HISTORY NOTES FOR ORDINARY LEVEL – Form 1, 2, 3, 4

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THE CONCEPT OF HISTORY

-History is the study of the past events. OR

-Is the reconstruction of the past. OR

-Is the endless study of the past human events and activities OR

-Is the study of changes in human life, technology and       environment and how these changes affected each other.

                         IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING HISTORY.

The importances of studying History are:

1. History helps us to understand man and his environment; it teaches us how and why people acted upon the           environment.
2. History helps us to learn how to analyze information and search for the truth, this is because history helps us       develop critical mind as we think of why, when and how things happened.
3. History helps us to understand the past events which can help us to predict the future.
4. History helps us to get important skills that will help us in our future careers for sociologists, anthropologists,     lawyers, history teachers, and administrators.
5. History helps us to find out what is right or wrong in the society, for example why the Hutu and Tutsi want to     destroy each other in Rwanda and Burundi.
6. History helps us to learn when and where important events took place, for example, when and where the first skull of ancient man was discovered.

SOURCES OF HISTORICAL INFORMATION.

                  There are many sources of historical information which historians use to reconstruct the past, these sources can be written or unwritten. The major sources are;

1. ORAL TRADITION

This refers to historical information that is handled down by word of mouth.                  or

             Is the      information which is passed on by word of mouth from one             generation to       another generation. This is the method of collecting       historical               information which is done by talking and listening to people with such information for example elders.

TWO MAJOR TYPES OF ORAL TRADITION.

1. Cultural practices, such as arts, music religion, riddles, jokes, proverbs, superstitions, poems and stories.
2. Narration of past events; this involves telling of stories about people and events of the past; it can be in form of epics and myth.

THE FUNCTIONS OF ORAL TRADITIONS

The functions of oral traditions are:

1. Continuity; Through oral traditions like songs,     stories, poems, riddles and proverbs society’s ideas are repeated over time.
2. Validation; Oral traditions helps to justify a society`s culture for example why certain rituals are performed or why certain values are held in high regard.
3.  Entertainment; oral traditions are enjoyable way of passing time. For example songs and stories can be used to entertain the society.
4.  Control, oral tradition helps to control behaviors, for example age-mates can tell riddles or sing songs about their friends who are misbehaving.
5. Education, oral tradition contains teachings such as honesty, respect, truthfulness and diligence.

ADVANTAGES OF ORAL TRADITIONS

1. They are easy to learn and remember
2. Oral traditions are entertaining

1. Oral traditions supplement other sources of historical   information eg. Written records, archaeology, historical sites etc.
2. Oral tradition can give us information that cannot be opened easily from other sources.

LIMITATIONS OF ORAL TRADITIONS

1. Oral tradition rely heavily on human memory hence it is easy to forget some facts or details.
2. It is easy to confuse or forget the dates and order of events.
3. The presenter may exaggerate the facts.
4. Information may be biased in favor of certain things, for example the presenter may focus on the success of the society and leave out the weakness or failure.
5. It is time consuming, as the researcher may need to  interview several individuals for a long time in order to collect adequate historical information.
6. It does not focus on the history of the common people in the society.
7. Oral tradition cannot be used to correct information of thousands of years ago.

• HISTORICAL SITES.

             These are special places where remains that help to trace the physical development of man, technology and his behavior are kept or found. They include buildings, ruins, and caves. The important historical sites in East Africa are Isimila, Kondoa Irang, Olduvai Gorge, Olorgasaille, Lewa, Nsongezi, Sango bay, Magosi Rusinga, Gambles caves in Kenya etc.

THE FUNCTIONS OF HISTORICAL SITES

1. They serve as store houses of culture for example.     Historical styles of buildings, art, utensils etc.
2. They help in passing on traditions to new generation
3. Some historical buildings retain their original functions, for example there are old mosques and churches that are historical sites as well as places of worship.

ADVANTAGES OF HISTORICAL SITES

1. They complement other sources of historical           information like written records, oral traditions, etc
2. They provide employment, for example some people are employed to work as guiders to explain to visitors the significance of various things at the site.
3. Researchers can explore and get information at their own place.
4. They act as a tourist attraction
5. They provide foreign exchange to the country.

DISADVANTAGES/LIMITATIONS OF HISTORICAL SITES

1. Historical sites are prone to disintegration
2. They are not mobile hence historians need to travel to the particular site to get the information they need.
3. Historical sites usually are protected areas; one cannot take away a part of it for further research.
4. ARCHIEVES

             Are collections of private and public documents, they include books, early missionaries and traveler’s    records, trader’s writings, colonial records and files, they also include current documents of governments, parties and other organization. A person who works in archives is called Archivist. The study and practice of organizing, preserving and providing access to information and       materials in archives is called archival science.

