Readings in

Philippines
History
 Definition of History
⮚ derived from the Greek noun ἱστορία
ἱστορία (historia) = learning; inquiry

⮚ “the past of mankind”

- Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

 LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Distinguish samples of primary and secondary sources. 
2. Critique sources using external and internal criticisms
3. Analyze content of primary and secondary sources
4. Understand the meaning and use of history
5. Appreciate the importance of history
6. Differentiate historiography and historical method
7. Distinguish samples of primary and secondary sources and
its repositories.  
8. Critique sources using external and internal criticisms.  
9. Analyze content of primary and secondary sources
• Sum total of what happened in
the past – every event, every
action, and every thought that a
human being has done.
• The act of analyzing and
writing about the past
History - chronological
record of significant events,
the study of past events.
-Webster’s Vest Pocket Dictionary(Springfield: Merriam Webster, Inc.,
Publishers), p. 149
 • was an English
History Defined by E.H. Carr
historian, diplomat,
journalist and
international relations
theorist .
• 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
• 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).
Reasons to study History:
a. Act of leaping from one epoch to another.
b. It provides us the opportunity to revisit the richness
of forgotten cultures
of past civilizations and reliving it in the present.
c. It gives one the chance to step into the life of every
person being studied.
d. Gives time-travelling feeling through passages and
imagining things.
In addition to, in one of the articles of Peter
Stearns in the American Historical Association
website, here are the reasons why we should
study history:
A. History helps us understand people and
societies
B. History helps us understand change and
how society we live in came to be
In addition to, in one of the articles of Peter
Stearns in the American Historical Association
website, here are the reasons why we should
study history:
C. History contributes to moral understanding
D. History provides identity
E. Studying History is Essential for Good
Citizenship
 History as Reconstruction
• The historian is many times removed
from the events under investigation
• Historians rely on surviving records
Historiography
• The imaginative
reconstruction of
the past from the
data derived by
that historical
method.
Teodoro Agoncillo is
considered as the Father of
Filipino nationalist
historiography.
He wrote the conditions of
the Philippine past by
analyzing the conditions of
the masses.
Important elements of
historical method.

1. select the subject to

investigate
2. collect probable sources of
information on the subject
3. examine the genuineness, in
part or in whole.
4. extract credible particulars
from the sources.
 Historical Sources

materials used for the writing of

history.

They are classified into two:

1. Primary Sources
2. Secondary Sources
 Historical Sources

These are objects from the

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

 PRIMARY
SOURCE
- A piece of evidence written
or created during a period
under investigation.
- Eye witness account or a
firsthand account of a
particular event.
 Four Main Categories of
Primary Sources
1. Written sources
2. Images
3. Artifacts
4. Oral testimony
 (Visual Four examples of primary
sources related to visual
Images) imagery are the
following:

• Maps
• Photographs
• Sketches,
Drawings,
Paintings
• Cartoons
Maps
-generally used to indicate
locations as well as
topography
-reveals how space and
geography were being
used to emphasize trade
routes, travel routes,
structural build up, etc.
Murillo Velarde 1734 Map:
The MOTHER of all Philippine MAPS.
MAPS

17th Century Map of the Taal Lake

area in Batangas
MAPS
MAPS
MAPS
Sketches and drawings that
may indicate the conditions of
life of the past societies
Cartoons for political expression or
propaganda also indicates the
temper of the times.
 PAINTINGS

• Paintings and other art works are

visual representations based on
the artist’s expression or
interpretation of events and ideas.

• These become useful historical

sources when we have to know or
understand the context of the
period in which they are made.
PAINTINGS
PAINTINGS
 PAINTINGS

