Readings in Philippine History
Bachelor of Science in Medical Laboratory Science
Meaning Of History
Etymologically, HISTORY (from
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 a 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. - John
Anderson, 1876. A Manual of
General History
The word history is reffered usually
for accounts of phenomena, specially
human affairs in chronologial order.
There are theories constructed by
historians in investigating history;
a). Factual History
b). Speculative History
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FACTUAL HISTORY
Presents readers the plain and basic
information, the events that took place
(what), the time and date with which the
event happened (when), the place with which
the event took place, 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). - it tries to speculate on the cause and
effect of an event – (Cantal, Cardinal et.al.)
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
Louis Gottschalk, Understanding
History
“Only a part of what was
observed in the past was
remembered by those who
observed it; only a part of
what was remembered was
recorded; only a part of what
was recorded has survived;
only a part of what has
survived has come to the
historian’s attention.”
“Only a part of what is
credible has been grasped,
and only a part of what has
been grasped can be
expounded or narrated by the
historian.”
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sources and Historical data
Historical Sources
 Sources – an object from the past
or testimony concerning the past on
which historians depend in order to
create their own depiction of that
past.
Primary and secondary sources
✣ What are they?
✣ Advantages and disadvantages of
using Primary or Secondary sources
✣ Categories
Primary sources
Primary sources enable the
researcher to get as close as
possible to what actually
happened during an historical
event or time period.
Diaries and journals
⨳ Example: Anne Frank was a
teenager during World War II. She
kept a diary or journal the years
before she died in a concentration
camp. Her diary was later published
as the “Diary of Anne Frank”. This is
a primary source.
⨳ Example: Sarah Morgan was
young woman during the Civil War.
She wrote in her diary or journal what
happened to her and her family
during the war. This is a primary
document because it was first hand.
She wrote it at the time it happened.
⨳ Sarah Morgan Dawson: A
Confederate Girl's Diary
Autobiographies
⨳ An autobiography is when you write
a story or book about yourself.
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■ Example: Nelson Mandela wrote
his autobiography about events in his
life called “Long Walk to Freedom:
The Autobiography of Nelson
Mandela. This is a primary document
because he wrote his first hand
experiences.
Sound Recordings and interviews are
considered primary resources.
⨳ Example 1: During the Great
Depression and World War II,
television had not been invented yet.
The people would often sit around the
radio to listen to President Roosevelt’
s war messages. Those radio
addresses are considered “primary
sources.”
⨳ Example 2: During the 2008
election Barack Obama, had many
interviews that were televised. Those
interviews are considered primary
sources.
What is a secondary source?
A secondary source is something
written about a primary source.
• Secondary sources are written "after
the fact" - that is, at a later date.
• Usually the author of a secondary
source will have studied the primary
sources of an historical period or
event and will then interpret the
"evidence" found in these sources.
• You can think of secondary sources
as second-hand information.
Think about it like this….
• If I tell you something, I am the
primary source. If you tell someone
else what I told you, you are the
secondary source.
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• Secondary source materials can be
articles in newspapers, magazines,
books or articles found that evaluate
or criticize someone else's original
research
Why Use Primary Sources?
Advantages
Primary sources provide a window
into the past—unfiltered access to
the record of artistic, social,
scientific and political thought and
achievement during the specific
period under study, produced by
people who lived during that period
these unique, often profoundly
personal, documents and objects
can give a very real sense of what
it was like to be alive during a long-
past era.
Primary Source Disadvantages
Primary sources are often
incomplete and have little context.
Students must use prior knowledge
and work with multiple primary
sources to find patterns
In analyzing primary sources,
students move from concrete
observations and facts to
questioning and making inferences
about the materials.
Why Use Secondary Sources?
Advantages
Secondary sources can provide
analysis, synthesis, interpretation,
or evaluation of the original
information.
Secondary sources are best for
uncovering background or
historical information about a topic
and broadening your
understanding of a topic by
exposing you to others’
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perspectives, interpretations, and
conclusions
Allows the reader to get expert
views of events and often bring
together multiple primary sources
relevant to the subject matter
Secondary Source Disadvantages
Their reliability and validity are
open to question, and often they do
not provide exact information
They do not represent first hand
knowledge of a subject or event
There are countless books,
journals, magazine articles and
web pages that attempt to interpret
the past and finding good
secondary sources can be an issue
Written Sources of History
• Narrative or Literary
• 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, political or judicial
significance. They are records kept by
bureaucracies. Examples such as
government reports, municipal accounts,
property registers and records of census.
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What is Historical Criticism? What is Internal Criticism?

In order for a source to be used as  The Problem of Credibility

evidence in history, basic matters  Relevant particulars in the
about its form and content must be document
settled – is it credible?
 Verisimilar – as close as what
1. External Criticism really happened from a critical
2. Internal Criticism examination of best available sources

What is External Criticism? Tests of Credibility

 The problem of authenticity 1. Identification of the author e.g. to

 To spot fabricated, forged, faked determine his reliability; mental
documents processes, personal attitudes
 To distinguish a hoax or
misrepresentation 2. Determination of the approximate
date e.g. handwriting, signature, seal
Tests of Authenticity
Louis Gottschalk, Understanding 3. Ability to tell the truth e.g. nearness
History to the event, competence of witness,
degree of attention
1. Determine the date of the
document to see whether they are
anachronistic (a chronological
misplacing of persons, events, or
customs in regard to each other)
e.g. pencils did not exist before the
16th Century

2. Determine the author e.g.

handwriting, signature, seal

3. Anachronistic style e.g. idiom,

ortography, punctuation

4. Anachronistic reference to
events e.g. too early, too late, too
remote

5. Provenance or custody e.g.

determines its genuineness

6. Semantics – determining the

meaning of a text or word

7. Hermeneutics –(principles of
interpretation of ambiguous words)

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