History is the bodies of knowledge about the past produced by
historians, together with everything that is involved in the past production,
communication of and teaching about that knowledge (According to Professor
Arthur Marwick)
The necessity for history all developed countries have their
national archives (called the public record office i8n Britain) and a
historical profession both paid for out of tax payers money. This is in
recognition of the simple fact that the knowledge of the past is essential to
society. It is obvious that knowledge of the past is essential to society.
History is a systematic study of the past, however it must be
noted that in contemporary times history as a field of knowledge encompasses
not only past events but also their consequences (Marwick, 1970).
Also history can be defined as a reconstruction of the past
which is both intelligent and intelligible (Walsh,1967).
Historical facts, is a fact about the past. It answers the
very basic questions “What happened?”Yet beyond merely fisting the event in
chronological order, since historical research is not an exact science,
historical facts finding suffers from problems of uncertain information and
these historical facts become the historical evidence.
The following are the ways used by an historian in obtaining
the historical facts/information: As we have seen the source can come from
every every/anywhere, however, there is a process by which most sources find
their way into the hands of historians.
Archeology, is the scientific study of past human culture and
behavior. From the origins of human to the present, Archaeology studies past
human behavior through the examination of material remains of previous human
societies. Archaeologists concentrate their studies on past societies and
changes in those societies over extremely long periods of time. Archaeologists
study the archaeological records through field surveys and excavations and
through laboratory study of collected materials, for example Fabrics and Flowers
were found in the celebrated tomb of Tutankhamum, an Egyptian Pharaoh who was
barried in 1323BC. These include fossil remains believed to be of human
ancestors who lived 3.5 million to 4.5 million years ago. Examples of earlier
archaeological sites include those at Hadar, Ethiopia, Olduvai Gorge and
Raeroli, Tanzania, East Turkana, Kenya; these sites contain evidence of the
first appearance of bipeda (upright walking).
Museum, is an institution that cares for (conserves) a
collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical or
scientific importance and makes them available for public viewing through
exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Types of museum; Architectural
museum, Archaeology museum, Arts museums, Biographical museum, Design museum and historic house museum.
example of museum; the national museum of Finland in Helsinki, Zanzibar
national museum of history and culture. The purpose of modern museum is to
collect preserve, interpret and display items of artistic, cultural or
scientific significance for the education of the public.
Archives; is an accumulation of historical records or the
physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that
have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization’s lifetime. A
person who works in archives is called an archivist. The study and practice of
organizing, preserving and providing access to information and material in
archives is called archival science, example of archives in Tanzania the
headquarters are located in Dar es Salaam.
Anthropology; is the study of humanity. It mainly subdivisions
are social and cultural anthropology which describes the workings of societies
around the world. Archaeology which studies past human cultures through
investigation of physical evidence in 1647, the Bartholins, founders of the
university of Compenham defined anthropology that is to say the science that
treats of man, is divided ordinary and with reason into anatomy which considers
the body and the parts and psychology which speaks of the soul.
The following are challenges which facing the historians in
getting historical facts that happened in the past becomes a very challenging task
to historians; these are as follows:
Lack of
objectivity; the problem of objectivity has been a recurrent decimal in
historical scholarship. A view of literature on historical objectivity clearly
shows that absolute objectivity in history is illusory. It must be noted that
both European and African scholars are prone to subjectivity. Indeed, quite a
number of limitations stand in the way of objectivity in history. First, the
possibility of new evidences emerging limit the chance of absolute objectivity.
Second, the nature of the historical past in itself makes historical
objectivity difficult. Third, selection of certain material among many by the
historian constitutes subjectivity in itself. Fourth, personal biases and
prejudices on the part of the historian is also a limitation against historical
subjectivity. Fifth, partisanship by the historian also limits the prospects of
objectivity in historical research. Lastly, conflicting theories of historical
interpretations, example empiricism, Marxism, Post-modernism, Feminism, make
historical objectivity difficulty while the historian encounters some common
problems in researching all kinds of history. It would appear that certan
problem are perculiar to contemporary historical reconstruction as Benard Kriker
and Walter Laquew put it, contemporary history is essentially concerned with
events which form the direct basic for decisions of problems.
The Perennial danger; this is the major problem that the
historian will approach his subject with his mind reconditioned by his personal
idiosyncrasies since he is either direct or indirectly involved in the current
issues he is researching (Ogen,2006).
Problem of explanation; closely related to the problems of
historical knowledge is the issue of explanation in history. Two dominant
positions exist on the problem of explanation in history. Some writers are of
the opinion that history is concerned with description of particular events of
the past and therefore, historians have to search for general laws which might
govern those events.
Another school of law of the thought argues that it is the
duty of the historians to explain events and situations. The writers who
believed in general contend that general laws form an indispensable instrument
of historical research and that they even constitute the common basis of
various procedure characteristics of the social science in contradiction to the
natural science. A good number of historians believe that it is non desirable
to adopt any general law in history. Clearly history is different from the
natural sciences which are concerned with abstractions.
This distinction is important because rationally explicable causes
can be applied to another countries, other periods and other conditions,
thereby facilitating fruitful generalizations leading to lessons, whereas
accidental causes due to their uniqueness cannot be generalized thereby foreclosing
the possibility of drawing conclusions from them.
Choice of subject; the choice of topic for research is another
major challenges facing the historians, challenged by the complexity of the
world and thus seek to use their knowledge of the past to help solve the
problems of the present. The questions that can confront the historian are
endless and serious historians thus face the challenge of choosing viable
topic. Historical investigation can probably reveal who were the first-fair of
pants with a Zipper, but that piece of information might not be worth knowing
(historically significant).
