What is History?

History is the study (teaching) of the past, with special attention to the written record of the activities of human beings over time. Scholars who write about history are called historians. It is a field of research which uses a narrative to examine and analyze the sequence of events, and it often attempts to investigate objectively the patterns of cause and effect that determine events. Historians debate the nature of history and the lessons history teaches History according to the Webster Dictionary: a chronological record of significant events (as affecting a nation or institution) often including an explanation of their causes a branch of knowledge that records and explains past events <medieval history> a : events that form the subject matter of a history, b : events of the past History as Social Science Social history o is the study of how societies adapt and change over periods of time. Cultural history o It replaced social history as the dominant form in the 1980s and 1990s. It typically combines the approaches of anthropology and history to look at language, popular cultural traditions and cultural interpretations of historical experience. o It examines the records and narrative descriptions of past knowledge, customs, and arts of a group of people. How people constructed their memory of the past is a major topic. People's history o is a type of historical work which attempts to account for historical events from the perspective of common people. o A people's history is the history of the world that is the story of mass movements and of the outsiders. o Individuals not included in the past in other type of writing about history are part of this theory's primary focus, which includes the disenfranchised, the oppressed, the poor, the nonconformists, and the otherwise forgotten people. o This theory also usually focuses on events occurring in the fullness of time, or when an overwhelming wave of smaller events cause certain developments to occur Importance of History to People/Students 1. Learning about history is important because some of it should be common knowledge. 2. One basic importance of history is to know enough to do well because your knowledge of it is tested. 3. It is also important to know about history because you can then educate others who do not know as much. 4. When you understand history, you understand basic concepts and ideas. You will learn about cause and effect, relationships and human nature. 5. When you also know about history, you can understand what it really means to be in someone elses shoes. 6. By understanding history, you can understand why things are the way they are right now. 7. Lastly, history is so important because each of us is part of the history that takes place.

LESSON 1 DEFINITION AND IMPORTANCE OF HISTORY