How important is history?

According to Crabtree (2001), History is the information of and think about of

the past. History is important to study because it is essential for all of us in
understanding ourselves and the world around us. It is the story of the past
and a shape of collective memory. It is the story of who we are, where we
come from, and can possibly uncover where we are headed. History gives us a
really clear picture of how the different angles of society — such as innovation,
administrative frameworks, and indeed society as an entire — worked within
the past so we get how it came to work the way it is presently.

There is a lot of reason why history is important, one of the reason is that it
allows us to comprehend more and answered our questions when we are
curious about our existence of where we came from, how these things/ events
develop or started. We live in a time of rapid change, a time of progress. We
cannot be denied the fact that some of us prefer to define ourselves in terms of
where we are going, not where we come from. Our ancestors hold no
importance for us. They lived in times so different from our own that they are
incapable of shedding light on our experience. Man is so much smarter now
than he was even ten years ago that anything from the past is outdated and
irrelevant to us. Therefore the past, even the relatively recent past, is, in the
minds of most of us, enshrouded by mists and only very vaguely perceived.
Our ignorance of the past is not the result of a lack of information, but of
indifference. We do not believe that history matters.
But history does matter. It has been said that he who controls the past
controls the future. Our view of history shapes the way we view the present,
and therefore it dictates what answers we offer for existing problems. History
is vital to consider since it is basic for all of us in understanding ourselves and
the world around us. There's a history of each field and subject, for example,
from medication to music, to craftsmanship and so on. To know and get it
history is completely vital, indeed in spite of the fact that comes about of
historical study are not as visible, and less immediate. All individuals and
societies are living histories. The dialects we talk about are acquired from the
past. Our societies, traditions, and religions are all acquired from the past.
(Lewison, 2001)
In conclusion, history gives us a very clear picture of how the various aspects
of society — such as technology, governmental systems, and even society as a
whole — worked in the past so we understand how it came to work the way it
is now Studying history allows us to observe and understand how people and
societies behaved. For example, we are able to evaluate war, even when a
nation is at peace, by looking back at previous events. History provides us with
the data that is used to create laws or theories about various aspects of
society. (Lewison, 2001) highlighted that In centuries past this articulation
would have appeared self-evident. Old societies committed much time and
exertion to teach their children family history. It was thought that the past
makes a difference a child gets who he is. Modern society, in any case, has
turned its back on the past. Moreover, history is full of some of the most
interesting and fascinating stories ever told, including pirates, treasure,
mysteries, and adventures. In conclusion, History can help us to develop our
skills and transform us to be a better version of ourselves as a citizen, a
student, and person overall.

References:
Crabtree, D. (2001, February 26th). The Importance of History. Retrieved from
gutenberg.edu: https://gutenberg.edu/2001/02/the-importance-of-history/

Lewison, K. (2021, January 31). www.uopeople.edu. Retrieved from University of

the People The Education Revolution: https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/why-is-
history-important/

Theories in investigating history – factual and speculative

History specialists can turn to the most excellent available theories within the
social and behavioral sciences to reach theories about causal mechanisms and
human behavior so historical explanations depend eventually upon factual
inquiry and theoretical reasoning. Ultimately, the historian’s assignment is to
shed light on the what, why, and how of the past, based on inferences from
the evidence of the present. Historians are curious about giving
conceptualizations and factual descriptions of events and circumstances within
the past. This effort is an answer to questions like these: “What happened?
What was it like? What were some of the circumstances and happenings that
took place during this period in the past?” Sometimes this means simply
reconstructing a complicated story from scattered.

Factual history presents the readers the plain and basic information base on
the events that took place, the time and date which the events happened, the
place with which the events took place, and the people who were involved in
that specific events. In addition, factual reasoning is an important element of
the discovery of a set of essential and/or adequate conditions; to say that was
fundamental for the event requires that we provide evidence. The speculative
philosophy of history, on the other hand, are persuaded of the control of
philosophical thought to reason through to a foundational understanding of
history and would be anxious with a call for a purely observational and
conceptual approach to the subject. It is, therefore, inquires about the
meaning and purpose of the historical process. (Mackie, 1965). Moreover,
historian faces an even more basic intellectual task: that of discovering and
making sense of the archival and historical information that exists about a
given event or time in the past. Historical data do not speak for themselves;
archives are incomplete, ambiguous, contradictory, and confusing. The
historian needs to interpret individual pieces of evidence, and he or she needs
to be able to somehow fit the mass of evidence into a coherent and truthful
story.

In short, historians conceptualize, describe, contextualize, explain, and

interpret events and circumstances of the past. They outline out ways of
representing the complex activities and events of the past; they explain and
interpret significant results, and they base their discoveries on evidence within
the show that bears upon facts around the past. Their accounts need to be
grounded on the evidence of the accessible historical record, and their
explanations and interpretations require that the historian arrives at theories
about social causes and cultural implications.

References:
Little, D. (2020, November 24). plato.stanford.edu. Retrieved from Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/history/

Sources of Historical Data – Primary and Secondary Sources with examples

      According Wigmore, Historical data in a broad context is collected
information about past events and circumstances relating to a specific subject.
By definition, historical data incorporates most information produced either
manually or automatically within an undertaking. Sources, among a great
number of conceivable outcomes, include press discharges, log records,
monetary reports, extend and item documentation and mail, and other
communications. Storage capacities have increased significantly in recent years
and cloud storage has taken some of the burden of storage administration from
many enterprises. Businesses are collecting more data than ever and often
storing it for longer, both for their own purposes and to
satisfy compliance requirements.