Main difficulty facing the historian is not eliminating
unanswerable or unimportant questions but choosing the important ones (Benjamin
2004). A historians choice of the study is determined by personal values,
concerns of these who support his work the nature of the age in which he lives
or by a combination of all these. Even if records exists on a particular
subject, the historians may be unaware of them or unable to locate them perhaps
because such records are in an unfamiliar language or are in the possession of
individuals or governments that deny researches access to them.
Problem of historical knowledge; the problem of historical
knowledge is one of the core issues which arises in the writing of history
problem of knowledge in history are basically epistemological. To be sure
epistemology or the theory of knowledge is that branch of philosophy which is
concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge. A major challenge for the
historians is how to deal with his work in view of the problems surrounding
historical knowledge. Historical problems about knowledge in history manifest
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
As daunting as the problems of historical reconstruction are,
they are by no means insurmountable. The historian can tackle the problems
associated with historical sources by paying necessary attention to the
techniques in dealing with sources. First, he must identify his sources. He
must distinguish between a primary and secondary source; In making use of his
primary source material, the historian is engaged in selection, then evaluation
and interpretation, synthesis into coherent and sequential statements or facts
of history Because the information provided for the sake of information may not
really be information at all, the historian must be aware of its significance.
This awareness can be achieved through evaluation. Sources are evaluated
through internal and external criticisms. Internal criticism is the evaluation
of the sources for plausibility and consistency while external criticism is the
comparison of the sources with other evidence on the topic. This will enable
the historian to be sure that the information is authentic; that it is what it
purports to be.
On the problem of historical knowledge, the effort to
demonstrate the specific character of historical knowledge and understanding
has led to a new method of enquiry in historical research, the analytical or
scientific approach (Osarhieme, 1993). This method established the procedures
and categories used by practicing historians in handling and understanding
their material. This has led to a discussion of the ways in which historians
divide up and classify the past, the manner in which they argue for and
substantiate their interpretation, and the logical structure of the
explanations they offer. Clearly, this new method of enquiry is very useful in
finding and exploiting historical evidences. This will also enable historians
to make credible claims to their statements about the past.
Concerning the problem
historical objectivity, it must be stated that objectivity in historical
reconstruction is possible and indeed desirable. A historian is essentially
trained to be objective in his selection, analysis and interpretation of
evidence. Unless he tries as much as possible to be objective, his person and
work would hardly be respected (Akindele, 2005 ). The strong reliance on
historical information in the Third World countries in recent times points to
the acceptance of history as the outcome of objective research. Though,
absolute objectivity in history is impossible, the historian could
substantially reduce subjectivity in his work by taking certain measures. First, he must strive to
authenticate all available evidences. Second, documentary evidence must measure
up to certain standards. That is, documents must be genuine. The historian must
determine whether such documents are original or secondary. It is also
important to ascertain the status of the historian as E. H. Carr counseled,
“Study the historian before studying the past”. Third, the historian must
strive to understand the meaning of the document he has. Fourth, the principle
of corroboration must be fully adhered to by the historian. Fifth, African
historiographers in particular, must adopt sources from other disciplines like
Botany, Linguistics, Archaeology, e.t.c. Lastly, historical interpretation
should be based on available evidences, and not on apriori or prejudicial basis.
The
difficulties of contemporary historical reconstruction are equally
surmountable. Marc Block,
for
example while rejecting the claim that recent events are inappropriate for an
objective historical research argued that what is required is for the historian
to observe the “Thucydidean” tenets of contemporary historical research (Finley,
1959). Secondly, it is important for the historian to search diligently,
analyse as impartially as humanly possible and be selective in his
approach
because of the large mass of documents available to him. In addition, witnesses
should
be
contacted to crosscheck the authenticity of the documents. Thirdly, the
historian must behave
like
a true anthropologist –neutral, detached and impassionate. His professional
ethics should
take
primacy above his personal interests. He must be primarily concerned with
observing and
having
an in-depth understanding of his subject rather than to condemn (Ogen,
2006).Fourthly, the issues under consideration may be grouped into specialized
fields such as business, labour,
maritime
or intellectual history instead of the conventional geographical and
chronological groupings. Fifthly, a contemporary historian must possess some
personal attributes which include a deep sense of responsibility, controlled
imagination, prudence and the capacity for sound judgement. Lastly, he must be
sound intellectually and be erudite not only inhistory but al
so
in other fields of knowledge (Uzoigwe, 1989).
CONCLUSION
From
the foregoing, certain points stand out clear. First, that the major challenges
of historical research revolve around the problems of sources, character of
historical knowledge, objectivity,
explanation,
choice of subject, and the peculiar problems of contemporary history. Second,
that these challenges can be surmounted by the historian through the adoption
of certain measures some of which have been detailed upon earlier in this work.
Finally, it must be emphasized that the efficacy of the recommended measures
would depend largely on the adoption of the proper
attitude
by the historian towards his profession. Against all odds, the historian must
endeavour to
execute
his work with professionalism as the paramount consideration. This is the only
way history can enhance and sustain its relevance
REFERENCES:
James, W.D & Mark, H.L. (1976), After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection, (4th
Edition)
Yakubu, M. (2006). The Status of Accidents in History
Instruction to philosophy of history. Lagos: Prince Technique
Walsh, W.H (1967). An Introduction to Philosophy of Education. London:
Hutchinson & Capub Ltd.
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