General Historiography
in
U.S. History
James L. Smith
Historiography
A study of changing historical interpretations,
shifting emphasis, and different methodologies.
• History is a conversation between the past and the present.
• Historians ask questions about the past.
• Historical questions reflect the time and circumstances of the
historian.
•
•
Our understanding of the past is often nothing more than a product of our
own moment in history.
Something from the past that has little to do with the world in which we live
may not even make it into our history books.
• History is a dynamic, ever changing, and often contentious
subject.
•
•
Two historians looking at the same information may arrive at different
interpretations of the past.
Each generation rewrites history. History is in a constant state of revision.
Domestic Affairs in U.S. History
Four Schools of Historical Thought
Progressive History
Consensus History
New Left History
Social History
!
Foreign Affairs in U.S. History
Three Schools of Historical Thought
Nationalist History
Realist History
Radical History
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DOMESTIC AFFAIRS
Progressive History
Time Period: Early twentieth century through the end of World War II
Examples
• Charles Beard, An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United
States
• Arthur Schlesinger, Sr., The Age of Jackson
Characteristics
1. U.S. history is characterized by a struggle between the “power elite” and the
“people.”
2. Liberals and progressives have been moving the nation closer to a liberal
democratic state. The development of a liberal democratic state is inevitable.
3. Private property and free enterprise are the best way to provide opportunities for
common Americans. Private property should be protected.
4. Conflict has shaped U.S. history. The following conflicts represent Americaʼs
polarized history:
a. rich vs. poor
b. aristocracy vs. democracy
c. debtors vs. creditors
d. North vs. South
e. East vs. West
f. labor vs. big business
g. Jefferson vs. Hamilton
h. liberals vs. conservatives
i. agrarianism vs. capitalism
5. Note: Progressive historians generally ignored issues of race, gender, and
ethnicity.
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DOMESTIC AFFAIRS
Consensus History
Time Period: The late 1940's through the 1980's
Examples
• Richard Hofstadter, The Age of Reform
• Louis Hartz, The Liberal Tradition in America
• Daniel Boorstin, The Americans
Characteristics
1. The shared ideas of Americans are more important than the conflicts. U.S.
history is generally lacking in conflict, particularly class conflict. Conflicts may be
present in U.S. history, but they never approach the same level of intensity as the
conflicts that characterize European history.
2. U.S. history is characterized by an ideological narrowness and a general
agreement on fundamental principles. Values such as freedom of religion and
freedom of speech are shared by most Americans. Americans have exhibited a
much narrower range of divisive issues and conflicts than people in other parts of
the world. Political struggles in the United States usually take place close to the
center of the political spectrum rather than between left and right wing
extremists.
3. Historians should focus on ideas that cross over time periods. Historians should
work to uncover and describe the common beliefs and shared experiences of
Americans.
4. The accomplishments and achievements of American democratic capitalism
should be celebrated. Americans have always been held together by a general
prosperity.
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DOMESTIC AFFAIRS
New Left History
Time Period: The 1960's through the 1980's.
Examples
• Michael Harrington, The Other America
• Howard Zinn, A Peopleʼs History of the United States
Characteristics
1. Historians should include stories of the violence, racism, and oppression in
American society.
2. The United States is a stew of race, class, gender, and ethnicity. The image of an
American “consensus” is inaccurate.
3. United States history should celebrate the individualists, radicals, and anarchists
of the past. People such as William Lloyd Garrison, Eugene Debs, and W.E.B.
DuBois were ahead of their times in describing injustices in the United States.
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DOMESTIC AFFAIRS
Social History
Time Period: 1980's to the present.
Examples
• Eric Foner, Reconstruction: Americaʼs Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877
• Patricia Limerick, Legacy of Conquest
Characteristics
1. Historians should focus on common people rather than individuals in a perceived
position of power or influence. Historians should study diaries, letters, and other
documents from common people. History should be studied from the bottom up.
