8th Grade American History

WHAT IS HISTORY?

"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 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. 

History is also a 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.

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 come upon 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?