THE METHOD AND SKILLS OF Conal Furay and

HISTORY: Michael Salevouris

A PRACTICAL GUIDE
 OUTLINE
Uses of History
Nature of History
Process of History
Methods of Historical Analysis
The Question of Truth
 CHAPTER 1. THE USES OF HISTORY
History is a window into the past
It helps us appreciate multiple perspectives and
interpretations
Analyzing history strengthens our critical thinking
skills
It gives us an understanding of other people and
cultures
 CHAPTER 1. THE USES OF HISTORY

History can be influential in shaping human affairs.

History is a guide on making judgments.
History provides a better understanding about the
present situation.
 CHAPTER 2.
NATURE OF HISTORY:
.
HISTORY AS RECONSTRUCTION
History
is a
bunk.
 WHAT IS HISTORY?
First: History is the sum total of everything that has happened in
the past.
 (history-as-actuality)

Second: History is an account of the past.

 (history-as-record)

“History is not ‘what happened in the past’;

rather, it is the act of selecting, analyzing, and writing about the past…”
(James Davidson and Mark Lytle, 1982)
THE NATURE OF HISTORY

History is…
…both the past and the study of the past.
THE NATURE OF HISTORY
…visualize walking at night…

…a companion turns on a search light.

 THE NATURE OF HISTORY
…the landscape represent the
past.

…the one with the search light

is the historian.
 THE NATURE OF HISTORY
This analogy may give us an idea of the nature of
history….

…but it is IMPERFECT.

NO ONE CAN PRESENT THE PAST AS IT ACTUALLY WAS…

THE NATURE OF HISTORY
HISTORY is an individualized view…

A particular vision…

A personalized version…

…an act of creation…

AN ACT OF RE-CREATION.
THE PROCESS OF HISTORY
 Historian must rely on surviving records…
 Historians are fallible, capable of error, with
personal biases, political beliefs, economic status,
and idiosyncrasies.
There is an element of subjectivity in historical accounts.
Historians are justified in viewing an event from any
perspective they wish.
Historians could excessively focus on his or her own
viewpoint.
METHODS OF HISTORICAL ANALYSIS
selection of a subject
collection of probable sources
examination for genuineness
extraction of credible particulars
= HISTORIOGRAPHY
THE QUESTION OF THE TRUTH
The past did happen. Limited records of past
events still constitute a tangible link between past
and present.

History is not fiction. History must be based on

available relevant evidence.

History is dynamic or constantly changing.

 EXERCISE:
The following statements use “history” in one or the other of its two
meanings: (1) the past itself or (2) an account of the past. Your task is to
decide which meaning of history the author of each statement intended.
Use “P” (for “Past”) to indicate passages that use the word “history” to
mean the past-as-reality, and “A” (for “Account”) to indicate passages that
use the word “history” to mean an account or accounts (a reconstruction)
of the past.

1. “Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history.” (Abraham Lincoln)

1. “History, as the study of the past, makes coherence of what happened

comprehensible by reducing events to a dramatic pattern and seeing
them in a simple form.” (Johan Huizinga)
3. “History is baroque. It smiles at all attempts to force its flow into
theoretical patterns or logical grooves; it plays havoc with our
generations, breaks all rules.” (Will Durant)

4. “A page of history is worth a volume of logic.” (Oliver Wendell Holmes)

THANK YOU!