      Historical research involves using primary and secondary sources. Primary
sources provide raw information and first-hand evidence. Examples include
interview transcripts, statistical data, and works of art. A primary source gives
you direct access to the subject of your research. It incorporates documents or
artifacts made by a witness to or member of an event. They can be firsthand
testimony or evidence made amid the time period that you are studying. It
may incorporate diaries, letters, interviews, oral histories, photographs,
newspaper articles, government documents, poems, novels, plays, and music.
Whereas, Secondary sources provide second-hand information and
commentary from other researchers. Examples include journal articles,
reviews, and academic books. A secondary source describes, interprets, or
synthesizes primary sources. It analyzes a scholarly question and frequently
utilizes primary sources as evidence. It incorporates books and articles about a
topic. They may include lists of sources, i.e. bibliographies, which will lead you
to other primary or secondary sources (Streefkerk, 2019).

      In conclusion, most research uses both primary and secondary sources.
They complement each other to help us build a convincing argument. Primary
sources are more credible as evidence, but secondary sources show how our
work relates to existing research. Primary sources are the foundation of original
research. While the secondary sources are good for gaining a full overview of
our topic and understanding how other researchers have approached it. They
often synthesize a large number of primary sources that would be difficult and
time-consuming to gather by ourselves.

References:
Streefkerk, R. (2019, September 23). www.scribbr.com. Retrieved from University
of Washington Tacoma Library: https://www.scribbr.com/citing-
sources/primary-and-secondary-sources/#:~:text=Examples%20include
%20interview%20transcripts%2C%20statistical,%2C%20reviews%2C%20and
%20academic%20books.
Wigmore, I. (2015, December 02). whatis.techtarget.com. Retrieved from
WhatIS.com: https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/historical-
data#:~:text=Historical%20data%2C%20in%20a%20broad,or
%20automatically%20within%20an%20enterprise.

Differences between written and non-written sources of Historical Data.

Historical sources are, at their most basic level, something that tells us about
history. It may be a document, a picture, a sound recording, a book, a cinema
film, a television program, or an object. Any sort of artifact from the period in
question that conveys information can qualify as a source. A source is
something that provides information about the historical topic you are
studying. They can either be written (e.g. books or websites), or non-written
(e.g. photographs or artifacts).

The main difference between a primary and a secondary source is when they
were made. In order to determine whether a particular source is a primary or
secondary source, you need to discover its time of creation. Historical record or
primary source, most would people would probably mention some kind of
written source. They might say official reports, files, court documents, financial
papers, newspapers, old family papers, or official files. All these written sources
can be used by historians to find out about the past. They might not have been
created for that purpose but they are still very useful. Whereas, Non-written
sources include interviews, films, photos, recordings of music, clothing,
buildings, or tools from the period.
      To sum up, no matter what you're doing in History, you will use sources.
This could be simply learning information from a textbook or website, or
actually looking at ancient artifacts made in the past. Either way, they provide
information about the past and are considered 'sources of information'

References:

What is history?: Written sources. (n.d.). Retrieved February 04, 2021, from
https://community.dur.ac.uk/4schools.resources/History/Writtenintro.htm
Department of history. (n.d.). Retrieved February 04, 2021, from
https://clas.uiowa.edu/history/teaching-and-writing-center/guides/source-
identification#:~:text=Examples%20of%20primary%20sources%20include,or
%20tools%20from%20the%20period.

Source kind and type. (n.d.). Retrieved February 04, 2021, from
https://www.historyskills.com/source-criticism/analysis/source-kind-and-type/

Historical Criticism.

Historical criticism, also known as the historical-critical method or higher

criticism, is a branch of criticism that investigates the origins of ancient texts in
order to understand "the world behind the text". Ebeling (1963) highlighted
that historical criticism examines the origins of the earlier text to appreciate the
underlying circumstances upon which the text came to be.

There are two important goals of historical criticism. The primary goal of
historical criticism is to discover the text's primitive or original meaning in its
original historical context and its literal sense or sensus literalis historicus. The
secondary goal seeks to establish a reconstruction of the historical situation of
the author and recipients of the text. That may be accomplished by
reconstructing the true nature of the events that the text describes. An ancient
text may also serve as a document, record, or source for reconstructing the
ancient past, which may also serve as a chief interest to the historical critic. 

Historical criticism began in the 17th century and gained popular recognition in
the 19th and 20th centuries. The perspective of the early historical critic was
rooted in Protestant Reformation ideology since its approach to biblical studies
was free from the influence of traditional interpretation. Where historical
investigation was unavailable, historical criticism rested on philosophical and
theological interpretation. With each passing century, historical criticism
became refined into various methodologies used today: source criticism, form
criticism, redaction criticism, tradition criticism, canonical criticism, and related
methodologies.

References:
Definitions for historical criticismhis·tor·i·cal crit·i·cism. (n.d.). Retrieved
February 05, 2021, from
https://www.definitions.net/definition/historical+criticism#:~:text=Historical
%20criticism%2C%20also%20known%20as,the%20world%20behind%20the
%20text%22.