Understanding History

Origin of the word History

➢ derived from the Greek noun ἱστορία (read as istoia)

ἱστορία (historia) = learning; inquiry
➢ “the past of mankind”

- Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

History –a chronological record of significant events
(such as those affecting a nation or institution) often
including an explanation of their causes.

A branch of knowledge that does systematically the

recording, analyzing and coordinating of the past
events.

-Webster’s Vest Pocket Dictionary(Springfield:

Merriam Webster, Inc., Publishers), p. 149
KASAYSAYAN IN THE LANGUAGE
AND PERSPECTIVE OF FILIPINO

KASAYSAYAN
• saysay (narrative or salaysay)
• saysay (relevance, importance)
• If relevant, for whom?
• Zeus Salazar definition: Salaysay na may
saysay para sa sinasalaysayang grupo ng
tao (Relevant stories/narrative of the
people).
History Defined by E.H. Carr
 the inquiry conducted by the historian and the
series of past events into which he inquires
 is the continuous process of interaction
between the historian and his facts, an
unending dialogue between the present and
the past
 History means interpretation
 History is what the historian makes
Other Definition of History

 History is the re-enactment in the

historian's mind of the thought whose
history he is studying. -Collingwood
 History is the historian's experience.
-Oakeshott
 History is “a selective system” not only of
cognitive, but of causal, orientations to
reality. -Parsons
IMPORTANCE
 History Helps Us Understand OUR WORLD
1) You cannot understand people if you do not
understand their past.
2) You cannot understand our community if you do
not know how it came to be.
3) You cannot understand our nation without history
History as Reconstruction
 the historian is many times removed from
the events under investigation

 historians rely on surviving records

 “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 has come to their attention
is credible; 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.”
- Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History
 Historian
➢ Fallibleand capable of error
➢ Biases – personal, political, religious,
personal idiosyncracies
➢ Each has his own frame of reference –
a set of interlocking values, loyalties,
assumptions, interests and principles of
action.
History is not a fiction
Historical
accounts must be
based on all available relevant
evidence.

A version of the past that can’t

be supported by evidence is
worthless
 What is the Historical Method?
 Agreed ground rules for researching and
writing academic research or professional
history.
 Core protocols historians use for handling
sources
 Historians have to base their accounts on
source materials.
 Historians need to be able to locate and
organize the relevant sources on which they
will base their account.
Historians have to verify sources, to
date them, locate their place of
origin and identify their intended
functions

Historical Method
➢In
simple words, the Historical
Method is……

➢ The process of critically

examining and analyzing
the records and survivals
of the past
Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History
“Each generation of historians
develops its own perspectives, and
that our understanding of the past is
constantly reshaped by the historian
and the world he or she inhabits”
-Howell & Prevenier
 Historical Sources

➢ Sources - are objects from the past or

testimonies concerning the past on which
historians depend in order to create their
own depiction of that past.
- Howell and Prevenier, From Reliable Sources
an Introduction to Historical Method

➢ Tangible remains of the past

- Anthony Brundage, Going to Sources
Historical Sources
➢ materials used for the writing of
history.
They are classified into two:
1. Primary Sources
2. Secondary Sources
Another type of classification are:
1. written and non-written,
2. published or unpublished,
3. textual, oral or visual sources
What are Primary Sources?

➢Testimony of an eyewitness

➢A primary source must have been

produced by a contemporary of the
event it narrates
-Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History
What are Primary Sources?

➢A primary source is a document or

physical object which was written or
created during the time under study.

➢ These sources were present during an

experience or time period and offer an
inside view of a particular event.
-Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History
What are Primary Sources?

➢Primary sources provide first-hand

testimony or direct evidence
concerning a topic under investigation.
➢They are created by witnesses or
recorders who experienced the events
or conditions being documented.

➢ http://www.yale.edu// collections_collaborative/primarysources/primarysources.html
What are Primary Sources?

➢ These sources are created at the time

when the events or conditions are
occurring, it can also include
autobiographies, memoirs, and oral
histories recorded later.
➢
➢ http://www.yale.edu// collections_collaborative/primarysources/primarysources.html
What are Primary Sources?