FUNCTIONS OF ARCHIVES

1. The historical information in the archives ensures continuity, for example organization policies from previous years can still guard the employee today.
2. Archives make the society aware of the kind of          historical information available in their holdings.
3. Archives ensure that old but important documents can continue to be used because it has facilities for restoring damaged documents of enduring value.
4. Archives collect records of enduring value from various places therefore this simplifies research process because researchers do not have to travel to all those areas in    order to get the information that they need.
5. It preserves unique or collectible documents.
6. Archival institutions serves an important legal function in the society, archival institutions are generally legally constituted entities responsible for identifying, managing and preserving the integrity of an institutions official records of long-term value. They enable legally constituted access to records.

ADVANTAGES OF ARCHIEVES

1. Archives provide employment to the people for       example archivists.
2. Documents from archives can be used as legal         evidence.
3. Archives help easy access of information to             researchers.
4. Archives help people to trace the origin and            development of any institution up to recent time.
5. Archives ensure accountability of government by   preserving public records and making them available to the citizen as is legally and ethically appropriate.
6. It ensures the accountability of non-governmental   institutions to their shareholders, boards and other constituents.
7. Archives serve as memory institutions for a culture.

                        DISADVANTAGES OF ARCHIEVES

1. Going through many records to find specific            information is time-consuming.
2. Achieves can have thousands of documents, so it is tedious to go through those documents in order to find  the information that one requires,
3. It is segregative because one needs to be literate to be able to use written documents.
4. Some records are classified and can only be accessed after a certain period of time; during that period those records cannot be used to get historical information.

• MUSEUMS

             Museums are places which are created for preserving historical information; usually museums contain a          collection of all sorts of items which show cultural. social, political, economic and technological development from the earliest time to the present.

             Some of the museums are national museums such as National museums of Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya etc, others may be regional, district or local museums such as Kalenga in Iringa, Bujora in Mwanza, and Halwego    Handebezyo in Ukerewe.

THE FUNCTIONS OF MUSEUMS

1. Tourist attraction
2. Entertainment
3. Museums plays an educative role in the society,       information they give regarding the items in display educates people on a wide range of topics.
4. Museums serve as the country`s memory bank.
5. Museums exhibit arte-facts and specimens. They make them available for viewing by the public.
6. Museums collect arte-facts from diverse regions and sources, They therefore contain a variety of objects  and a wealth of information,
7. Museums preserve artifacts in the best way possible in order to safeguard them for future generation.

ADVANTAGES OF MUSEUMS

1. Museums provide security for the arte-facts which can be used as source of historical information for many years.
2. Museums help many people to learn about the past because it collects many historical items and make    them available to many people.
3. There are no special skills required to look at the    exhibits or listen to the guides, anyone can get       historical information from museum.
4. It helps people to learn about many areas of history because museums have a wide range of knowledge because of the variety of items available.
5. Museums facilitate research process because            researchers can see the actual items and read about their history or have it explained by a guider in the museum.
6. Museum provides employment opportunity.
7. Museums provide foreign exchange hence increase of national income.

DISADVANTAGES/LIMITATIONS OF MUSEUMS

1. Museums are expensive to put up and maintain. The large space arte-facts, security and trained staff cost a lot of money.
2. Some historical remains cannot be housed in a      museum for example the ruins of house.
3. Some materials in museums are sensitive to agents of destruction for examples the pages of old books may turn yellow and tear easily.
4. Museum can be time consuming, because item to do with a specific subject may be found in several     museums if there is a need to view all the arte-facts.

               WRITTEN RECORDS

             They include newspapers, journals, books, magazine and pamphlets in everyday use. They are found in bookshops, libraries and schools. The historians read these records to get information and choose the information which are relevant to their aims because historians cannot learn about everything from written records.

                  THE FUNCTIONS OF WRITTEN RECORDS.

1. Written records provide a graphic picture of society, the description in stories, article, picture and          advertisements give the reader a mental image of what the lives of people were at a certain time.
2. The records reflect public opinion at the time of    writing, for example the letter to the editor in a   newspaper expresses the readers` feelings on current issue.
3. Written records serves as store of a large variety of information, including discoveries, government      policies, statements, religious beliefs, fashions, speeches, and agreements.
4. In depth reports of daily events are kept as written records for example in a diary, newspaper or           biography. These give detailed progressions of      happenings in the society.

ADVANTAGES OF WRITTEN RECORDS

1. Written records are cheap compared to some of other historical sources of information such as archaeology.
2. Written records are the most reliable and accurate source of historical information. The information is usually compared against data from other sources and is also viewed by various people before being       produced, this helps to limit the author`s bias.
3. Many written records contains first hand information, example are autobiographies and articles by journalist who were at the scenes of events.
4. Written records can be translated into different     languages; therefore people all over the world can read historical information from other parts of the world.
5. Written texts are more accurate than oral traditions as they do not rely on human memory the information remains as it was recorded.
6. Written materials are easily available; we can get newspaper stands and books at the library or bookshops.
7. It is also possible to read historical information on the internet.
8. Information in the written records is usually well   organized under specific topic. Thus it is easy to   identify relevant information.

