The Problems with the Reconstruction of Historical Event - Book Report/Review Example

The problems with the reconstruction of historical events Introduction The authors James West Davidson and mark Hamilton Lytle display the methods of doing history to students in their book, “After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection. The authors’ examine the evidence of the events in the United States from the period by teaching on how to look at the literature and explain it. The two display the study on the problems experienced by historians as the set to reconstruct the past. The book displays the work of historians willing to share the information to others. History narration separates “history” form the “past”. Reconstruction of an event is different from the event itself. It is through selection that a series of interpretive acts performed by historians precede to doing business. The initial stages of research conducted by historians create the importance of having selection on the information to display. Gathering information, interpretation and the analysis necessitate the reconstruction process. Any piece of evidence presented for analysis plays an important role in the analysis stage. A historian learns on displaying the evidence of information in the same way as evident (Davidson and Lytle 57). The problems with the reconstruction of historical events As historians attempt to reconstruct the future, an analysis of English settlements in Virginia creates an accurate picture. The difficulty felt while analyzing any document becomes apparent for the historians. Davidson and Lytle analyze the Virginians as an enterprising lot. The Virginians gave American its first representation assembly and England a fashionable vice which was tobacco. The Virginians established the slavery system in the Northern American. The reconstruction of these events caused controversies amongst many historians with question. The answers of this information are not in any literature without a good research on them. The difficulty is due to difficulty in finding information. The Virginians did get time to write and make history with one of the reference being “A General Historie of Virginia” a 1624 publication. The history presented in the book bases the information on eyewitness and firsthand knowledge. Reconstructing such information as historians depends on the information displayed. In this case, the literature talks about Captain John Smith who played a big role in directing the Jamestown colony (Davidson and Lytle 86). The evident presented by smith does not represent the history of Virginia unless the historians make interpretations with judgments. The first instinct the historians make while reading the literature is the he writes the truth in the book. Reconstructing the history comes with simple questions of whether he based his writing on his life. Captain John Smith had become a soldier of fortune with problems with the European area. With a brave face and difficulty in relying the information, Smith filled with a romantic story. As readers of today, how much of the story of Smith do we find viable to present as history? The same questions fill the mind of historians during the reconstruction phase. In the adoption of reconstructing the history from a different perspective, the information employed one of the tactics of sociology. Historians have a hard time in relating the social functions with the structures and devices dictating the perception of the audience. To live in a society means understanding the previous happenings of the history. Reconstruction of information depends on logic, which is difficult to find. To discover on which information to use, analysis of the dynamic society ensures the answer of the sociologist before displaying the piece of information. The approach works for historians in the display of information to identify the original perspectives of the literature. Reconstruction of the picture to rely the striking image of Virginia becomes easy while relating to the previously written work (Davidson and Lytle 98). History and the truth The present setting of information display calls for a tremendous understanding of the previous events. The declaration of independence of the United States is a statement adopted by the Continental congress on the July 4th 1776. The declaration gave thirteen American colonies that were at war with Great Britain as independent states. It was s formal explanation as to why the congress had voted to declare independence from Great Britain. The document describes problems of governance as a state that ran under a different state. The American revolutionary war attributed the drafting of the document as the United States was against the ruling of King George III. The document signifies independence of the United States in terms of natural and legal rights, mostly the right to evolution. The declaration is presents a vision for the country to be able to pull out of liberations that prevent United Stated from progressing as a country (Davidson and Lytle 92). Declaration of the rights of man is a document influenced by the ‘natural light’ to define individual and collective rights of the estates of the realm. The document belongs to the French revolutions are aims to ensure that the rights of man are universally held regardless of the time and place. The last document was adopted by the National constituent Assembly in August 1789 during the French Revolution period. Concepts of the document aim at ensuring political and philosophical principles of Age of Enlighten. Individualism is highlighted in the social contract bring insight on the human rights, some of which was denied before the French Revolution. Problems arising from oppressed rights are solved with ease by many countries. The document enables future rights to be highlighted and passed. The United States can concentrate in offering amnesty to all affected individuals (Davidson and Lytle 121). Declaration of the rights of woman is a document was influenced by the declaration of man to define general and individual rights included in the realm. The document belongs to the French revolutions are aims to ensure that the rights of man are universally held regardless of the time and place. The document was arranged to deal with gender equality since the male had a document that represented their pleas. The last document was adopted by the National constituent Assembly in August 1791 during the French Revolution period. Concepts of the document aim at ensuring political and philosophical principles of Age of Enlighten. Individualism is highlighted in the social contract bring insight on the human rights, some of which was denied before the French Revolution. Problems arising from oppressed rights are solved with ease by many countries including gender based oppression. The document enables future rights to be highlighted and passed. The United States can concentrate in offering amnesty to all affected individuals and especially to the female gender (Davidson and Lytle 98). The Haitian declaration of independence is a document that sheds light on Haiti’s history. It includes information of neighboring countries. The document, released in the 19th century defines the rules. The document describes problems of governance as a state that ran under a different state. It signifies independence of Haiti in terms of natural and legal rights, mostly the right to evolution. The declaration presents a vision enabling pull out of liberations that prevent Haiti from progressing as a country. All the documents ensure conservation of rights of the affected individuals, regardless of age, gender or location (Davidson and Lytle 89). Reliability of reconstructed information Reconstructed information comes as different types of history. Remembered, recovered and invested history shape the stages of reconstructing information. While studying information from the past, distortion of the perception intended by the author may be displayed differently. Writers display information differently and the purpose of writing depends on the aim of the study. Historians take the same perception as writers as they move away from reality. Historians interpret literature at a very close manner without knowing the truth. Historians come close to solving issues but relies that the information relayed requires clarification. Analysis of information on a given piece of history comes from different sources. The effects of information in writing of sacks The civil war was a fight to keep the union of the United States of America. Conflicting opinions arose due to the federal government on the concept of the constitution. A rift between the handling of governments run by the federal and executive governments created the civil war. A union meant that the two run under one constitution. The war continued for four year. The division between the north and south conflicted against the election of Abraham Lincoln. The northern state was free while the southern state comprised of slaves. The union formed from eleven southern states lead to a disagreement after Lincoln declared the acts illegal. The fight over power paints a different picture if pasted in today’s happening. The reaction is the same only that people do not go into a civil war. The war experienced today involves individuals withholding necessary resources until certain regions accept the given ruling. The civil war began after the battle of Bull Run in 1861. The war showed signs of lasting for years. The states experienced huge battles in the states in America. The central reason behind the war was slavery, but until the Battle of Antietam in 1862 is when the slavery issue subsided. The slaves finally gained their freedom after the war during the thirteenth amendment. The war started the poor economic circle that we experience today. For the northern part of America, they experienced a boon while for the south it was an economic disaster. Interpretation of such information becomes difficult for today’s perspective thinking (Davidson and Lytle 176). Conclusion History reconstructions come with pitfalls involving the past and hopelessness of securing a perfect picture of the happenings. Historians have good reason to analyze information based on existing historical sources, as they are able to define, circumscribe and analyze the truth of past events. The purpose of writing and studying history is not to only uncover the happenings of the past but to relate the history with what is currently happening. History applies in making known the differences of the current happenings to the previous. It aids in reconstructing form mistakes currently happening. History therefore displays the past and the future hence its reconstruction should be precise, providing information on present and future information. Works Cited Davidson, James West and Mark Lytle. After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection, Volume II. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2004. Print. Read More