I am currently majoring in computer science but it turns out math and I do not get along and I can not see myself doing this for the rest of my life. Something that has interested me my whole life is history. Some of the topics that interest me the most are colonization of america, the revolutionary war, the cold war, ww1 & 2, the great depression and many other things. I am wondering if majoring in history is worth it if I want to become a history professor one day?
Not me, but my wife is a PhD art historian. She has been thru the adjunct hell academia thing and is currently staying at home with the kiddo while still working on publishing (publish or perish, yo).
In my observations, these types of fields are just brutal to pursue. It is tough because on the one hand you want to pursue your passion, yet on the other hand we have several friends 'in the biz' and I have seen how it is a tough path forward.
Again from just my observations, if this is something you want to do you need a clear path. Go to a certain school that has a reputation for your areas of interest. A grad school advisor that is keyed in on those fields, and just generally know exactly how to get from Point A to Point B. The humanities at large have suffered from funding, lots of adjuncts and grad TAs teaching classes, limited openings at universities (Boomers won't retire!).
I'm sure other much more qualified redditors can jump in on this, I think those particular areas of interest are so over-loaded, that to bring something unique to the table can be a challenge. From looking at friends in the field, those that are most successful tend to study more marginalized areas of history - think colonial history of South America (just picked that out of thin air).
While money isn't everything, it is still needed to pay the bills. Seems like humanities PhDs are still funded for the actual tuition, but the stipend for just simply living (rent, food, gas, blah blah blah) can be quite marginal for humanities. So that means student loans.