Presentism, Us, and Our Ancestors

A while ago Yvette Hoitink of Dutch Genealogy published an interesting post, You're Welcome.  She pointed out that from one language to another, if we have a limited knowledge of a second language, we sometimes make assumptions about what the words in the second language mean.  She then suggested that we may similarly make assumptions when we look at the past and the lives and situations of our ancestors.  (If you are a genealogist who is satisfied with finding and recording only names and dates, this post may not interest you.)

Her post reminded me that I had learned a new word, and concept, just a day earlier:  presentism.  Dictionary.com defines the word this way.

pres·ent·ism
/ˈprezenˌtizəm/
noun
    uncritical adherence to present-day attitudes, especially the tendency to interpret past events [and I would add, people] in terms of modern values and concepts.

In what ways or about what situations might we adopt presentism when we think of our ancestors, their lives, and the times in which they lived?  Here are a few ideas.

• clothing and hairstyles
• choices of transportation
• methods of house- and grounds-keeping
• manners and etiquette
• literacy/illiteracy and education in general
  
• religious beliefs and how they lived those beliefs
• attitudes toward and treatment of women
• babies born out of wedlock
• beliefs about raising children
  
• treatment of animals
• men serving in the military, or not
• attitudes toward people of other races and nationalities
  
• and more . . . .
  

As a novice family historian I was surprised when I learned that one of my great-grandmothers was illiterate.  Then I learned that several more ancestors could neither read nor write.  It was common for the times in which they lived.  Don't assume, I told myself.

I wrote about a great-grandfather who drank his coffee from the saucer.  That would be unusual to see now but he'd been born in the early-to-mid 1800s.  Different times, different manners and customs.

One of my great-great-grandmothers became a widow with eight young children in 1870.  She was not given the option to manage her own affairs after the death of her husband.  We've come a long way since then.

When learning about and writing about our ancestors, it's important that we relate facts without editing out the unpleasant ones and without judging our ancestors' decisions and actions.  If we possibly can, we should write without bias.  After all, we did not live in their time, in their situation, among their family and neighbors, or with the mores of their time.  Their values may have been completely different from our own.  They did not live in our present "enlightened" age. 

I understand there are other viewpoints on this concept of presentism.  One is, those who did wrong should be held accountable for their actions.  But the question is, held accountable based on whose beliefs of right and wrong?  Our moral standards (which are not universal) or those contemporary to our ancestor?  For me, the past is the past and there's nothing I or anyone else can do to change it.  I must come to terms with it.  I think I should try to understand my ancestors' situations, their lives, and the times in which they lived in as unbiased and non-judgmental way as possible.

Do you have thoughts on presentism when it comes to your ancestors?

Read more on the topic at the links below.

• "Presentism" Imperils Our Future by Distorting Our Past 
• The allure and the dangers of "presentism" 
• The Growing Threat of Historical Presentism 
• Presentism:  Don’t Judge our Ancestors’ Actions by Today’s Standards 
• Avoiding the Pit of Presentism (from the point of view of a living historian) 
• Presentism:  The Dangerous Virus Spreading Across College Campuses
  

-–Nancy.

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