Preview

Why Study History

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
534 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Why Study History
Peter Sterns says that we need to study history and here are a few reasons why we should study history: History Helps Us Understand People and Societies- We can use history from the past to explain why we act the way we do. We can also use the past to formulate laws or theories about human behavior. History Helps Us Understand Change and How the Society We Live in came to be- we can use history to understand why things occur and history shows us a trend we can see what made a trend rise or fall and according to that we can change things to our advantage. History Provides Identity- we use history to find facts about our genealogy. Historical data is used by a nation to give the people an understanding of national values and a commitment to national loyalty. Studying History Is Essential for Good Citizenship- A study of history is essential for good citizenship. History provides data about the emergence of national institutions, problems, and values. We can use history to see in the past how nations have interacted with other societies, providing international and comparative perspectives essential for responsible citizenship. History can be used to find changes affect the lives of citizens.
Studying history will give you skills that can be used in the world like having the ability to assess conflicting interpretations and you’ll have experience in assessing past examples of change. Studying history will give you a more broad perspective which allows you to work in different work situations.
As time progresses we forget about a lot of things in the past and studying about the past can you can uncover some useful things. We can also see what decision was made and what the outcome was and if we make a different decision we can get a better solution. We have to learn from the mistakes of others and studying history can help us do that. For example we can see how United States acted and what the outcome was and if we changed the way we act we can possibly get a better

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Herodotus Research Paper

    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Many students today propose the question, "why do we study history, what does it have to do with us?" This question is not a new idea; in fact, the Greeks didn't concern themselves with true scientific history until after 500 B.C. Up until this point the Greeks focused mainly on myths and legends that explained how to please their many gods. It wasn't until the time of Herodotus that any emphasis was placed on recording a true account of the past. In Herodotus' writings The Histories, he tells us his reasons for recording this history:…

    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    avoid the same mistakes. I see the study of history as very important in creating knowledgeable and…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Anthropological Research

    • 1106 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Studying historical documents and accounts give them a glimpse into the past and helps to…

    • 1106 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Metronidazole

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Though I may not always be conscious of the fact, history plays an important role in my everyday life. The very reason why I am writing this essay is directly related to my family history. For as long as I can remember, my parents have instilled within me the importance of getting an education. Since my youth, they have always stressed the importance of hard work and dedication. Had it not been for their influence, there is a chance I wouldn’t be attending college right now, and perhaps I would not have the same aspirations I have today. Most of the decisions I make in my everyday life are based on things I’ve learned or experienced firsthand. My interests, personality, and lifestyle revolve around my personal history. I am who I am because of who I was. History is important to me because I believe it has helped me grow and evolve into the person I am today. I have learned from my mistakes, and likewise gained wisdom from my accomplishments. To me, history means learning from the past to make the future better than it has ever been.…

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Big History

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages

    David Christian states that “historians should be prepared to explore the past on many different scales of between 10-20 billion years”. This time frame is a huge part in history, it leads back to the making if the universe as we know it by making history vast enough so we can discipline our minds and enforce facts we know to see the bigger and smaller picture. As David Sweet says “in the end history is all of one piece-that is the whole story of humanity’s changing relationship to nature this includes an acknowledgment that all parts of that story are of importance to the whole and that they have full meaning only when seen somehow in relation to the whole”. I agree, history is a whole so the further you go back, the more you will understand the past and the future. Another example of this is said by David Christian, “We cannot fully understand the past few millennia without understanding the far longer period of time in which all members of our own species lived as gatherers and hunters, and without understanding the changes that led to the emergence of the earliest agrarian communities and first urban civilizations”. So adding on to my previous commentary, every part of history is important and knowing some spots helps filling in other spots or gaps and can help you make relationships to then and now. These are great reasons of to why…

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The study of history provides us with the knowledge of what had happened in the past. This will enable us to better understand the issues and problems that presently confront the world and our country. For example by learning more about the history of the past wars between the Christians and the Muslims, we may be able to better appreciate why the sufferings and destruction that had happened in countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq. This will then help us to better understand the complexities of the world that we live in.…

    • 406 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    It is also important to study history because historians are always reinterpreting the past and asking new questions. They are looking for new sources of information to gain more insight to the past and our understanding of the past. When we are constantly reviewing and reinterpreting the past, it essentially means that the past is always changing. “The institutions and ideas, therefore, that provide for freedom and improvement in the material conditions of life cannot take root and flourish without an understanding of how they came about and what challenges they have had to surmount.” (Kagan, 2014).…

    • 620 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Why Do We Study History?