2. U.S. history is characterized by conflict that, in general, is neither political nor
economic. The conflict shaping United States history is primarily cultural conflict.
a. Americans struggle against each other with opposing views of how to live.
b. Americans struggle against each other with opposing views of modernism vs.
traditionalism or change vs. continuity.
3. Historians should use comparative history to understand the United States better.
Historians should compare American society to societies in other nations and put
U.S. history in a global perspective.
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DIPLOMATIC HISTORY
The Nationalists
Examples
• Samuel Flagg Bemis, A Diplomatic History of the United States
• Thomas Bailey, A Diplomatic History of the American People
• Bradford Perkins, Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations
• Larry Schweikart and Michael Patrick Allen, A Patriotʼs History of the United
States
Characteristics
1. United States foreign policy is characterized by a commitment to high ideals.
U.S. foreign policy combines a realistic concept of self-interest with a generous
support of the goals of democracy, self-determination, and economic prosperity
within other nations.
2. The Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution have inspired people
throughout the world. American foreign policy is characterized by an unselfish
idealism that is unequaled in the history of the world.
3. The United States may have been an imperialist power, but it has been a good
imperialist power, prepared from the beginning of any imperialist action for the
eventual abandonment of American control.
4. The United States has made a few mistakes in foreign policy, such as taking the
Philippines and keeping it as a colony. However, the U.S. made amends by
generously preparing the Philippines for independence and economic stability by
building roads, bridges, schools, etc.
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DIPLOMATIC HISTORY
The Realists
Examples
• George Kennan, American Diplomacy
• Hans Morganthau, Vietnam and the United States
Characteristics
1. Foreign policy should not be a matter of public debate. It should be carried out by
professional diplomats who assess the immediate and long-term consequences
of the actions of the U.S. government. Foreign policy should be based on
national self-interest.
2. United States foreign policy has been characterized by too many changes and
wide swings in policy. U.S. foreign policy has too often been characterized by
moral crusades and intense isolation. For example, the United States wanted to
“make the world safe for democracy” during World War I, only to find itself quickly
rejecting world leadership and retreating into isolationism.
3. The United States too often regards itself as a special nation that is not restricted
by the same rules other nations should follow.
4. The American people too often believe their nation goes to war because of evil
people, nations, or some “ism.” Americans too often go to war trying to cleanse
the world of evil.
5. Americans too often treat war as a sporting event, going to war to win, and
forgetting objectives consistent with their own self-interest. Nations do go to war,
but wars are usually limited to a nationʼs foreign policy objectives that stem from
self-interest. Nations go to war to gain territory, protect markets, etc., not just to
win.
6. The United States too often tries to right every wrong and correct every injustice.
The United States should simply do what is best for its own self-interest. The
United States should avoid trying to speak for all humanity in its foreign policy.
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DIPLOMATIC HISTORY
The Radicals
Examples
• William Appleman Williams, The Tragedy of American Diplomacy
• Gabriel Kolko, Century of War: Politics, Conflicts, and Society Since 1914
• Felix Greene, The Enemy
Characteristics
1. United States foreign policy is controlled by an economic elite who guide foreign
policy to gain new economic markets and resources.
2. The economic elite manipulate and mislead the American people into believing
that foreign policy objectives are matters of national rather than corporate or elite
concern. The masses fight and die while the elite profits.
3. The United States is an imperialist nation that prevents small nations from
controlling their own resources.
4. The United States has too often ignored the disadvantaged while pursuing an
aggressive foreign policy. A more peaceful, understanding, and cooperative
foreign policy must replace the policies the United States has traditionally
pursued.
_________
• This outline of historiography was taken, in part, from “Historiography and the Essay” by John Crum (found in
Master the AP U.S. History Test, 8th Edition by John Crum and published by Thompson/Arco)
• For a listing of topics in U.S. history that includes a detailed historiography for each topic, see The Readerʼs
Guide to American History by Perter J. Parish (Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers)
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