About history About History History is simply one of the most fascinating and important subjects we deal with in schools and colleges and in life. It is fascinating because it deals with humanity.
History is the study of past human actions based on evidence, and humans are forever interesting.
Historians work like detectives, seeking evidence about human dealings and attempting to make sense of it. Thus, history is not some stagnant field where once you know something you know it forever. We now know better than we once did why Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, why Truman decided to drop the atomic bomb, or why a succession of American presidents involved us in a war in Vietnam. We also know better what it was like to be a slave, what motivated young Americans to fight in the Civil War, and what the experience was like for millions of immigrants coming to this country. And as we branch out in historical study, we understand more and more about what life was like for common people living in China's Ming period, in Palestine during Roman times, in West Africa's Mali Empire, or in Mexico under the Spanish.