1. “History, in Burckhardt‟s words, is „the record of what one age
finds worthy of note in another. The past is intelligible to us only in
the light of the present; and we can fully understand the present
day only in the light of the past.” (69)
Edward Hallett Carr*
American Literature 201
August 30
Michael Simpson
Section 051
* Carr, Edward Hallett. What is History? Vintage Books: New York. 1961

2. Class Summary
A Sense of History
What is History?
Native Americans
The New English Canaan

3. A Sense of History
1492 to 1865 (373 years)
Record key events and people
Discovery of America from this time period.
American Civil War
1866 to 2001 (195 years)
Reconstruction
9/11
2002 to Present (8 years)

4. What is History?
Our sense of history reflects
our view of the society in
which we live
Victorian belief in “facts”
What makes a “fact”
historically significant
History = a series of
accepted judgments
1961

5. History of Thought
Concerns of the historian
Mind of the recorder
“imaginative” understanding of the people at that
time
Can only view past through the eyes (concerns?)
of the present
Dangers of not having an “objective” history
Scissors and paste history (no meaning or
significance)
Propaganda

6. Native Americans
“Between 2492 and 1617, Native American
populations in West Indies, Central Mexico, and
New England were reduced to less than 10 percent
of their original numbers.”
“Diseases, along with the
brutality of the enslavement of
Native Americans, caused
such a precipitous drop in
native labor that the Spanish
began to bring the first African
slaves to the Americas in the
early sixteen century. ” (1)
* McMichael, George. Ed. Anthology of American Literature, Volume 1
9th Edition. Pearson/Prentice Hall: New Jersey. 2007

7. “The New English Canaan”
Views of American Future
New Canaan vs. Plymouth Plantation
Maypole vs. The Cross
The mind of the recorder
Tone of voice
Greek/Latin allusions vs Biblical allusions

8. It is as difficult to appropriate the thoughts of others as it is to invent.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson *
Last Questions
Remember for September 1
Read 1st half of Mary Rowlandson
Deadline for 3rd blog
* Sante, Luc. “The Fiction of Memory” The New York Times. March 14, 2010.