The Study of History: Strangeness & Familiarity



The Study of History:

Strangeness & Familiarity

"Learning From Past Mistakes."

One of the reasons frequently given for studying history is to "learn from past mistakes." However, this can often presume that people in the past were simply too stupid or ignorant to understand things in the ways we modern people do today. For example, Aristotle (4th c. B. C.) and other ancient Greeks argued persuasively that a spherical (NOT flat) earth was fixed at the center of the universe. This basic idea, modified and elaborated by another Greek Ptolemy (2nd c. A. D.) and later Islamic astronomers, eventually became standard in the medieval universities of Europe.

1) Give a specific historical example of "learning from past mistakes"

In our example, if we are to "learn from past mistakes" we might say that Aristotle was stupid or simply did not have the technology to know the truth about the earth's position. But, in doing so, do we learn anything about Aristotle's beliefs and the reasons he had for believing them? Do we understand why placing a fixed earth at the center of the universe made perfect sense in the context of ancient Greece or medieval Europe? Do we know why this belief dominated astronomical thought for almost two thousand years?

As we can see from this example, "learning from past mistakes" can easily become a simple-minded judging of the actions and beliefs of past people from the point of view of the present. Studying history to "learn from past mistakes" often ignores the fact that these people believed and behaved differently from us. Furthermore, they even had reasons to do so that made sense to them. If we presume that people before us simply stumbled around with "wrong" ideas making "mistakes", then we ignore one of the primary goals of studying history: the attempt to understand the past on its own terms. In other words, we ignore the historical context.

Consider, for instance, the claims made in a 1997 book:

In 1519, when the Spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortes, captured the Mexica (Aztec) capital . . . he first laid siege and allowed a smallpox epidemic to run its course, weakening the city's defenses . . .

Altogether, there was nothing at all unwitting, unintentional, accidental, or inadvertent about the way the great bulk of North America's indigenous population was 'vanquished by the microbe.' It was precisely malice, not nature, which did the deed.

[Source: Ward Churchill, A Little Matter of Genocide]

2) Evaluate the historical claims made in the statements above. Agree or disagree. Explain.

Or consider the claims made in a 1992 article:

Students who have learned to use the categories of race/ethnicity, class, and gender to analyze the past are more likely to identify issues of racism, sexism, heterosexism, and class privilege in the present.

[Negro slaves] were according to Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution, worth ‘3/5th of all other persons’

[Source: Paula Rothenberg, “Teaching U. S. History as Part of Diversity”]

3) Evaluate the historical claims made in these statements. Agree or disagree. Explain.

"The Past is a Foreign Country, They Do Things Differently There."

If we seek to grapple with the past on its own terms and take historical context into account, then we need to adopt a mindset that asks: "Why did certain beliefs and actions make sense to people living in very different times and places?" Here we run into another difficulty summarized in the following: Were past people just the same as us? Or were they completely alien and different from us? To illustrate this point, consider two sources with these questions in mind:

1) In the video clip from a popular 1970s television show, what strikes you as being the same as today? What strikes you as being very different, even alien? Explain.

2) From what you have read so far, what is familiar about the ancient Greeks? What do you find the most strange or alien about the ancient Greeks? Explain.

3) Why is it more important to understand the ancient Greeks than the TV show? Explain.

"The More Things Change, The More Things Remain the Same."

While examining both the familiarity and strangeness of the past, the study of history also requires an examination of continuity and change. In other words, historians are interested in questions such as: What stayed the same and why? What changed and why did it change? As you study the ancient Greeks, think about different types of change (e.g., political, economic, social, intellectual, cultural) and the reasons for them. These questions are not always easy to answer, but they will give a structure to help understand the big picture.

1) Why is it useful to study change and continuity in our society? Explain.

2) Why is it useful to study change and continuity in ancient Greek society? Explain.

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