History Revisited and History's Lessons

Historiography is something that has interested me for some time. I will not give the formal definition here, if you are interested, you can look it up. When historians write a history, regardless of how narrow a time period or subject, they must of necessity pick and choose what information to include in their writings. The writing of what I will call serious or scholarly history is supposed to be objective. Facts and documents are to be weighed and considered carefully before their inclusion into the final paper. What is objectivity? Can people approaching the same subject from two different perspectives and not give objective yet different interpretations to the same set of facts or events?

When I was an undergraduate in the early 1960’s, I took a course titled something like The Economic History of the United States. We had to do a paper, so I wrote about the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. I titled my paper, A Politico-Economic Interpretation of the Louisiana Purchase. I think I got a B on the paper. Unfortunately, one day while cleaning up the third floor of our old house, I finally pitched it with my other old papers I had written over the years. A bad mistake that I realize now.

I remember my research took me downtown to the main public library. I needed to read old newspapers about the attitudes and talk back at the time just prior to the purchase. For this I needed a note from my professor to have access to these old newspapers. What I found after reading several newspapers, was that the people in the interior were talking about leaving the Union if the government in Washington did not do something about securing the rights of Americans to get their products down the Mississippi River and to the ports in the north east. The land west of the Mississippi River was not the issue I found out, moving and selling produce and products from Kentucky and Tennessee was what the people were concerned about. France controlled the Mississippi River at the business end and the people up north where not happy with the way the French were running things. As we all know President Jefferson bought the Louisiana lands and more importantly control of the Mississippi River from France for a reported $15 million in 1803.

As we look back on the Louisiana Purchase, our perspective changes with each generation, and with that change, the significance of that purchase changes. I can not help but wonder how our country’s lack of a national energy policy after the oil embargo of 1973, and the impact that that event has had on the economy of the United States, will be interpreted in the coming generations by historians. It would be interesting to imagine how the official historian of OPEC might write that same history, or for that matter how Saudi historians will interpret and write that history. Events present themselves and actions or inaction is taken and they all have consequences. Perhaps it is time for some one to start thinking about writing A Politico-Economic Interpretation of Saudi Arabia? The sand is running out of the hour glass.