Analysis Of Herbert Baxter Adams’ Historiography

Herbert Baxter Adams was a great historian as well as influential educationist inAmerican during the second half of the19thcentury. He presented the ‘Germ Theory’and absorbed the research methods and historical education methods from German touse for reference, training a wide range of advanced and professional historical talents.Besides, he organized and founded the largest historical academic society inAmerican—The American Historical Association, taking the initiative to set uphistorical periodicals, all which promoted the turning of conception of historiographyfrom amateur historians to professional ones. Undoubtedly this boosts the process ofprofessionalization on American historiography. This article tries to investigateAdams’ conception of historiography, methods of historical research, historyeducational ideas and practice and then probe thoroughly into his historicalepistemology and methodology. Finally, it attempts to make a comprehensiveexposition on the contributions to the professionalization of the Americanhistoriography.This dissertation consists of three parts, which are Forward, Text and Epilogue.And the Text has four chapters.Chapter One focuses on Adams’ living social background, academic environmentand personal academic career to explore the influence of the three aspects onconception of historiography and historical teaching methods.Chapter Two elaborates Adams’ conception of historiography—from threeaspects of the ‘Germ Theory’, his political history values in the turn of old and newhistory, and also the research method.Chapter Three firstly analyzes Adams’ ideas of popular education and his caringfor reality, and then elaborates the methods of training graduate students in collegesand universities. The two of which reflected his concepts and methods of historicaleducation.Chapter Four analyzes his training for professional historians and establishmentand distribution of historical academic society as well as historical periodicals to showhis contributions to promote the professionalization of the American historiography.