Understanding History

 The past of mankind.

 The study of the past.
 History as an Academic Discipline:
What is  Historians wrote about the lives of important
History? individuals like monarchs, heroes, saints, and
nobilities.
 History was focused on important
breakthroughs like wars and revolutions.
  What counts as history?
 Traditional Historians: “no document, no history”
What is  As History progressed as an academic discipline,
History? it opened up to the possibility of historical
sources.
  States use history to unite a nation
 It can be used as a tool to
legitimize regimes and forge a
sense of collective identity
through collective memory.

Why is History relevant?  Lessons from the past can be used

to make sense of the present.
 Help people to not repeat past
mistakes.
 Inspire people to keep their good
practices to move forward.
 “HISTORY CANNOT
BE RECONSTRUCTED”
“Reconstruction of the total past of
mankind is unattainable”
 Observed
Remembered
Recorded

Historical Knowledge Survived

Limited by Incompleteness Reached historian’s attention

of Records Credible
Grasped
Narrated
History and the
Historian
  It is an historian’s job not just to seek historical
evidences and facts but also to interpret them.
 To give meaning to these facts and organize them
into a timeline and write history.
 Historian’s context, circumstances, and
The Historian subjectivity and their impacts on his historical
research:
 Methodology that he will use
 Facts that he shall select and deem relevant
 Interpretation
 Form of writing.
If history is written with the influence of the historian, is
history an objective discipline?

Is it still worthwhile to study history?

Can history still be considered academic and scientific?

History and Historical
Sources
history-as-actuality
vs
history-as-recorded
  Objects vs. Testimonies
Historical  Objects/Artifacts that have survived from the past
Sources  Recollections – spoken or written testimony
Artifacts as  Relics of human happenings

Sources of  Historian’s aim: being interpretative and

descriptive
History
  Testimonies can either be written or spoken
 Where do historians get information?
 Archeological, epigraphical, or numismatical
Testimonies as materials in museums

Sources of  Official records in archives, courthouses, gov’tal

libraries
History  Private papers in business houses, ancient castles,
parish churches

 ..
 Primary vs Secondary Sources
Primary source
=> testimony of eyewitness (or by any other senses) who or that
which was present at the events of which he tells.
Secondary Source
=> testimony of anyone who is not an eyewitness or who was not
present at the events of which he tells.
Primary particulars
  Autobiographies and memoirs
 Diaries, personal letters, and correspondence
 Interviews, surveys, and fieldwork
 Internet communications on email, blogs, and newsgroups
 Photographs, drawings, and posters
 Works of art and literature
 Books, magazine and newspaper articles and ads published at the
time

Examples of 

Public opinion polls
Speeches and oral histories
Primary  Original documents (birth certificates, property deeds, trial
transcripts)
Sources 

Research data, such as census statistics
Official and unofficial records of organizations and government
agencies
 Artifacts of all kinds, such as tools, coins, clothing, furniture, etc.
 Audio recordings, DVDs, and video recordings
 Government documents (reports, bills, proclamations, hearings)
 Patents
 Technical reports
 Scientific journal articles reporting experimental research results
  Bibliographies
 Biographical works
 Reference books, including dictionaries, encyclopedias,
and atlases

 Articles from magazines, journals, and newspapers after

the event
Examples of  Literature reviews and review articles (e.g., movie reviews,
Secondary book reviews)

Sources  History books and other popular or scholarly books

 Works of criticism and interpretation
 Commentaries and treatises
 Textbooks
 Indexes and abstracts
  It was Liam’s first day in his first year of college in a
big university. His excitement made him come to
class unusually early and he found their classroom
empty. He explored the classroom and sat at the
teacher’s table. He looked at the table drawer and
saw a book entitled U.G. An Undergraduate Tale: The
Primary or Journey of Edgar Jopson and the First Quarter Storm
Secondary Generation. He started reading the book and realized
that it was a biography of a student leader turned
source?
political activist during the time of Ferdinand Marcos.
The author used interviews with friends and family of
Jopson, and other primary documents related to his
works and life.
 The book is a ________.
  Jose was exploring the library in his new
school in Manila. He wanted to study the
history of Calamba, Laguna during the
nineteenth century. In one of the books,
he saw an old photograph of a woman
Primary or standing in front of an old church, clipped
Secondary among the pages. At the back of the
photo was a fine inscription that says:
source?
“kalamba, 19 de Junio 1861.”

 The photograph is a ___________.

  Lorena was a new teacher of Araling
Panlipunan in a small elementary school
in Mauban, Quezon. Her colleagues gave
her the new textbook that she ought to
use in class. Before the class started,
Lorena studied the textbook carefully. She
noticed that the authors used works by
Primary or other known historians in writing
Secondary textbooks. She saw the bibliography
source? included Teodoro Agoncillo’s The Revolt
of the Masses and Ma. Luisa Camagay’s
Working Women of Manila During the 19th
Century and many others.

 The textbook is a _____________.

  Manuel visited the United States for a few
months to see his relatives who have lived
there for decades. His uncle brought him
on tours around Illinois. Manuel visited
the Field Museum of Natural History
where a golden image of a woman caught
his eye. Manuel looked closer and read
Primary or
that the image was called “The Golden
Secondary Tara.” It originated from Agusan del Sur
source? and was bought by the museum in 1922. It
was believed to be made prior to the
arrival of the Spaniards in the Philippines.

 The sculpture is a _______________.

  Gregoria loved to travel around the
country. She liked bringing with her a
travel brochure that informs her of the
different sites worth visiting in the area.
Her travel brochure was usually produced
by the tourism department of the
province. It shows pictures of destinations
Primary or visited by tourists and a few basic
Secondary information about the place like the
source? origin of the name, the historical
significance of the place, and some other
information acquired by the offices
researchers and writers.

 The travel brochure is a ____________.

  Original source:
1. Unpolished, uncopied, and untranslated
source as issued from the hands of the
author

Original 2. A source that gives the earliest available

information
Sources
Original source is a source “as
written by its author”
 External Criticism
(The Problem of Authenticity)
the practice of verifying the authenticity
of evidence by examining its physical
characteristics; the consistency with the
historical characteristics of the time it
was produced; and materials used for the
evidence.
  Historical documents are fabricated for the
following reasons:
Forged or 1. To bolster a false claim or title
Misleading 2. For sale.
Documents 3. As some practical jokes.
  Determining the date
 Examine the materials such as the paper, the
form of writing, and the ink.
 Determining the author
Test of  Identify the handwriting, signature, seal,
letterhead, or water mark
Authenticity
 Examine the spelling, unhistoric grammar,
and anachronistic references to events
 Identify the dating of document and the
author’s alibi
 1. The result of unintentional error
Garbled 2. The result of deliberate intention to modify,
Documents supplement, or continue the original.
 Internal Criticism
(The Problem of Credibility)

the examination of the truthfulness and

factuality of the evidence.
 History and
Historiography
 Historical method => the process of
critically examining and analysing the
records and survivals of the past
 Historiography => the writing of
history
What is the history of
the Philippine all
about?
  Underwent several changes since the precolonial
period until the present.
 Ancient Filipinos
 Spaniards = (bipartite view)
Philippine  Early nationalists = (tripartite view)
Historiography  Americans
 World War II
 Present?