The whig interpretation did not refer to whig politicians, but to the 19thcentury interpretation of history as one long triumphant march of progress. Is whig history considered to be bad history, or are there authors who are proud of doing whig history and explicitly propagate it. Whig history in other words is not a genuine abridgement, for it is really based upon what is an implicit principle of selection. Freedom is a powerful force, but it does not advance on the wheels of historical inevitability. The whig interpretation of history kindle edition by butterfield, herbert, zwicker, barrie. Historical timelines are a useful way of understanding historical periods and events, but theyre not much use if you dont know how to interpret them. The term is often applied generally to histories that present. The whig interpretation of history by butterfield, herbert, sir, 1900publication date 1965 topics historiography publisher. History study guide for kids pdf world history worksheet. This comprehensive guide to world history is an incredible addition to any social studies class is packed with over 127 pages of facts, information and trivia on many of the most important historical events in the history of mankind. Nov 20, 2007 a good old classic for the metahistory tag today. Whig interpretation of history september 1965 edition. Bernard cohen raised the question of whiggism in the study of. Over the course of his career, butterfield turned increasingly to historiography and mans developing view of the past.
A superb group of contributors provide by far the best survey ever produced of the uses of the past in early modern england. It might be called the historians pathetic fallacy. The passage gives background on the whig party, a major political party active in the period 183454. The whig vision of history derived from the commonlaw claim of. And, in his search for origins and causes, he can easily select those facts that give support to his thesis and thus eliminate other facts equally important to the total picture. As a british historian and philosopher of history, he is remembered chiefly for a short volume early in his career entitled the whig interpretation of history 1931 and for his origins of modern. Pdf sir herbert butterfield, master of peterhouse, cambridge 195568. It really seems like a critique, or insult to the author when he is accused of whig history. Project muse the herbert butterfield problem and its. Butterfield found the whig interpretation of history objectionable, because it warps the past to see it in terms of the issues of the present and attempts to squeeze the contending forces of the past into a form that reminds us of ourselves. Two cheers for the whig interpretation of history perspectives on. Although butterfields generation of historians learned to be suspicious of stirring narratives that played fast and loose with.
Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The whig interpretation offered by these authors, in this case not protestant but secular, seems insufficiently mindful of the contingencies of history, in which the ideas they discuss, and the historical context in which they were made, might have had a. Eighty years have passed since a young cambridge don named herbert butterfield published in 1931 a slender volume entitled the whig interpretation of history. Search the history of over 424 billion web pages on the internet. Pdf the whig interpretation of history download full. Is whig history generally considered to be bad history. Sir herbert butterfield was regius professor of history and vicechancellor of the university of cambridge. After teaching theology and philosophy at various german universities, he came to the united states in 1933. These differentiated passages and comprehension questions explore role of the whig party. Jan 09, 2020 the whig interpretation of history by sir herbert butterfield, september 1965, w. Whiggish people almost universally the great and the good among white men. The whig interpretation of history is not merely the property of whigs and it is much more subtle than mental bias.
When he published it, he was a cambridge fellow, barely 31, slight of build, and very shy. Because of its social and religious tolerance, it is considered antithetical to the tory party strongly monarchical and contrary to any religion other than anglicanism. So upon the whig interpretation of history we have imposed the peculiar historians ethics, by which we can overlook the fact that a king is a spendthrift and a rake, but cannot contain our moral passions if a king has too exalted a view of his own office. Whig history or whig historiography is the approach to historiography which presents the past as an inevitable progression towards ever greater liberty and enlightenment, culminating in modern forms of liberal democracy and constitutional monarchy. The adoption of this principle and this method commits us to a certain organization of the whole historical story. The glorious revolution house of commons information office factsheet g4 2 introduction the glorious revolution is a term used to describe the peaceful way in which parliament asserted its rights over the monarchy in 1688. The whig interpretation of history whigs progressive vs. Many critics saw the englishman and his history as a reversal of butterfields critique of. The whig interpretation of history by butterfield, herbert and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. While they regretted the bloodshed of the civil war and the execution of king charles i, the whigs saw the defeat of the crown and its subjugation to parliament as essential to the establishment of a free society. Whig history is an approach to historiography that presents the past as an inevitable progression towards ever greater liberty and enlightenment, culminating in modern forms of liberal democracy and constitutional monarchy. And, in his search for origins and causes, he can easily select. The whig interpretation of history is now a general label applied to various historical interpretations.
