A Study On Germ Theory And Major Schools Of American Historiography In The Late 19th Century

Profound changes occurred in American historiography at the end of 19 th century.On the one hand,history was separated from the fields of philosophy and literature as an independent professional discipline;on the other hand,emerging professional history was abandoning the romantic historical conception of Puritanism and turning to “science” to establish its authority and legitimacy.In this process,the history of science known as“Germ Theory” was accepted widely,which traced back national development,institutional growth,and causality with help of Evolution,Social Darwinism and American Ranke Image.Due to different “germs”,it takes on four forms: Teutonic germ theory,imperial school,frontier theory,and sea power theory.There were very close connections between them from the perspectives of germ theory,however,their different experiences influenced their historical expressions.