Thinking Historically

Over the years I have thought about what constitutes historical thinking. The following is a list of things, though not exhaustive, that you can consider as you read history; markers to look for that would alert you to historical thinking...

1. Chronology: the ordering of events. This is the lowest form of historical writing, the mere listing of happenings without any judgment or interpretation. Found mostly in timelines. But, helpful in getting the sense of a subject and how all the parts relate to each other. This is the place to begin. Also, whenever you see a date in history always ask: why then and not earlier or later? The answer will be the key to understanding the event.
   
2. Cause and effect: showing how one act or circumstance led to the happening of something else. Some of the greatest arguments in historical thinking is over what causes events to happen: environment, deeds of great men, ideology, inspiration, commitment to a cause, economics, political self-interest, or the movements of the masses. Since the fall of the USSR and the complete discrediting of Marxism, feel free to take dialectic materialism off the list. Note: be careful. Just because something happens before something else, does not mean that it is a cause.
   
3. First Instance: the first time something happens; encourages the tracing of an event or thing back to its origin; leads to discussion of causes.
4. Last instance: the last time something happened; encourages the tracing of decline; leads to the discussion of effects.
5. Identifying general principles or patterns: Too often history is taught/studied as a number of unrelated events or "particulars". Particulars are the raw materials of historical thinking: events, places, dates, people, things. But, if you stop there you will be left with just a blizzard of particulars with no meaning; things that happen right after one another with nothing to hold them together. What is needed is the "big picture" - an intellectual construct, a principle that all of the particulars can hang on. It asks the questions: what does this all mean? How do all these fit together? What is all this heading toward?
   
6. Supporting general principles: studying examples of a principle or idea through time.
7. Irony/exceptions: The pointing out or studying of something that illustrates a principle by showing the exception.
8. "Coincidence": a "Twilight Moment"; a strange twist such as: both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
9. Progression of a principle to the present: Not just examples, but shows the building of a principle or idea through time - how it increases or widens or grows.
10. Decline of a principle to the present: shows how and why something declined through time.
11. Identifying seeds: in using the past to understand the present, you identify the tiny origins of a major event or principle in the past. You want to answer: where did it come from? Why did it arise then? Who was responsible? What forces caused it to grow?
12. Drawing lessons: History is filled with national, life, and character lessons.
13. Validation of good/evil: Illustrations from history of good and evil and the consequences thereof. Remember though: the good guys always win!
14. Parallel experience: The experiences of historical characters that are the same as we experience today. This validates the truth that human nature has not changed. We share common motivations and experiences with people in the past.
15. Celebrating achievement: History is full of the achievements of nations and individuals. This ought to inspire us to be grateful for those who have gone before us and strive to achieve today for the next generation.
16. Mourning failure: History is also filled with failures to avoid. Benjamin Franklin said in his autobiography that experience is a terrible teacher; learn from others' mistakes so that you don't have the same experience. This ought to fill us with humility and remind us of our fallen nature and the corrupting influence of wealth and power - if not for the grace of God, there walk I.
17. The past through word meanings: the meanings of words in Latin, Greek, or other languages are often keys to understanding the past.
18. The land as history: how the climate and landforms of an area affected what happened there. Where something happened in often the key to what happened.
19. Final end of something/someone: it has always interested me to learn what happened to some famous person after they were famous. Another interesting thing to find out is the final end of philosophers. I mean if the philosophy didn't lead them to the good life, what good is it?

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