THE story it is a science that studies man's life through time. It investigates what men did, thought and felt as social beings. In this sense, historical knowledge helps to understand man as a being who builds his time.
History is made by men, women, children, rich and poor; by rulers and ruled, by rulers and ruled, by war and peace, by intellectuals and above all by the common people, from the most remote times. The story is present in everyday life and serves as a warning to the human condition of transforming agent in the world.
As we study history, we come across what men were and did, and this helps us to understand what we can be and do. So history is the science of the past and the present, but the study of the past and the understanding of the present doesn't happen in a perfect way, because we don't have the power to go back to the past and it doesn't repeats. Therefore, the past has to be "recreated", taking into account changes over time. Information collected in the past will not serve the present if it is not recreated, questioned, understood and interpreted.
History is not just about repeating accumulated knowledge. It must serve as an instrument to make men aware of the task of building a better world and a fairer society.
By Lilian Aguiar
Graduated in History
Kids School Team
