus

Roman historian Wrote Annals Had Jesus in recount of history

Braithwait

Seeks to clarify moral point History serves as a guide History should serve as inspiration

Darwin

Social Darwinism: survival of the fittest - Really popular in US - Supported the exploitation of Native Americans in the Manifest Destiny era (if they were good enough, they'd be on top) - Also popular during Industrialization era (Rockefeller, exploitation of labor) - Allows for laissez-faire application of the law

Social memory

Social memory: the understanding of social arrangements and where they came from "Historical awareness is not the same thing as social memory. How the past is known and how it is applied to present need are open to widely varying approaches." Memory: how its known Awareness: how it is applied

History and social structure

Social structure: the sum of the social relationships between the many different groups in society Marxism Social mobility Industrial Revolution

Differences among the primary and secondary sources (strengths and weaknesses)

The fundamental difference between primary and secondary sources is that a primary source is a document that is from the source. It is a first-hand account of an event that happened, whether as it was happening or soon after. A secondary source is written or made by someone who was not at the event but is depicting it from an outside point of view. The reason for "demarcation" among different authorities applies more to primary sources. There are arguments over how primary a source can be. For example, how far after the fact can someone record an event, and it still is considered a primary source? Also, there is the question of whether or not you have to be a direct eyewitness or just living in the general time period where something may have happened. Tosh warns that historians need to be wary of primary sources since they can often be confusing or misleading.

What is meant by an "optimistic view of history"?

The past was a good thing, is a model, humanity is capable of doing good

Use of creative literature

The strengths of using creative literature are that it can be used to look at the values and preoccupations of authors and their social environment. The big weakness of creative literature, however, is that you can not use it for facts. Because it is creative, it is prone to distortion.

Francis Bacon

Treatises on empiricist natural philosophy Doctrine of the idols The Scientific Method

Annales school

When Tosh refers to "history beyond the elite" he is referring to the movement where historians called for a "broader approach" to history. Historians were calling for history to focus not just on the people who were higher up in terms of social status and wealth, but on the whole population. This means looking at social issues from multiple perspectives and not just the bigger influencers. This then led to some French historians starting the Annales historical journal. This journal was written to help influence other historians to expand history. It then became known as the Annales school for any historian who joined this school of thought.

Historical empathy

When pursuing historical awareness, as you examine primary sources you have to get rid of present-day assumptions and show empathy and imagination

Josephus

Write history without personal interest Writing in the Roman period Writes about Jewish people, makes sure their history is recorded Terms Nazarenes

Lucian

Writer Most famous work: A True Story, a satire against authors who tell incredible tales Regarded as one of the earliest known works of science fiction Invented the genre of the comic dialogue (parody of Socratic dialogue)

Namier

Wrote Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III British historiography Criticized a lot because he was a historical analyst