➢ Primary sources are characterized by

their content, regardless of whether
they are available in original format, in
microfilm/microfiche, in digital
format, or in published format.
➢
➢ http://www.yale.edu// collections_collaborative/primarysources/primarysources.html
Four Main Categories of Primary
Sources

1. Written sources
2. Images
3. Artifacts
4. Oral testimony
Written Sources
1. Published materials
➢ Books, magazines, journals,
➢ Travelogue
➢ transcription of speech

2. Manuscript [any handwritten or

typed record that has not been
printed]
➢ Archival materials
➢ Memoirs, diary
Primary Sources: Written Sources
Primary Sources: Images
 Spanish soldiers and
Filipinos in the
Spanish army with
two Filipino Prisoners
of War at Malabon,
with San Bartolome
Church at the
Background. c1898. -
simoun (image: Arnaldo
Dumindin for Pinterest)
Primary Sources: Images

 Escolta, the
principal business
street of Manila,
Philippines, early
20th century
 Photo by J. Tewell on
flickr
Primary Sources: Images
 RIO PASIG or THE
PASIG RIVER ( Ilog
Pasig ) Location:
Metro Manila,
Philippines Wayback
187O’s

 Pasig River, late 2000.

Primary Sources: Documented
Oral Testimony

Testimony Maria Rosa Henson

(Philippines)
 She was the first Philippine woman
who spoke out about her own
distress. In 1996 she was one of the
three women who became first
recipients of the AWF project. Maria
Rosa Henson passed away on 18
August 1997.
Primary Source: Manuscript
Non- written Sources
➢Oral history
➢Artifact
➢Ruins
➢Fossils
➢Art works
➢Videorecordings
➢Audiorecordings
Primary Sources: Artifacts
What are Secondary Sources?
➢A secondary source interprets and analyzes
primary sources. These sources are one or
more steps removed from the event.

➢Secondary sources may have pictures, quotes

or graphics of primary sources in them.

- http://www.princeton.edu/~refdesk/primary2.html
Examples of secondary sources:

➢History textbook

➢Printed materials (serials,

periodicals which interprets
previous research)
Example of Secondary Source
Topic : The Trial and Death of
Bonifacio.
Primary Source: Artemio Ricarte and
Pio del Pilar
Secondary Source: The Revolt of the
Masses: The Story of Bonifacio and
the Katipunan
“ The historian without his
fact is rootless and futile;
the facts without their
historian are dead and
meaningless”

- E. H. Carr
What is Historical Criticism?
What is Historical Criticism?
➢ In order for a source to be used as
evidence in history, basic matters
about its form and content must
be settled
1. External Criticism
2. Internal Criticism
What is External Criticism?
➢The problem of authenticity

➢Tospot fabricated, forged, faked

documents

➢To distinguish a hoax or misrepresentation

 Tests of Authenticity
1. Determine the date of the document to
see whether they are anachronistic
e.g. pencils did not exist before the 16th
Century

2. Determine the author

e.g. handwriting, signature, seal

- Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

Tests of Authenticity
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
- determines its genuineness
- Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History
Tests of Authenticity
6. Semantics – determining the meaning of
a text or word

7. Hermeneutics – determining ambiguities

-Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

What is Internal Criticism?

➢The Problem of Credibility

➢Relevant particulars in the document – is
it credible?
➢Verisimilar – as close as what really
happened from a critical examination of best
available sources
- Louis Gottschalk, Understanding
History
Tests of Credibility

1. Identification of the author

e.g. to determine his reliability; mental
processes, personal attitudes

2. Determination of the approximate date

e.g. handwriting, signature, seal
Test of Credibility
3. Ability to tell the truth
- nearness to the event, competence
of witness, degree of attention
4. Willingness to tell the truth
- to determine if the author
consciously or unconsciously tells
falsehoods
Test of Credibility
5. Corroboration
i.e. historical facts – particulars which rest
upon the independent testimony of two or
more reliable witnesses

- Louis Gottschalk, Understanding

History
Three Major Components to
Effective Historical Thinking

1. Sensitivity to Multiple Causation

2. Sensitivity to Context

3. Awareness of the interplay of continuity

and change in human affairs
1) Sensitivity to Multiple Causation

 Every event or situation is the product of

multiple causes or factors, short term or
long term.
 Inquiry to all relevant condition and
circumstances that determine the
direction of human affairs.
2) Sensitivity to Context
 Consciousness about how other times
and places differ from our own.

 Bridging the cultural and temporal gap

 Interpretingthe past using values, and

beliefs of the past (historical mindedness)
3) Continuity and Change
 There
can be “history” only when there is
change
“All historians, whatever their
professional status, have ethical
obligations to be humane,
accurate, self aware and
judicious.”

- Ludmilla Jordanova
Acknowledgment/References:
 Ma. Florina Orillos-Juan, Ph.D. Department of
History, De la Salle University Manila

 Gottschalk, L.(1969). Understanding History: A

Primer of Historical Method. New York: A.A. Knopf.
 Howell, M. & Walter, P.(2001).From Reliable
Sources:An Introduction to Historical
Methods.Ithaca, New York:Cornell University Press.
THANK YOU !!!!