We can think of
Jared Sparks (1789-1866) as the first American historian.
Obviously he wasn’t
the first person to write about American history. You may recall that Alexis de
Tocqueville visited the United States in 1831-32 and then went home to France
to write De la démocratie en
Amérique (Democracy in America).
Sparks was the first
American with public recognition as a scholar of American history. In 1838 he
was selected as the McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History at Harvard
University, and he served in that post until 1849. He was the first academic
historian doing original research, and did pioneering work in the collection of
primary documentary materials. Sparks also served as president of Harvard
during 1849-53.
The first history
prof wrote The Life and Writings of George
Washington (12 vols.) in 1834-37.
Copyright © Richard
Carl Subber 2015
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