The whig interpretation of history herbert butterfield. At least it covers all that is ordinarily understood by the words, though possibly it gives them also an extended sense. The whig party was one of the main political parties active between the late 17th and mid19th centuries in england. Tories reactionary herbert butterfield, the whig interpretation of history, london, 1931. If history can do anything it is to remind us that all our judgments are merely relative to time and circumstance. For butterfield, the meaning of history is christianity and the origins of modern science is very much a.
The whig interpretation of literary history created date. It was in this context that the conservatives set out to challenge what they saw as the dominance of the whig interpretation of history and construct a tory interpretation of history. As for the history of science, i have been able to. Pdf beyond the whig history interpretation of history.
Butterfields whig interpretation of history made his name as a historian. The election was unusual because four strong candidates competed for the presidency. In terms of political conflict, differing interpretations of the past were essential to building alternative paths for the present and future. The whig interpretation of history of 1931 hereafter, the whig interpretation was a sustained critique of the motivation, methods and fallacious conclusions of the whig practice of staging historiographical narratives anachronistically so as to produce a ratification of the present, or justification of a position currently espoused by the. The term is often applied generally to histories that present the past as the inexorable march of progress towards enlightenment. Of the many books written by the late herbert butterfield, the most influential by far was the whig interpretation of history. Herbert butterfield quotes author of the whig interpretation. Eighty years have passed since a young cambridge don named herbert butterfield published in a slender volume entitled the whig. The whig interpretation of history of 1931 hereafter, the whig interpre tation was. Herbert butterfield 19001979 as a christian historian of science. Teacherapproved stories, resources, and worksheets, courtesy of junior scholastic, the middle school social studies classroom magazine.
This was how herbert butterfield described historians who project modern attitudes on to the past, pass moral judgments on historical figures, and regard history as significant only to the extent that it labored to. In 1997, david womersley reminded readers of augustan critical writing that those who deemed the british literary world to be palled by dullness were ardent tories who responded to a selfconsciously modern programme for english poetry propounded in the 1690s and 1700s by whig writers. Liberty comes to the world from english traditions, wrote butterfield, not from french theories. Scholasticism william of ockham the principle of parsimony. Historiography is a reminder that there is something to argue about in history, something that makes us think about the conduct of our contemporary lives. Eliohs butterfield the whig interpretation of history 2.
The whig interpretation of history butterfield thought that individual personalities were more important than great systems of government or economics in historical study. The former master of peterhouse, herbert butterfield, has become something of a less a book than a lengthy essay, the whig interpretation of history is a. As a british historian and philosopher of history, he is remembered chiefly for two books, a short volume early in his career entitled the whig interpretation of history 1931 and his origins of modern science 1949. The whig interpretation of history by herbert butterfield when i first began to spend my time doing serious historical research, i often came across the word whiggish used in a negative sense to describe a historical thesis or set of ideas. The election that led to war national park service.
Tory interpretation of history university press scholarship. The following study deals with the whig interpretation of history in what i conceive to be the accepted meaning of the phrase. Central to the whig interpretation of history was the long conflict between crown and parliament that dominated the seventeenth century. The essays give the history of both religion and politics their proper place, and put historical writing in the context of other literary activities. The significance of the frontier in american history by.
The british historian herbert butterfield, in his small but influential book the whig interpretation of history 1931 whose title actually coined the phrase. Whig history and presentcentred history the historical. Although the whig version has rightly been challenged in recent years some of its conclusions should not be discarded. Whig history or whig historiography is the approach to historiography which presents the past as an inevitable progression towards ever greater liberty and enlightenment, culminating in modern forms of liberal democracy and constitutional monarchy quotes. The glorious revolution did change the political framework of england and had a profound impact on englands position on the world stage. The nature of that change is of course much more complex than the whig history would. In the whig interpretation of history, herbert butterfield presages the hyperpolitical and hypermoralizing nature of modern history and historiography, in which the past is measured by the present and history is shown as a linear evolution towards progress.
Use this interactive quiz and printable worksheet to ascertain your comprehension of the significance of the frontier in america. Herbert butterfields the whig interpretation of history seeks to dissolve historical abridgments popularized by whig history, a term he coins as the historiographical fallacy of studying the past for the presents sake, often in favor of protestant and whig narratives. Firstly, as he employed it, the term whig history embodied the very insularity which it was designed to criticise. Since then the term has usually been used to classify an approach which views the present as the. Middle school civics free classroom materials worksheets.
