THE ECONOMIC HISTORY OF 



AMERICAN AGRICULTURE 



AS A FIELD FOR STUDY 1 



THE NEW HISTORY. 



History, like all other studies, has repeatedly 

 undergone significant changes in point of view and 

 in methods of interpretation. Formerly, it was re- 

 garded as a narrative of past events, and its chief 

 purpose was to interest and amuse the reader, rather 

 than to contribute to a well considered body of scien- 

 tific knowledge. This conception of history, how- 

 ever, has been greatly changed during the past fifty 

 years by the introduction of the scientific method in 

 historical investigation. The main objective of this 

 method is the critical study of the past life of human- 

 ity, not only for its own sake, but also for the sake 

 of enabling us to understand better the present life 

 of the times of which we ourselves are a part. It has 

 led students to search beneath the surface of passing 

 events and to study the institutional life of society; 

 in other words, the common every-day life of human- 

 ity. It has brought about a reconstruction of the 

 whole field of history with the result that all phases 

 of human progress are being studied and presented 

 in a new light. It conceives of history as a social 

 science whose concern is the scientific study of the 

 past life of human society in its economic, social, re- 

 ligious, political, military, aesthetic, and intellectual 

 phases. 



i This paper was presented at the annual meeting of the 

 American Historical Association, held in Washington, D. C., 

 December 28, 1915. Reprinted from The Mississippi Valley 

 Historical Review, Vol. Ill, No. 1, June, 1916, pp. 39-49. 

 Marginal headings have been added and sub-topics num- 

 bered and italicized. 



