Historiography Papers

Major Assignment Part 2: Historiography Paper
In a contemporary course on leadership, the first couple weeks of the course, the history of leadership theory is discussed. At the beginning of this short history is Great Man Theory coined in the 1840s by Thomas Carlyle during his six-lecture series titled On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & The Heroic in History. From this lecture series, and the following publication of these lectures by Carlyle in 1841, the beginning of leadership theory was established in its own right. From a leadership perspective this theory has all but been forgotten, other than its historical significance; however, the theory is crucial in determining the why it came about during the period it did, how it evolved, and why it
With this in mind, Bert Alan Spector, author of “Carlyle, Freud, and the Great Man Theory more fully considered,” writes about how the connection between Carlyle’s theory and Freud’s work on leadership should both be considered in understanding the theory extensively. Spector is not a historian, though. He is an Associate Professor of International Business and Strategy at the D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University. Thus, his overall argument is aimed at understanding Great Man Theory in order “to offer a critical perspective on current discourse [in leadership].” This needs to be kept in mind because Spector is trying to relate an outdated theory to modern thought so a stronger analysis is needed in interpreting his history. Overall, though, Spector offers an interesting take on Great Man Theory. He argues that the Great Man Theory was born out of a time of crisis, during the Napoleonic Wars and the increase in industrialization, and coupled with Carlyle’s loss of faith in the Church in light of the revolutions that plagued Europe. Thus, Carlyle was trying to find “a source of strength, direction, wisdom, and uplift.” Furthermore, this search was concluded with his work and eventual lectures On Heroes, in which summarizing his work, Spector declares that
During this period, fascism arose along with Nazism. Historians, literalists, and authors alike were constantly relating Carlyle’s work on Great Man Theory to these movements. J. Salwyn Schapiro, writing in 1945, criticizes Carlyle as “prophet with a sinister message for our generation. His views on social and political problems, divested of their moral appeal by the march of time, are revealed to be those of a fascist in their essential implications.” Contemporary historians, and English writers alike; however, write that Carlyle was merely adopted into these regimes. For example, Michael Goldberg, a Professor of English, writes in 1993, that the critics of Carlyle’s works based their “misleading tracts, directly or indirectly” from the fact that Carlyle’s work was “admired by Nazis.” A similar approach is argued by historian Alan Steinweis, writing two years