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages

    History can teach us about our government, society, and people. For government, it can teach us how a court system is ran, how a president makes decisions, enforcing laws process, how to work with different countries, ethnicities, and religions, and also geography; knowing where places are and where they’re located. In society, we learn from our mistakes and apply them to our lives to create better living circumstances and to interact with one another peacefully. Knowing history, these things can be easy to understand.…

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    There is not a single person who can say they have not learned from their mistakes or past experiences. When a child touches a hot stove and burns their hand, they quickly learn not to do it again and have a memory of experience that will help them make better choices in the future. This is probably why it is said “we get wiser as we get older”. The same concept can be applied to studying history. By taking others experiences and analyzing the outcome, one could save themselves from making a mistake or causing embarrassment. The importance of studying and understanding history but also learning from it is pertinent to hopefully making more informed decision in the present and the future.…

    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Someone once said that if we use a pistol to shoot the past, the future will use cannon to shoot us. History is a very important aspect of society. People strongly believe that they can learn a vast number of significant lessons from the past, because these lessons will give them the motivation towards success and teach them how to avoid a lot of mistakes.…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    What Is History?

    • 526 Words
    • 2 Pages

    English historian and philosopher, R.G. Collingwood said "History is for human self-knowledge. Knowing yourself means knowing, first, what it is to be a person; secondly, knowing what it is to be the kind of person you are and thirdly, knowing what it is to be the person you are and nobody else is. Knowing yourself means knowing what you can do; and since nobody knows what they can do until they try, the only clue to what man can do is what man has done. The value of history, then, is that it teaches us what man has done and thus what man is." From his point of view these means history is man’s source of knowledge to his origins. That the past is how they know where they come from, what their culture, and who they come from. There is a lot of evidence that supports this because in almost every civilization depending on who you were born too, your family history defined who you are. Whatever your ancestors did in the past you have to live up and even surpass their achievements.…

    • 526 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    My primary reason which explains why the subject is not useless is related to what is mentioned above. A study of the past gives us an understanding of how our civilization have progressed succinctly, how knowledge of our heritage flows smoothly, and most importantly, how our sense of belonging in this world is connected effectively . (Serial Construction) Its epochal role is recognized through the Chinese saying “When one drinks water, one should remember its source”. (Wiktionary, 2012) In essence, this means that History is a source that serves as a constant reminder and appreciation, not a source to be often forgotten and undermined. (Balanced pairs)…

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    People aim to learn from history by constantly telling stories about their past to their students, friends —stories that are supposed to convey moral and practical lessons about how to behave.…

    • 540 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    y is history important

    • 285 Words
    • 1 Page

    History is important as it covers a huge spectrum of human activities including arts- literature, architecture, politics, painting and many others.We have to consider our past to build our future because we learn from our past mistakes.We learn to improve by learning from past mistakes.Through history we learn about our culture,tradition and moral values.…

    • 285 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    What Is History?

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In my opinion, History is a teacher. However, due to the fact that history is created and interpreted by people, history is also relative to the people that interpret it. First of all, history is the record and interpretation of previous events. I feel that history is something to be learned from. After all, if a person ignores history, it won’t disappear, it will only happen again. When you study history, you analyze it and interpret it. By analyzing it you create a lesson from the facts that you have learned and you shape them to your own opinions and beliefs. However, when because what you learn from history is shaped to each individual, history’s lesson is very relative. For every little event there is not one, not two, not ten, but millions and billions of individual sides, variations and opinions all focused on that one thing. Learning from history is like going into a house filled with billions of people all the same age who all experienced the same event and listening to each individual’s account and opinion on that one event and then forming your own based on what you heard. You learn the mistakes that were made; you learn the victories and the defeats of great people and great nations; but you learn it all from a single viewpoint. It’s interesting to get insight into events that you only hear about from one side. A war that might be glorified as a great victory in one place might is probably described very differently in another place. Events that are very significant in the establishment of one country is just another treaty for another. And there are more specific things too. You might have thought one thing about the moon landing but your neighbor across the street can have a totally different opinion and that opinion could be completely the opposite of the opinion of a person living on a farm in Russia. The opinions of individuals are also very important in constructing the image of history. I believe that in order to truly learn from history, you…

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays