Category: History Essay Examples
See our collection of history essay examples. These example essays are to help you understanding how to write a history essay. History is a fascinating puzzle with both personal and cultural significance. The past informs our lives, ideas, and expectations. Historians study the past to figure out what happened and how specific events and cultural developments affected individuals and societies. Also, see our list of history essay topics to find the one that interests you.
The Three Kingdoms period refers to an era in Korean history in the fourth century c.e. when the three states of Koguryo, Silla, and Paekche existed simultaneously until the unification of the peninsula by Silla in 668 c.e. Koguryo was the largest and earliest unified kingdom, followed by …
The Toba, or Northern Wei, were nomads variously described as belonging to Tungustic or Turkic ethnicity. During the Era of Division after the fall of the Han dynasty in 220 c.e., and after invading nomads drove the Jin (Chin) dynasty to south China, confusion reigned in northern China. …
The Torah of Moses is a unique collection of writings that either refers to the first five books of the Bible, the whole of the Jewish Bible, or, generally speaking, the “teaching” or “instruction” of the religion of Israel. In this essay the first meaning will principally be …
Trajan was one of the greatest Roman emperors. Born within a distinguished Roman family from Hispania, he spent the first years of his public life as a renowned general whose victories spread quickly through the empire. During the last years of the first century c.e. Nerva— one of …
The Tripitaka (or Tipitaka) is the Sanskrit (or Pali) canon of religious discourse most highly regarded in Theravada Buddhism. The literal translation is the “three baskets,” so named because the original writings were kept in baskets. The three elements of the canon are the Vinaya Pitaka, which are …
The years prior to the First Triumvirate were unstable and anticipated future conflicts. A series of external struggles—such as a long war to suffocate the rebellion of Sertorius in Spain, the second war against Mithridates, and the fight against the gladiators and slaves commanded by Spartacus—weakened the vigor …
The ancient city of Troy is the basis of Homer’s Iliad and site of the Trojan War. Troy lies in present-day western Turkey, at Canakale on the ancient Scamander River. Troy is known through the writings of the poet Homer and the stories of Heracles, Laomedon, King Priam, …
Trung Trac and Trung Nhi are sisters who led a failed revolt against Chinese rule in northern Vietnam between 40 and 43 c.e. and are honored as heroines in Vietnam. The Southern Yue (Yueh), or Nanyue, people are a branch of Mongoloids who lived in tribal society and …
While the history of Christianity focuses on the Greek Church and the Latin Church, a third major source of the faith is often ignored or unknown: Syriac (or Semitic) Christianity. Its traditional center lies in southeast Turkey in a region called Turabdin, which may mean “mountain of the …
Ugarit was an ancient harbor city located on the Mediterranean coast of northern Syria. The site is known today as Râs Shamra. Archaeological expeditions began there in 1929, and since that time over 1,250 clay tablets containing cuneiform texts have been discovered. The tablets, dating from the middle …
Ulifilas (Gothic: Wulfila) was a tireless missionary and educator among various Gothic tribes of the Western Roman Empire in the latter half of the fourth century c.e. Not only did he contribute to the culture and education of the “barbarian” tribes before they were integrated into civilized Europe, …
The Sumerian city of Ur is identified with Tell elMuqayyar in southern Iraq, along a course of the Euphrates River that has dried up. It is commonly related to the birthplace of Abraham (“Ur of the Chaldeans” in Genesis 11:28–31). Excavations at Ur began in 1849, but C. …
The Mahavira (Great Hero) Vardhamana was one of the 24 Tirthanakras (Conquerors, or Ford-makers) who were founders of the Indian religious philosophy of Jainism. Vardhamana was born in Ksatriyakundagrama in India in approximately 599 b.c.e. and died in 527 b.c.e. Jainism, or its antecedent, was developed by the …
The Vedas are the oldest sacred writings of all of the world’s major religions. Most scholars believe that the Vedas were transmitted orally for hundreds if not thousands of years before they were committed to writing. When written down, they were recorded in archaic Sanskrit and organized into …
The roughly 1,000 years between 1500–500 b.c.e. is called the Vedic, or Aryan, age. The beginning of the Vedic age corresponded with the end of the Indus civilization (c. 2500–1500 b.c.e.), although it is not clear what precise role the Aryans played in the final fall of the …
Vercingetorix was a tribal chieftain of the Gallic Celtic Arverni tribe who attempted to stop the encroachment of Romans into his territory, Provence, in presentday France, from 53 to 52 b.c.e. The Roman leader, Gaius Julius Caesar (100–44 b.c.e.), and his lieutenant Quintus Atius Labienus (100–45 b.c.e.), lost …
The earliest Visigoths were a Germanic group that alternated between opposing and serving the Roman Empire. Unlike some other Germanic tribes, the Visigoths retained elected leaders, never shifting to a fully hereditary kingship. The early Visigoths, like other Germanic peoples in the late Roman and early post-Roman periods, …
Wang Mang’s fame derived from his failed attempt to establish a dynasty called Xin (Hsin), meaning “new,” between 9 and 23 c.e. when the Han dynasty divided into two parts, the Western, or Former, Han (202 b.c.e.–9 c.e.) and the Eastern, or Later, Han (25–220 c.e.). His rise …
Wei Man came from northern China and lived in the second century b.c.e. He staged an unsuccessful uprising against the newly established Han dynasty in 195 b.c.e. and fled with 1,000 followers to the northern Korean peninsula, where he founded a state called Caoxian (Ch’ao-hsien) in Chinese—the name …
Kings Wen (the Literary or Cultivated) and his son Wu (the Martial) are the founders of the Zhou (Chou) dynasty, c. 1122–256 b.c.e. The Zhou people lived to the west of the Shang in the Wei River valley on the plain of Zhou (hence the dynastic name) in …
