Historians Craft midterm exam

Herodotus

Father of History - Historian of the Greeks vs the Persians

Author of The Histories - cental aim of book explains why the Greeks and Persians went to war

Wrote histories in 440 BC

Thucydides

Athenian Historian and General

Wrote The History of the Peloponnesian Wars

Historians of Sparta vs Athens

Teleology

The idea that things were created with a purpose (filling the measure of your creation)

All things in history work towards a particular end - an unalterable destiny

Frederick Jackson Turner

American Historian (1861-1932)

Wrote the “Frontier Thesis” which argued that the American frontier was the key factor in shaping American democracy, society and character

The frontier is the key to understanding history

Michel Foucault

French philosopher and historian (1926-1984)

Theorized that power and knowledge are intertwined-whoever has the power controls knowledge in society

Influenced post modernism and sociology

Historiography

The study of history

Deals with understanding how and why we interprets the past the way we do

Primary Source

Personal Journals

Secondary Source

Biographies

Enola Gay Exhibit

Museum display of the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima during WWII

Controversial because some felt like it criticized U.S. actions too much and painted veterans as villains

Antiquarianism

The study of history via physical objects of the past with no outside influences

Modernism

Historians can study and interpret history via evidence and reason

Aims to uncover objective truth from the past

They may have bias, but finding objective truth is possible

Post-Modernism

Modernism is dumb because it is biased

Argues that historians have put biased views on all historical analysis-which is flawed, and up for further interpretation and exploration

Modernism trust the possibility of an accurate, knowable history, postmodernism questions the idea of objective historical truth

Relativism

The truth is relative-including historical “truth”

Interpretation of history and what it means is all in the eye of the beholder. There is no absolute truth

Idealism

The belief that thoughts and ideas are more important than things of the physical world

Focus on values, principles, and “what should be”

Postivism

Historical knowledge should come from observable facts that can be measured

Scientific, experimentation, data > intuition, faith, subjective interpretation

Romantic/Nationalistic History

Historical approach focusing on a nation’s past success, heroism, culture

Rooted in ambition and pride in a nation to inspire patriotism and unity

Hegelian Dialectic

Understanding history and ideas via conflict and resolution

Process: Thesis (Idea), Antithesis (opposite idea), Synthesis (new idea that resolves the conflict)

Karl Marx

Philosopher and Economist who argued that materialism is the basis of human flourishing and control

Focused on class conflict, and insisted that the agents who conrol the means of production, are key to understanding history and our place in the world

Annales School

A school of historical writing from France (20th century)

Focused on long-term social, economic and cultural trends, rather than on major political events

Goal: to understand the big picture of history over centuries

The New Left

Movement of historians (1960’s-70’s) that focused on challenging traditional narratives

Attempted to give a larger voice to marginalized groups and minorities

Opposed “old” history, and viewed it as corrutpted

Sigmund Freud

Austrian neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis 

Main influences: The subconsious mind, defense mechanism, psychosexual stages

Cyclical

History repeats itself in cycles - ie pride cycle

providential

History is guided by divine will or God’s plan

Progressive

History shows human improvement over time

Inductive Method

Reasoning that starts with specific observations and builds general conclusions from them - gather and observe facts, then form scientific theories

Deductive Method

A way of reasoning that starts with general ideas or theories, and tests it with specific examples and evidence

Reason from ideas and logical conclusions and then seek scientific proof

Orthodox (Cold War)

Blames Soviet Union for starting the Cold War

Revisionist (Cold War)

Blames the United states for escalating tensions

Post-revisionist (cold war)

The U.S. and the USSR both share responsibility

Narrative History

History told as a story-in chronological order

Engaging and readable, prioritizes storytelling over analysis

Social Science

Studies human behavior and society using empirical methods and evidence

Humanities

Studies human culture, values, and expression using interpretations and critical thinking