History

History is the study of past events. People know what happened in the past by looking at things from the past including sources (like books, newspapers, and letters) and artifacts (like pottery, tools, and human bones).

Understanding History

History is a narrative (story) about events from the past. It is a field of research which uses a narrative to examine and analyse the sequence of events, and it sometimes attempts to investigate objectively the patterns of cause and effect that determine events. Historians debate the nature of history and its usefulness. This includes discussing the study of the discipline as an end in itself and as a way of providing "perspective" on the problems of the present.

Historical Methods

The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use primary sources and other evidence to research and then to write histories in the form of accounts of the past. The question of the nature, and indeed the possibility, of sound historical method is raised in the philosophy of history as a question of epistemology.

Branches of History

History can be divided into many different branches. Here are a few examples:

• Political history: The story of government, political leaders, election campaigns, party politics, and the political history of nations.
• Social history: The history of ordinary people's lives. Social history includes the study of family and personal life, health, and the way people work.
• Economic history: The history of how people produce things, the work they do, the goods they produce, how they use money, and how they spend their time. It is also the history of wealth and poverty and the history of how economies work.
• Cultural history: The history of how people think and feel. It is the history of ideas and of thought, the history of art, and of culture.

See Also

• History of the world
• History of human civilization

References

History Resources
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