CH A P T ER 1 : I M P O R T AN C E

OF P R I M A R Y S O U R C E S I N
HISTORY
KINDS OF HISTORICAL SOURCES
•Primary sources are those sources produced at the
same time as the event, period, or subject being
studied. It contains original information that is not
derived from interpretation, summarizing or analyzing
someone else’s work.
EXAMPLE OF PRIMARY SOURCES
•DIARIES
•LETTERS
•OFFICIAL RECORDS.
•Secondary Sources are those sources,
which were produced by an author who
used primary sources to produce the
material.
EXAMPLE OF SECONDARY SOURCES
•BOOKS
•BIOGRAPHY
•ARTICLES
HISTORICAL METHOD (INTERNAL AND
EXTERNAL)
•External criticism is the practice of verifying the
authenticity of evidence by examining its physical
characteristics; consistency with the historical
characteristic of the time when it was produced; and
the materials used for the evidence.
•Examples of the things that will be examined
when conducting external criticism of a document
include the quality of the paper, the type of ink
and the language and words used in the
material, among others.
•Internal criticism, on the other hand, is the
examination of the truthfulness of the evidence.
it looks at the content of the source and
examines the circumstance of its production.
OTHER METHODS ALSO USED ARE AS
FOLLOWS:
•a. Positivism – emphasizes the mantra “no
document, no history”, where historian is
required to show written primary documents in
order to write a historical narrative.
•b. Postcolonialism - emerged in the twentieth
century when formerly colonized nations
grappled with the idea of creating their identities
and understanding their societies against the
shadows of their colonial past.
•Annales school of thought – challenged the
canons of history, stating that history should not
only be concerned of states and monarchs.
•d. Pantayong pananaw (for us-from us
perspective) – highlights the importance of
facilitating an internal conversation and discourse
among filipinos about our own history, using the
language that is understood by everyone.
Some questions that may pose to check on reliability
of the source:

•HOW CLOSE WAS THE AUTHOR TO THE

EVENT BEING STUDIED?
-physical location of the author of the document
•WHEN WAS THE ACCOUNT MADE?
- closest or contemporary to the period being
studied
•WHO WAS THE RECIPIENT OF THE
ACCOUNT?
•IS THERE BIAS TO BE ACCOUNTED
FOR?
•DOES INFORMED COMMON SENSE MAKE
THE ACCOUNT PROBABLE?
•IS THE ACCOUNT CORROBORATED BY
OTHER ACCOUNTS?
-there should be a corroboration from other
sources
AUTHENTICITY AND RELIABILITY OF THE
PRIMARY SOURCES
•WHEN WAS THE DOCUMENT OR ARTEFACT CREATED?
•WHAT TYPE OF PRIMARY SOURCES IS IT?
•WHO CREATED THE DOCUMENT OR ARTEFACT?
•WHY WAS IT WRITTEN OR PRODUCED?
•FOR WHOM WAS THE TEXT OR IMAGE INTENDED?
•WHAT IS THE MAIN POINT THE AUTHOR IS TRYING TO MAKE?
•IS THERE ANY UNINTENTIONAL EVIDENCE GIVEN BY THE TEXT?
•DOES THE TEXT PROVIDE AN AUTHOR’S POINT OF VIEW BIAS,
OR OPINION?

•HOW DOES THE SOURCE STAND IN RELATION TO OTHER

PRIMARY SOURCES OF THE PERIOD?
CHAPTER SUMMARY
•FOR HISTORIANS TO UNDERSTAND THE PAST,
THEY NEED EVIDENCES ABOUT THE PAST.

•TWO KINDS OF EVIDENCES: PRIMARY SOURCES

AND SECONDARY SOURCES
•A PRIMARY SOURCE IS ANY DOCUMENT OR ARTIFACTS
FROM THE PERIOD UNDER STUDY WHILE A SECONDARY
SOURCE IS ANY DOCUMENT OR ARTIFACTS THAT WAS
CREATED AFTER THE PERIOD UNDER STUDY.

•ONE MUST KNOW HOW TO READ A PRIMARY SOURCE.

 •ANY QUESTIONS?

•THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!!!!