What is History?
History is the study of Man‟s past chronological account and record of events in reaction to his environment. Or:
It is a science concerned with past human actions, pursued by interpretation of evidence for the sake of human self-knowledge.
History is closely related to prehistory.
What is Pre-History?
Prehistory are the activities in which human beings engaged before the invention of writing and drawing for storing information.
Sources of prehistoric information.
- Songs,
- Myths,
- Stories,
- Artefacts,
- Fossils,
- The language of a people.
Three branches of history
Social History, which deals with people‟s traditions and values, enshrined in their religion, beliefs, cultural practices, dressing, taboos and literature.
Political history, which deals with control systems in a society, e.g. maintenance of law and order, leadership and security. In it, famous leaders and their systems of government are studied.
Economic History refers to people’s means of livelihood e.g. hunting, food gathering, trade, agriculture and communication.
What is the importance of studying History?
- Learn about past political developments, which inspire nationalism.
- Understand the origin of human beings and their various past achievements.
- Prepare for careers in public administration, law and teaching.
- Appreciate past experiences of human beings to understand the present.
- Increase our knowledge about past events.
- Understand our cultures and those of other people.
- Acquire a sense of identity by telling us who we are and where we came from.
RELATED POSTS
