RPTM Podcast Episode Thirty-One: Black Hawk War, Nullification, and Asian Americans

Most people think that there is no such thing as certainty in the realm of history, but only varying degrees of plausibility. Therefore, it is not satisfactory to use the category of "proof" for historical matters. Historical science is different from other sciences, especially from most natural sciences, concerning its object and its methods and ways of proving and its forms of collecting data and presenting results. It is, therefore, inadequate to apply categories used in natural science for historical investigations. When we talk about events, we need to distinguish between various aspects of them. One of the most fundamental distinctions, as far as events are concerned, is between the basic "what?" of an event, as opposed to questions related to its "how?" or inquiries related to its "why?" 

The category of "fact" does exist in contemporary historical science. Knowledge about "facts," however, includes the notion of "certainty" as a necessary corollary. Questions about historical events need to be investigated and answered based on evidence. Evidence usually is a "witness" of some kind or other, as an eye-witness report, a piece of ceramics, a coin, etc. The degree of certainty will, among other things, depend on the number of available witnesses. A single witness will be taken as a piece of decisive evidence only with great caution in historical science. The more the single source has proven credible, the more one will need to take it seriously. 

Even if there is more than one witness, the problems connected with the search for historical truth are not solved automatically, particularly when the witnesses contradict each other.  There is always the possibility that one or more witnesses may err, or even lie – or, in fact, all of them may error lie. Because single or multiple witnesses may err or lie, it is necessary to cross-examine witnesses, in analogy to how witnesses are cross-examined in a courtroom setting. 

The reliability of each witness must be assessed by considering possible defects, biases, and tendencies of an author or by investigating the value of other statements issued by the same author concerning other events. Suppose the net of independent evidence for an event and its context is tight enough. In that case, a point of absolute certainty will be reached, where developing an alternative scenario becomes impossible. 

For example, the murder of Caesar or the murder of MLK. But even if the "what?" of such events will be absolutely sure, things still look different concerning the "how?" and, often, even more, the "why?". The result: Is there "proof" in history?

According to what we have pondered so far, we may conclude: Something is proven in history if several independent, reliable witnesses concur in their witness, and if the event can be understood as a meaningful element in a comprehensive course of events. More or better proof, or a different kind of proof, is not available for every occasion, at least in all eras of history before the introduction of live-recording technologies.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Black Hawk War was a series of skirmishes in 1832 between the U.S. Army and frontier militia units against the followers of Sauk Chief Black Hawk. Fought in Illinois and Wisconsin, the war was one of many conflicts between Native Americans and white settlers over western land. White Americans at that time were unsympathetic to the forced loss of land by Native Americans through numerous treaties always favoring the settlers. 
• November 24, 1832 - South Carolina convention passed the Ordinance of Nullification, which was against the institution of permanent tariffs. The state also, on this issue, threatened to withdraw from the union of the United States of America.
• Edgar Allan Poe was an American poet, short-story writer, editor, and critic. He is best known for his tales of the macabre and poems. He also was one of the early writers of short stories, detective fiction, and crime fiction in the United States. 
• Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American Transcendentalist poet, philosopher, and essayist during the 19th century. One of his best-known essays is "Self-Reliance."
• In 1834 Afong Moy became the first female Chinese immigrant to the United States; she was brought to New York City from her home of Guangzhou. Moy was the first Chinese woman to achieve fame throughout the U.S. She toured the United States, was given press coverage, and met U.S. President Andrew Jackson.

CHAPTERS
0:37 Intro
4:12 Black Hawk War
11:02 Nullification Crisis
14:09 Unique American Style
25:36 Afong Moy
36:18 Outro

RESOURCES
Black Hawk War
The South Carolina Nullification Controversy
Edgar Allan Poe
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Life of Afong Moy, the First Chinese Woman in America