Description
Book SynopsisOriginally published in 1970. Professor Callcott's analysis of the rise of historical consciousness in the United States from 1800 to 1860 offers a new dimension to American historiography. Other books have provided insight into the works of Bancroft, Parkman, and others, but Callcott goes beyond to explain the meaning of the past itself rather than the contributions of particular historians. As the anatomy of an idea, this is an important contribution to American intellectual history; and as a study of humans' need for the past and their use of it, it is an important contribution to American social history. The author begins by analyzing the European and Romantic background for American historical thought. He then explores the rise of historical themes in literature, education, the arts, and scholarship. By describing the type of historical subject matter, the methods of writing history, the interpretive themes historians used, and the standards by which critics judged history, Callco
Table of ContentsPreface
Chapter 1. The Intellectual Origins of Romantic History
Chapter 2. The People Discover the Past
Chapter 3. History Enters the Schools
Chapter 4. The Writers of History
Chapter 5. The Subject Matter of History
Chapter 6. Antiquarianism in the Age of Literary History
Chapter 7. Methods of Historical Writing
Chapter 8. Interpreting the Past
Chapter 9. The Social Uses of History
Chapter 10. The Personal Uses of History
Chapter 11. History as Ultimate Reality
Chapter 12. The Decline of Romantic History
Biographical Note
Index
