What is History?

What is History?

                History is a selective record of events leading up to the present, often written down by historians to explain past. It is an interpretation from a person’s own perspective. The value of history is that it is part of one’s identity. It is also there to learn from, so the mistakes of the past are not repeated. Blame is not assigned for past injustices.  Current history can change, since new evidence is always being discovered.

                It is impossible for all history to be recorded, due to it being a selective process. There is no need for people to know everything that has happened in the past. History is usually influenced by those in power. For example, the Russian communist leaders would destroy the past leader’s identity when they came into power. Most leaders wanted to be known as the “great ruler”. For this reason, they wanted the recorded events to reflect their accomplishments. Also, the earliest written history was provided by members of the clergy. The church was the first to read and write so the recorded history would be selected and influenced through their perspective.

                In other words, history is only an interpretation by an individual. There is always more than one, if not many sides to an issue. The opinions are varied by age, experience, culture, religion, family, peers etc. For instance, it is a known fact that Christopher Columbus was said to have discovered America in 1492. Did he really? Aboriginal Americans have lived in America long before Columbus stepped on the shores of the Bahamas. Also, an assumption has been made that 1492 is referring to the calendar used by most people in the United States, not according to Jewish or Chinese calendars. Facts have varying degrees of accuracy, since they can be interpreted in different ways.

                Above all, what is known of one’s past builds up a person’s identity, which is the worth of history. Culture, religion, family are all important factors of an identity. Another reason why history is significant is that it can be learned from, so the past injustices do not occur again. However, this is not always the case. For example, WWI was followed by WWII 20 years later. The lesson that extreme nationalism and militarism destroys world peace was not learnt. There has not been a world war since WWII so far, but have been over 100 smaller ones.