In understanding history, more is required than just a litany of facts. An explanatory framework is needed—a theory or argument concerning the significance and interrelationships between those facts, or a “model” as Robert Higgs put it:
In black history, as in any history, the facts do not speak for themselves. They require selection, classification, and interpretation, and for these purposes the investigator must employ a model. That any attempt at causal analysis must make use of a model, either explicitly or implicitly, is generally admitted. That explicit models are preferable to implicit ones is a long-standing precept of economists and a principle increasingly affirmed by historians.
Mises WireThe Complexity of Historical Narratives