Imagine reading a textbook not in order? First reading about the first vaccine, and then reading about the cholera pandemic. This wouldn’t make sense as you would question why we didn’t use vaccines to help end this pandemic quickly or have the medical knowledge to treat it. All in all, chronology of history plays an important role. Knowing when historical events happen in relation to each other “tell us about its visions of past and future” (11). This helps historians as well as citizens analyze the cause and effect of the world. Although it doesn’t directly provide the cause and effect, it gives us the information to draw conclusions about it.
Creating Esther Latrobe’s timeline has made me realize what a big role chronology plays. Grafton made me realize that society does hold chronology at a “relatively low status … as a kind of study” (10). Until this project I never would have given credit to how much surrounding events of a certain historical event tells the analyzer. Putting events into relation with each other helps draw conclusions that the event wouldn’t give us. For example, in Esther Latrobe’s timeline, we learned the cholera pandemic was during the time period Esther suffered from various diseases. As an analyst, knowing that this pandemic was going on I could draw conclusions on why Esther was constantly ill. Medically, sanitation wasn’t superb and many germs were being brought overseas. I agree that chronology should be “held a status higher than the study of history itself” (10).
Geography also helps show where these events were happening world wide. Although it would be time consuming, we could theoretically place Esther’s travels throughout the years on a map. This can also help build off chronology as we would see what events were going on in certain areas of the world. Knowing that the Evangelical Revival was happening when Esther was in Ireland helps explain why Esther grew up relying so much on faith.
Having a physical line to display these events on is a good basis for displaying the chronology of events. Having events one after the other shows chronology however doesn’t ensure the importance of one event over the other. Time is shown but a story is not.
Carly Pavoni is from Fairfield, CT. She is a freshman at Bucknell University that is undeclared in the arts and sciences school. She is on the track and field team at Bucknell University.
