What does it mean to think like a historian?
When learning about history, there is a lot of discussion around a thing we simply call “historical thinking.” But what does that even mean? It is a shorter way of saying that we should consider all factors when looking at a topic, time, or anything in history. It means that we must think about the context in which this thing happened. However, it also means understanding what is not important to the situation either. Now that I have given a vague definition and probably confused you, lets try this with an example.
Let’s say you are talking about the Civil War in the United States and you want to know more about Abraham Lincoln’s opinions on race. In the current year of 2022, we could say that his views were racist. But looking at the majority thinking of 1862, Lincoln was different but it wasn’t quite what we think of today. This binary thinking of both seeing the black race as humans, but also considering sending them to Africa was much more progressive thinking than most people, even leaders, of the mid-1800s.
It is easy for us to pass judgement on this issue by calling Lincoln a racist, but it is hard to imagine what it was like back then when slavery and aggressive racism was normal. There was a ton of misinformation put out even by science. White people believed that Black bodies were physically different in various ways that we know are false now, like Black people supposedly having a higher pain tolerance than whites. We must consider all of these factors when diving further into the discussion to grasp a full understanding of the argument.
Goals for this class:
Over this summer, I want to hone in on my historical thinking skills and not only apply it to my research, but also learn how to better explain this to the public. I want to work in museums and be able to have these complex discussions with people of all ages and all backgrounds. Three questions I have asked myself are; how do I categorize my audience, how do I answer complicated questions without losing my audience, and what is the best way to walk my audience though that type of thinking?
The last question I have started to unpack a bit here, but I worry about where the line of too much information comes in. If I am talking about Lincoln, his childhood does matter to the issue, but does this person care? As a historian, I love storytelling but there is a time and place for the whole novel compared to a short story. I think I need to work on a dialogue when talking about or using historical thinking, to involve my audience a bit more. I have started this process from tour guide work I have done in the past, but need to develop it a bit more for the future.