LIMITATIONS OF WRITTEN RECORDS

1. Authors can be biased in a certain way and hence write from a prejudiced point of view.
2. Only literate people can make full use of written        records. The illiterate cannot use them without             assistance.
3. Some written materials are too expensive for the        majority of people, for example most high quality   newspapers, magazines and academic books are not    affordable to many people.
4. Reading written records can be time consuming. This is especially when one needs several records in order to confirm facts.
5. Omission of important details by the author can make the written record unreliable.
6. Written information can be purposely misinterpreted by readers to spoil the reputation of others or to meet their personal needs.
7. Records on paper are fragile since paper is sensitive to moisture, light, heat and other agents of destruction.

• ARCHAELOGY

             Archaeology is the study of human past through material remains of the past. It is the science that studies human culture through recovery, documentation, analysis and interpretation of material remains and environmental data.

             An archaeologist is a person who studies the human past through material remains of the past, for example Dr. Louis Leakey and Dr. Mary Leakey were famous             archaeologist in East Africa, Dr Raymond Dart who      discovered the skull of Austropithecus Africanus in South Africa in 1924 is a famous archaeologist in South   Africa.

             Archaeological sites are geographical areas where remains of the past have been found. Examples of         Archeological sites are:

• Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania
• Taung in South Africa
• Kafu Valley in Uganda, etc

             Archeologists uses material remains found in the    archaeological sites to reconstruct past ways of life and the ways in which pre-historic societies changed through time.

             The archaeological material remains can be          classified into:

1. Arte-facts: These are potable objects that are either made or modified by humans, for example stone tools, pottery and metal objects.
2. Eco-facts (Bio-fact): These are organic environment that are not modified by human. Eco-facts are not necessarily made or modified by humans but they provide information of pre-historic environment and the ways they were used by early people, example of eco-facts are animal bones, skeleton (faunal remains) seeds and other plant remains, and plant pollens.
3. Features, these are non-potable arte-facts. They are structures that cannot be moved about but were            constructed or modified by humans. Typical examples of archaeological features include pits, ditches, middens, house foundations, hearths and field boundaries.
4. Context-Is the position of archaeological finding of time and space measured by assigning the association with provinient.
5. Provinient-Is the exact position in finding, and the       material culture which surround the archaeological       findings are known as matrix.
6. Association– It includes relationship of one field site to another or even one or more settlement of each other. It is also the information which seeks to position the artifact in relation to its surroundings, this involve noting other similar or dissimilar arte-facts found together.
7. Sites. A site is defined as any concentration of         arte-facts, eco-facts, or features that mark a collection of past human activity.

             Archaeologists derive meaning from artifact,        features and eco-fact by examining which kinds of         remains are associated with one another, how they are   distributed partially and how they relate to the large    landscape and environment in which they are found.

FUNCTIO NS OF ARCHAEOLOGY

1. Archaeological remains provide evidence of the material culture during a certain period of history, for example tools people used and the clothes they wore.
2. By comparing remains from different sites,                   archaeologist can determine past relations between groups of people, for example war, migration and trade.
3. By comparing material remains from different sites     archaeology can help us to understand cultural history “societies with similar artifacts were inhabited by the same people with the same cultural orientation.
4. Archaeology compliment other sources of historical    information such as written records, oral tradition etc
5. Archaeology gives a sense of time to historical events through the application of archaeological dating       techniques like stratigrafic dating, typology, seriating,       geochronology, and three age system.

ADVANTAGES OF ARCHAEOLOGY

1. Archaeology compliment other sources of historical    information, like oral tradition and written records, for example if there is a story of an ancient wealth city      archaeological remains of gold objects in that area would give validity to the story,
2. Archaeology is a source of varied information because of the variety arte-facts that can be found.
3. Archaeology helps in managing cultural heritage            asserts/resources,
4. Archaeology provide employment opportunities for     example archaeologists, guides etc
5. Archaeology helps to understand the past in order to predict the future.
6. Archaeology helps to reconstruct the life style of the people of the past for the aim of determining tools, structure, dressing, how and when they moved across the landscape in per suit of food procurement,
7. Archaeology helps to reconstruct the cultural changes or process for the aim of explaining how things changed over time.

                    LIMITATIONS OF ARCHAEOLOGY.

