The Importance of Historical Accuracy Essay Example

Before defining what, historical truth is by many historians its first important to understand what types of history exist within this world. It is important to remember that the way to discern historical truth with each historian is to analyze and understand how they approach the subject matter themselves as historians.  Nietzsche in his essay shares that there are three distinct types of history that are practiced throughout daily life there is monumental history, antiquarian history, and critical history. Monumental history is history that is reflective since it often inspires us in the present to recall past events and achievements in hopes of convincing us to achieve similar feats. Antiquarian history has to do with times that predate our owns as it sounds like within the name it is relevant to antiques and ancient times before the current era. As for critical history, it is best to analyze it in terms of thinking of it as the method that all historians should follow when it comes to practicing history. However, after Nietzsche published this article, he would later change his views on history altogether and be more critical of historical studies and the practice of history. Ranke would prove to be much more accepting of history and emphasize the importance of primary sources when it came to interpreting history and sharing the newfound information amongst others.  Collingwood, however, would say that history is like a science and that it should be studied and analyzed with methods that are like the scientific method. Peter Burke contributed to understanding history by discussing there are multiple layers to it rather than a singular subject that needs to be explored when teaching it. Similarly, Fernand Braudel analyzed history over prolonged periods saying that it was best to look at longer periods of time rather than focus on one particular timeframe in history and this allowed him to gain a deeper insight into the field. Richard Hofstadter approached history by looking at past events and experiences using those to help us understand how as an individual as a species we got to what we are currently experiencing today. Carl Becker believed that the political landscape had a great impact on history and he would use this knowledge to help him gain a deeper understanding of history and the events that shaped it. Charles Beard believed that many events in history benefit other individuals more than others and different events throughout history symbolized. As evident above the different historians read this week have a variety of ways that each one of them approaches history and thus they each have their own version of historical truth. It is our job as historians to understand that we may have different ways of analyzing events, facts, and figures however, we will eventually come to our own sense of historical truth.