Historical Essay Topics

Historical Essay TopicsHistoriographical essays typically present two major argumentative directions in the essay. The first, open or evidential (OR) approach presents the evidence of some event or person that supports an argument about a primary topic.The second, secondary thesis approach presents the fact that has not been supported by evidence and is therefore a secondary fact. Most historians consider that historical events are properly classified into categories such as primary and secondary facts. The history that works toward support a secondary thesis will usually be comprised of the primary facts.Open historical events are those which have not been discovered but only exist in the writings of those who lived them. These oral traditions generally take precedence over written documents and are believed to be more reliable in establishing what happened at a particular place and time. The historian does not rely on these primary sources in establishing his main argument.Secondar y facts are historical events that have been proven by independent evidence to have happened, for example, the Napoleonic Wars. As this type of evidence is far more reliable than oral tradition, the historian may use it in supporting his main argument. Historians will also typically consider that part of their responsibility is to provide a careful analysis of evidence. They work towards demonstrating what can be established by careful analysis.The historian's main aim in writing an essay about his or her research is to support one of the thesis statements. He or she must make sure that the evidence presented is consistent with the main ideas that are supported by the secondary statements.Historiographical essay topics are normally written to challenge other points of view. It is the aim of the historian to lay down all the relevant information that can be gathered through research and can be used to prove or disprove the views of his or her opponent. Thus, historical facts are neve r purely presented in support of a secondary thesis. When facts do appear in support of a secondary thesis, the historian considers that to be even more evidence for his own position.Through independent confirmation, the historian hopes to provide further evidence for his or her thesis. A researcher is not allowed to simply accept the facts that he or she finds in any given period, because such acceptance could be misleading, not to mention, factually incorrect.While the history of a primary fact or event is presented, the historian must always exercise caution in proving that his or her views are correct. Any secondary fact or story that could be used to confirm or disprove the historian's thesis should be carefully evaluated before being accepted as evidence in support of the historian's overall point of view.