1. Archaeology cannot be used to study recent history; it is limited to the study of ancient history.
2. Archaeology is expensive because it requires hired      labors to dig the site, collect the artifacts and take them to the laboratory for close examination, archaeological equipments are also cost fully like GPS, compass           direction, iron lens, camera etc.
3. Sometimes it is difficult to locate archaeological sites,
4. Fragile fossils and artifacts can disintegrate easily and distort historical facts.
5. Dating artifacts is done by estimation, thus the date     arrived may not be accurate.
6. Most of the laboratories equipped for canalizing and    dating are found in developed countries.
7. There are few archaeological expertise to conduct       archaeological survey.
8. Archaeology is time-consuming especially when   excavation is needed.

• ANTHROPOLOGY

             Is the study of society’s cultural system, believes and ideologies. In order for the archaeologist to correct adequate historical information Anthropologists often live among the people so as to understand their social           institutions, religions, customs, cultural values, system of inheritance and descent.

THE FOUR MAJOR FIELD/BRANCHES OF

ANTHROPOLOGY

1. Biological anthropology, this deals with the study of  biological or physical characteristics of man that are     genetically inherited. Biological Anthropologists are      interested in understanding the mechanisms of evolution and genetic inheritance as well as human variation and   adaptation to different environmental stresses. Biological anthropologist are usually involve in one of three different areas of research namely, human biology, primatology (the study of primates) or paleo-anthropology
2. Cultural anthropology, this focuses on the study of the cultural aspects of human societies all over the world,   cultural anthropologist focuses their research of such things as the social and political organizations, marriage pattern, and kinship systems, subsistence and economic patterns and religious belief of different societies.
3. Linguistic anthropology. Isthe study of human          languages. Linguistic anthropologists focuses their          research on understanding such phenomena as the        physiology of speech , the structure and function of       languages, social and cultural influence on speech and writing. They also focus on how languages developed over time and how they differ from each other.
4. Archaeology. is the study of human culture through the use of past material remains, archaeologists are interested in recovering the pre historic and early history of societies and their cultures, they systematically uncover the          evidence by excavating, dating, and analyzing the material remains left by people in the past. Sometimes historians argue that archaeology is the past tense of cultural anthropology.

HOW TO HANDLE THE SOURCES OF HISTORICAL INFORMATION

             All sources of historical information must be       preserved and handled with great care because if they are destroyed they cannot be replaced.

    Although these sources contain facts, they do not make history, history is the knowledge we get after interpreting those facts, the historian duty is to study and interpret the facts , after that he or she may make conclusion or make decision.

DATING HISTORICAL EVENTS

    To record history properly we need a good knowledge of dating, historians divide time into.

1. A day– is a duration of twenty four (24) hours.
2. A week – is a duration of seven (7) days.
3. A month –is a duration of four (4) weeks.
4. A year –is a duration of twelve (12) months.
5. A decade –is a duration of ten (10) years.
6. A century –is a duration hundred (100) years.
7. A millennium –is a duration of one thousand (1000) years.
8. A generation –is an estimate of the difference in age between parents and their children.
9. A period –is usually determined by one continuous event which may take a number of years or centuries, for        example the period of long distance trade along the East Africa coast.
10. An Age –is a duration of time based on man’s    economic activities and types of tools used, for example stone age, iron age, and bronze age.

             In dividing time or giving dates to different events on history a starting date which is “0’’ has been chosen. This date is the same as the year when Christ was born, this is why we use AD (Anno Domino) or in the year of the Lord, years before it are called the years Before Christ hence B.C, and Muslims on the other hand have their starting date at Hijira this is when Mohamed fled from Mecca –622AD

METHODS OF FIXING DATES/WAYS OF GETTING EXACTLY DATE FOR DIFFERENT EVENTS

1. Remembering changes and events; examples of such events are femine, war, drought, eclipse of the sun or the moon, volcanic eruption, floods, epidemics, arrival of strangers, marriage, births, death, and season of harvesting. This method is usefully where much of the history is not written,
2. By using clan and family chronology, here some special names of generation, clan trees, and tribal         chronology can indicate the dates of events in history. 
3. Language studies, many events and periods are revealed through vocabulary, saying, and literature, these help to show the level of development of society at certain      period of time. For example by tracing when the word “karafuu” in Kiswahili started to be used we can know the time when cloves were introduced in Zanzibar.
4. Carbon -14. Is the scientific method used in identifying archaeological findings whose age is beyond 5,000 years. Through the use of carbon -14 scientists can     calculate the amount of carbon found in the object and determine how old it is and how long it lived.

METHODS OF SHOWING CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER OF EVENTS, PERIOD AND AGES

1. Family trees –this shows the relationship between members of a family over period of time.
2. Time line. Is a line along which dates and events are shown in the order they follow in history, time line can be horizontal or vertical lines.
3. Time graph. Is a drawing that shows how dates and events are related,
4. Time chart. Is a chart or table that shows historical dates and event in the order they follow