Issue 48: "The study of history places too much emphasis on individuals. The most significant events and trends in history were made possible not by the famous few, but by groups of people whose identities have long been forgotten."
I had a deep reflection on this topic, however it is still hard to handle. I'm not sure whether I can make myself clear in the following essay. Please make comments.
Thanks in advance.
The relationship between the big shot and the groups of people in history is like that between the switch and the power supply of a machine. If either the switch is turned off or the power is removed, the machine cannot run. It is hard to say one--the switch or the power--contributed more than the other. In history books however, the glory of these prominent few dazzles our eyes, leaving us blind to the great contributions of the mass.
A deep rethink on history reveals that both the famous few and the groups of people are critical to the most significant historical events and trends. Remarkable figures, which were often characterized as bravery, intelligence or persistence, do stand out of the queue; their profound influence owned much to their ability or morality indeed. However, they were not gods or supernatural but simply a human being. How can only two hands change the direction of history? In fact, their power and strength were largely derived from the groups of people--people who believed in them, supported them and would even die for them. Thinking back to American Revolution, everyone must adore George Washington--the father of the United States. Admittedly, he is worth these praise for his great deeds, talent of leadership, more importantly, his virtues. Without him, American might suffer from the British monarchy for more years and might not be such a democratic country. But the brave American soldiers fighting for independence and the many lives that were sacrificed for refusing surrendering to the arbitrary king should not be forgotten. It was them that defeated the British army, won the war and eventually built this great nation. Consider the other famous few, like Abraham Lincoln or Winston Churchill; they could not change the history without the support of people. We can conclude that though the important roles the famous few played in history are indisputable, they are not likely to make a different without groups of people, whose efforts are equally respectful.
It may appear unfair for history books focusing mostly on the famous few at first; nevertheless, this is quite reasonable from a practical point of view. History (here specifically means the historical accounts we wrote) consists of stories of individuals, not of groups of people. Also, we have not learnt how to write a biography of a group, whose members names can already add up to a book. Even if there is such a book, for example, an encyclopedia filled with descriptions of Washington's soldiers' everyday life in great details, who would like to read it? People like sagas of heroes, not common life. Furthermore, the famous few are the milestones of history, they represents the trends and events. Studying them is a relatively easy and practical way for us to gain a clear idea of how history evolved. This is especially true in the history of science, whose evolvement can be presented by a list of names: Aristotle, Plato, Euclid, and Pythagoras of the ancient Greek who set the fundamental spirits of science; Copernicus, Bruno, Galileo and later Darwin who symbolized the fierce fight between science and religion; Newton, Faraday, Maxwell who established modern scientific principals and the experimental method to test a theory. History can only remember those names of the famous few, while numerous scientists who also devoted their lifetime to science remained unknown. Other scientists or people related to science like teachers, either spread knowledge or transformed theories in to practical use, changed our world. For example, it was the Wright Brothers who invented the plane, but only through thousands of engineers who better the design and much more worker who turned the design into production, planes can come to our common people's lives. But the importance to the event or to our lives, and the importance to history account or study are two different things. In a word, it is history study's nature to emphasis someone who can represent history best.
In sum, the famous few and the groups of people both made our history, yet history writers and scholars concerns more about how to make the historical account clear and attractive. So it is right for our study of history focus on the famous few, still we should not forget the contribution of the unknown mass.
I had a deep reflection on this topic, however it is still hard to handle. I'm not sure whether I can make myself clear in the following essay. Please make comments.
Thanks in advance.
The relationship between the big shot and the groups of people in history is like that between the switch and the power supply of a machine. If either the switch is turned off or the power is removed, the machine cannot run. It is hard to say one--the switch or the power--contributed more than the other. In history books however, the glory of these prominent few dazzles our eyes, leaving us blind to the great contributions of the mass.
A deep rethink on history reveals that both the famous few and the groups of people are critical to the most significant historical events and trends. Remarkable figures, which were often characterized as bravery, intelligence or persistence, do stand out of the queue; their profound influence owned much to their ability or morality indeed. However, they were not gods or supernatural but simply a human being. How can only two hands change the direction of history? In fact, their power and strength were largely derived from the groups of people--people who believed in them, supported them and would even die for them. Thinking back to American Revolution, everyone must adore George Washington--the father of the United States. Admittedly, he is worth these praise for his great deeds, talent of leadership, more importantly, his virtues. Without him, American might suffer from the British monarchy for more years and might not be such a democratic country. But the brave American soldiers fighting for independence and the many lives that were sacrificed for refusing surrendering to the arbitrary king should not be forgotten. It was them that defeated the British army, won the war and eventually built this great nation. Consider the other famous few, like Abraham Lincoln or Winston Churchill; they could not change the history without the support of people. We can conclude that though the important roles the famous few played in history are indisputable, they are not likely to make a different without groups of people, whose efforts are equally respectful.
It may appear unfair for history books focusing mostly on the famous few at first; nevertheless, this is quite reasonable from a practical point of view. History (here specifically means the historical accounts we wrote) consists of stories of individuals, not of groups of people. Also, we have not learnt how to write a biography of a group, whose members names can already add up to a book. Even if there is such a book, for example, an encyclopedia filled with descriptions of Washington's soldiers' everyday life in great details, who would like to read it? People like sagas of heroes, not common life. Furthermore, the famous few are the milestones of history, they represents the trends and events. Studying them is a relatively easy and practical way for us to gain a clear idea of how history evolved. This is especially true in the history of science, whose evolvement can be presented by a list of names: Aristotle, Plato, Euclid, and Pythagoras of the ancient Greek who set the fundamental spirits of science; Copernicus, Bruno, Galileo and later Darwin who symbolized the fierce fight between science and religion; Newton, Faraday, Maxwell who established modern scientific principals and the experimental method to test a theory. History can only remember those names of the famous few, while numerous scientists who also devoted their lifetime to science remained unknown. Other scientists or people related to science like teachers, either spread knowledge or transformed theories in to practical use, changed our world. For example, it was the Wright Brothers who invented the plane, but only through thousands of engineers who better the design and much more worker who turned the design into production, planes can come to our common people's lives. But the importance to the event or to our lives, and the importance to history account or study are two different things. In a word, it is history study's nature to emphasis someone who can represent history best.
In sum, the famous few and the groups of people both made our history, yet history writers and scholars concerns more about how to make the historical account clear and attractive. So it is right for our study of history focus on the famous few, still we should not forget the contribution of the unknown mass.