Many people see history as an endeavor that should be consigned to a dusty shelf in a library nobody ever visits. However, history is more than a record of the past that has no relevance to modern life. History is a study of human culture, and it is important to understand how societies change in order to avoid repeating mistakes. History is also a way to nurture a sense of identity in an intercultural world. People can learn the stories of freedom and equality, injustice and struggle, and courage and triumph in a wide variety of cultures. From these stories, they can create systems of personal values that guide their approach to life and relationships with others.
ASK FOR THE ORIGINAL EVENTS AND PERSPECTIVES OF OTHER HISTORIANS
Many students think of history as an exercise in learning names, dates and facts. In fact, historians are more concerned with interpretation than they are with memorizing a bunch of names and dates. An event may have a great deal of historical significance, but the interpretation of that event can differ significantly from one person to another. To illustrate this point, imagine that a group of people were asked to write a report about the same event. Each would produce a different account, even though the event itself is identical. The difference is the perspective from which each individual interprets the event.
As a result, historians read secondary sources in order to understand the perspectives of other scholars and put their own perspective in context. They also look at the ways that different historians have interpreted the same events to gain insight into how historical evidence is used and what biases may be present in the sources.
Historians are trained to identify and analyze bias. They can do this by reading the background material that precedes a source, as well as the source itself. They can also look at the way that a document was written, for example, by considering who wrote it and why it was written, what cultural myths and ideologies it might reflect, and what assumptions or biases the writer has.
Because of these problems, it is important for historians to be clear about which perspective they are presenting. A historian should always be able to explain the source and how it was used, and she should be able to tell the difference between her own view and the views of those who have influenced her. Otherwise, she is not really interpreting the past. She is simply reporting what the past has to say. Those who are not trained in the discipline of history can be confused by this, thinking that “primary” means more truthful and that “secondary” means less truthful. This is not the case, and history is full of opinions and prejudices. Historians try to make the biases of their sources as transparent as possible, so that readers can evaluate the information.