Introduction to History

Definition of History

 Etymotologically, HISTORY (from the greek word Historia meaning “Knowledge acquired
by investigation”
 On the other side, events occurring before written record are considered prehistoric; an
umbrella term that relates to past events as well as the memory, discovery, collection,
organization, presentation and interpretation of information about these events. Hence,
scholars who write about history are called Historians.
 History is the narration of the events which have happened among mankind, including
an account of the rise and fall of the nations, as well as of other great changes which
have affected the political and social condition of the human race.
These are theories constructed by historians in investigating history;
a). Factual History
b). Speculative History
 Factual History- presents readers the plain and basic information, the events that took
place (What), the time and date which the event happened (When), the place with which
the event took place (Where), and the people that were involved (Who)
 Speculative History- it goes beyond facts because it is concerned about the reasons for
which events happened (why), and the way they happened (how)
The practice of Historical writing is called historiography, the traditional method in doing
historical research that focus on gathering of documents from different libraries and archives to
form a pool of evidence needed in making descriptive or analytical narrative.
Discrimination in the validity of history

 Restricting historical evidence as exclusively written is a discrimination against

other social classes who were not recorded in paper.
 Others got their historical documents burned or destroyed in the events of war
and colonization.
HISTORICAL SOURCES
Two classification:
1. Primary Sources
2. Secondary Sources
PRIMARY SOUCES- are those sources produced at the same time as the event, period, or
subject being studied.
Ex. (commonwealth 1935)
-Minutes
-Newspaper Clippings
 -Records
-Photographs
-Eyewitness(es)

Secondary Sources- are those sources produced by an author who used primary sources to
produce the material.
Ex. (Phil. Revolution 1935)
-Teodoro Agoncillo’s Revolt of the Masses

When examining a source, the historian must conduct:

1. External Criticism
2. Internal criticism
EXTERNAL CRITICISM- the practice of verifying the authenticity of evidence by examining
the physical characteristics; consistency with the historical characteristics of the time when it
was produced. And the materials used for the evidence.
INTERNAL CRITICISM- is the examination of the truthfulness and factuality of the evidence.
It looks at the content of the source and examines the circumstance of its production. It
could be done by looking at the author, its context, agenda, the purpose behind its creation.
DECEPTION CASES IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
1. Hoax Code of Kalantiaw
2. Ferdinand Marcos as WWII Soldier
HOAX CODE OF KALANTIAW- the code was a set of rules contained in an epic Maragtas
which was allegedly written by Datu Kalantiaw. The document was sold to National Library
and was regarded as an important precolonial document.
-in 1968, an American historian William Henry Scott debunked the authenticity of the
code due to lack of evidence to prove that the code existed in precolonial Philippine
society.
FERDINAND MARCOS AS WORLD WAR II SOLDIER- this was widely believed by
students of history and Marcos had war medals to show. This claim was disproven when
historian counterchecked Marcos’s claims with the war records of the United States.
Written sources of History

 Narrative or Literacy
 Diplomatic or Juridical
 Social Documents\
Diplomatic Sources- it is these kind of sources that professional historians once
treated as purest, “best” source. A legal document is usually sealed or authenticated
to provide evidence that a legal transaction has been completed and can be used as
evidence in judicial proceedings in case of dispute.
Social Documents- these are information pertaining to economic, social, politicl, or
judicial significance. They are records kept by bureaucracies. Examples such as
government reports, municipal accounts, property registers, and record of census.