Apr 25, 2010 5081 the whig view of history the whig view of history is more often than not now used as a pejorative. When first coined it was to describe a narrative where everything just got better all the time. The whig interpretation of history by herbert butterfield. On top of this critique, that whig history isnt tenable as. History is complex and we have a tendency to want to make moral judgements on those in history. The term whig is actually a name originally used pejoratively to refer to the british whigs, who supported the power of parliament, by their tory opponents who were usual supporters of the king and the aristocracy, in a long drawn out ideological contest principally played out in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The importance of that essay is not just that it attained the status of a classic in butterfields own lifetime, and has continued to be reprinted for over fifty years. What is discussed is the tendency in many historians to write on the side of protestants and whigs, to praise revolutions provided they. What exactly this curious phrase meant was not immediately clear, since it had never before appeared in print. There are worksheets on the european middle ages, maps and pictures of ancient greece, outlines and powerpoints on imperialism, etc. Professor of history 196368, and author of the whig interpretation of.
The whig interpretation of history herbert butterfield on. Historiography of american history historiography reminds us that history is not a closed book, not a collection of inarguable facts or a seamless story. Whig interpretation of history 931 general winfield scotts invasion of mexico from the gulf. What does it mean to have a whiggish view of history. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the whig interpretation of history. Like much of butterfields work elegant and teasing you think its saying something important but youre not quite sure what it actually is. The whig interpretation of history of 1931 hereafter, the whig interpretation was a sustained critique of the motivation, methods and fallacious conclusions of the whig practice of staging historiographical narratives anachronistically so as to produce a ratification of the present. And the term whig interpretation has been applied to both the latter and to all types of presentminded history. The interpretation of history return to religiononline the interpretation of history by paul tillich paul tillich is generally considered one of the centurys outstanding and influential thinkers. Whig partisan view of the english constitution and the whig view of history which dominated british historiography in the victorian era. The whig interpretation of history york university. The characteristics of whig history as defined by butterfield include interpreting history as a story of progress toward the present and specifically toward the british constitutional settlement.
Eliohs butterfield the whig interpretation of history 6. Do you think it was inevitable that the usa would one day have a nonwhite president. During herbert butterfields lifetime, most historians were certain that the whig interpretation of history 1973 1931 had finished once and for all with the interpretation of history as the ratification if not the glorification of the present butterfield, 1973 1931, p. It is part and parcel of the whig interpretation of history that it studies the past with reference to the present.
Lesson summary summary the election of 1860 demonstrated the divisions within the united states just before the civil war. Our world history teaching materials encompass everything for every grade, all divided up and organized by type. The whig party held its first national convention december 4, 1836. Review of herbert butterfields the whig interpretation of. Factsheet g4 house of commons information office the glorious. Such whig writings found their apogee in george bancrofts massive multivolume sermon, the history of the united states 18341874, whose great principle of action was the pursuit of liberty. Sep 01, 2012 still, the ambiguously partial praise i offer here is not just for the whig interpretation of history but also for the unitalicized and lowercased whig interpretation s of history that the book criticizes. Whiggism in the history of science and the study of the life and work of charles babbage in a recent article in the annals of the history of computing vol.
Butterfield published the whig interpretation of history in 1931. At the same time butterfield was writing on science, he was addressing the subject of religion. Pdf historical evidence can be useful to inform debate about current dilemmas in health service policy. The whig historian studies the past with reference to the present. Teacherapproved stories, resources, and worksheets for teaching. As a british historian and philosopher of history, he is remembered chiefly for a short volume early in his career entitled the whig interpretation of history 1931 and for his origins of modern science 1949. I am new to history, but what strikes me is that people in the field often complain that a certain text is too much whig history. The election that led to war the election of 1860 i. We have not dealt with halls more specific argument, that in the particular field of the history of science, butterfields historiographic strictures simply cannot be followed, and that whiggism is unavoidable. In general, whig historians emphasize the rise of constitutional government, personal freedoms and scientific progress. The whig interpretation of history is superb meditation on the craft of history and how it can be distorted by whig history.
289 1595 942 554 926 97 380 623 1454 630 175 392 784 150 878 1419 206 1394 1466 1493 1311 329 793 1343 285 1135 640 610 352 1378 1384 822 317 1021 1282