Briefly explain the major points and one major author in each of the following historiographical schools: Marxism, Romanticism, Empiricism. How were American historians impacted by these schools of history? Which do you believe is the best approach to writing history? Why?
Marxism is an ideology and a
philosophy molded by Karl Marx, a man who took on many roles and studies
throughout his life, a philosopher, a sociologist, a scientist, an economist,
and a historian. As most people, Marx’s ideas about the world evolved as he
grew older and as he aged so did his ideologies. Marx was extremely interested
in the social aspects of his world; especially the role of the working class in
the country. He created a philosophy called “historical materialism” that assumed
a man was molded by his socioeconomic class. What
this assumption entails is that a person is forged through their class based on
a number of material factors such as, “how the obtain[ed] the basic necessities
to live, what they own[ed], what work they do [did], and how they produce[d]
these necessities.”
Marx believed that a man’s social class would forever dictate his, “beliefs,
behaviors, education, political power, and material possessions.”
Marx concluded that as the “superstructure” of a society changed, often
violently, it was only when the proletariats became aware of their oppression
and over through the bourgeoisie that a balance in social class would be
possible. Communism is the idea of equality in a society where there is only
one social class and people work together to form a balanced economy where all
of the country prospers. Unfortunately, humans are not perfect, and communism
requires perfection, honesty, hard work, effort, and many other impeccable
qualities that not all people possess. This “imperfection” in some people
destroys the possibility of a completely equal society because someone will
always want more than someone else because they feel they deserve or warrant
it.
Empiricism and Romanticism are
little less complicated to describe. Empiricism is learning through observable
evidence; moving away from the mythopoetic narrative and into the historical
method. Out of this ideology came positivism which was an idea, from Auguste
Comte, that as humans evolved they would eventually steer away from
superstitions and base their outlook and information solely on researched and
empirical evidence.
One of the most important ideologies that stemmed from empiricism was Charles
Darwin’s theory of evolution which suggested that organisms change and evolve
over time to adapt to their environment. This theory was then adapted by
certain historians and politicians to justify certain, “racial, sexist, and
elitist concepts.”
“Survival of the fittest” was a concept that was taken out of context to
support the supremacy one race, ethnicity, or nationality over another. More often
than not it was, “upper-class males of European decent, that naturally saw
themselves as the more highly evolved organisms of the world, and placed women,
and people of lower classes, and other regions of the world, lower down on the
evolutionary scale.”
Leopold von Ranke is one of the most influential empiricist historians of his
time. He wrote based on primary sources and really revolutionized the way
historians looked at archival materials.
Romanticism resembles the
mythopoetic narrative that we studied in previous chapters. It relies less on
science and more on thought, emotion, and feeling; it is almost like a
philosophical historical narrative. These narratives often focuses on people
and created a hero for a nation and rallied support for politicians and the
military. Thomas Carlyle wrote more about the great men and women of history
rather than for a specific nationalist goal.
Americans had great interest in both
empiricism and romanticism. Historians used the historical method to advance
their study and research of history to a more academic level but at the same
time the used romanticism to foster patriotism and support for people and
events throughout history.
I think both empiricism and
romanticism play an important role in writing and researching history. I prefer
to write with feeling and emotion so that my reader can put themselves into the
shoes of my subject. You need a balance of facts and flare to make history
worth reading.
Work
Cited:
Gilderhus,
Mark T. History and Historians: A Historiographical Introduction. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2010.
Hoefferle,
Caroline. The Essential Historiography Reader. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice
Hall, 2010.
Caroline Hoefferle, The Essential
Historiography Reader (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2011), 64.
