Source: Narrated by Zach Lamb
[MUSIC PLAYING] By now you might be starting to realize that history is more than just memorizing facts and dates. Like Barbara, you've started to learn that the historians craft requires new strategies and critical thinking skills. One thing that might have surprised you when you completed this challenge was how historian interpretations of the past have changed over time.
For example, the common interpretation of reconstruction today centers on the experiences of African-Americans, many of whom had been enslaved before the Civil War. Historians like Eric Foner argue that reconstruction was an unfinished revolution, because the federal government was ultimately unable to secure equal protection for former slaves in the South due to resistance from white Southerners and other challenges. But what if you were a white person living in the south in 1900? You might not have considered the experiences of African-Americans during Reconstruction.
Maybe you would have agreed with the historian William Dunning who had racist views towards African-Americans and celebrated the ways in which white Southerners prevented African-Americans from achieving racial equality during Reconstruction. So we can see that multiple factors, including historians questions and ideas about social categories, such as race and the time period in which they write, profoundly influenced their historical interpretations of the past. As American society continues to change, you can bet that historians interpretations of the past will change as well.
Similarly, you're also learning to use historical lenses. Looking at primary sources through lenses such as race, class, and gender gives you new information and sometimes reveals surprising insights. When you consciously apply different lenses and ask different questions related to the five W's and the five C's, you can critically examine historical evidence and uncover valuable information. One of the best things about these lenses is that you can apply them in a variety of contexts.
The next time you're watching television or read a magazine, whether you're watching an ad on TV or reading about an issue in your community, try applying the lenses of race, class, and gender. Ask yourself how your interpretation changes as you view these sources through each lens. Lenses are useful tools in everyday life. Not only are they handy in other classes, they might also be valuable when applying different perspectives to solve a problem in the workplace.
As you continue on the course, think about how interpretations of historical events might change in the future. What will the history of reconstruction look like 50 years from now? How might the discovery of new collections of letters or diaries inform future historians interpretations of immigration? Or change our understandings of the Watergate scandal?
As Barbara discovered in the challenge, historians are always curious and are always eager to learn more about the human experience. As that experience changes, our histories change as well. That's what makes history such an exciting field to study, and it definitely makes history more than memorizing facts and dates.
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