Katipunan Mural by Carlos "Botong" Francisco

Photographs reflect social conditions
of historical realities and everyday life.
It also gives us visual ideas of places,
historical events as well as people.
Objects and Artifacts
The Manunggul Jar
- recovered at Chamber A of
Manunggul Cave in Palawan. 
- an elaborately designed burial
jar with anthropomorphic figures
on top of the cover that represent
souls sailing to the afterworld in a
death boat. 
- It is dated to as early as 710 -
890 B.C.  The Manunggul jar  was
declared a National Cultural
Treasure. 
Callao Man (67,000 years old)
The latest discovery of what is now considered the oldest human fossil
remains found in the Philippines. Discovered in 2007 at the Callao
Caves in Penablanca, Cagayan Valley.
Photo shows the remains of the foot bone found in the cave excavations.
Objects and Artifacts
Calatagan, Batangas
Excavated by Dr. Robert Fox in
1958, the burial site of Calatagan
yielded 505 burials and 521
associated ceramics, porcelains
and stoneware jars from China,
Thailand, and Vietnam, as well as
hundreds of local earthenware
and iron tools.
The Asian tradeware ceramics of
the site date to the early to mid-
Ming Dynasty (14th-15th
centuries AD).
Objects and Artifacts

Document
written in
baybayin
 Philippine Social Life

19th century photograph showing women vendors in a public market.

Events
Newspaper photos of the Philippine Boy Scout Contingent of the 11th World Scouting Jamboree, 1963. Photo on
the left is their farewell flight from the Philippines to Bombay, India for Marathon, Greece. Photo on the right is a
newspaper headline of the crash of their United Arab Airlines plane in the Bay of India on July 28, 1963. The victims
of the crash were Dr. Bonifacio V. Lazcano, (Scoutmaster); Liberato Fernandez, assistant Scoutmaster; Fr. Jose
Martinez, SJ., (Chaplain); Florante Ojeda Jr. (senior Scout). The Boy Scouts were Ramon V. Albano, Patricio
Bayoran, Gabriel Nicolas Borromeo, Roberto Castor, Henry Chuatoco, Victor De Guia, Jr., Jose Antonio Delgado,
Felix Fuentebella, Jr., Pedro Gandia, Antonio Limbaga, Roberto Lozano, Paulo Madriñan, Jose Fermin Magbanua,
Romeo R. Rallos, Filamer Reyes, Wilfredo Santiago, Benecio Tobias, Antonio Torillo, Ascario Tuason, Jr., Rogelio
Ybardolaza.
Personalities
Historic Structures
Historic Structures
Historic Structures
Historic Structures
Written Sources

Categorized in three ways.

1. Narrative or literature- are chronicles or tracts

presented in narrative form. Written to impart a
message whose motives for their composition vary
widely.
2. Diplomatic sources – are understood to be those which
document/ record an existing legal situation
3. Social Documents – are information pertaining to
economic, social, political, or judicial significance
Historical Sources

Another type of classification are:

1. written and non-written,

2. published or unpublished,
3. textual, oral or visual sources
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
Non- written Sources
Non- written Sources

1. Material evidence – also known as

archaeological evidence

2. Oral evidence – told by the tales or sagas

of ancient people.
Non- written Sources

⮚Oral history
⮚Artifact
⮚Ruins
⮚Fossils
⮚Art works
⮚Video recordings
⮚Audio recordings
⮚ materials produced by people or groups
directly involved in the event or topic being
studied.
⮚they are either participants or witnesses.
⮚these sources range from eyewitness
accounts, diaries, letters, legal documents, and
official documents (government or private) and
even photographs
 Santiago V.
Alvarez
• Santiago Alvarez was a revolutionary
general and a founder and honorary
president of the first directorate of the
Nacionalista Party.

• Also known as "Kidlat ng Apoy" (Lightning

Born: of Fire) because of his inflamed bravery and
in Cavite, dedication as commander of Cavite's
Philippines
July 25, 1872
famous battles (particularly that in
Dalahican)
Died: October
30, 1930 • “Hero” of the Battle of Dalahican.
 Santiago V.
Alvarez
His work of The Katipunan
and the Revolution: Memoirs
of a General is an example of
primary source because he,
himself is a witness and
participant of the revolution
Letter of Andres Bonifacio to Emilio Jacinto

• It is a personal
letter from the
Supremo to one of
his trusted
comrade and thus,
the content was
authentic.
 SECONDARY
SOURCE
- Works produced after
the event has taken
place.
- Usually an assessment
or a commentary of
events, people, or
institutions of the past.
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:
⮚Printed materials (serials,
⮚History textbook periodicals which
interprets previous
research)
 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
 Historical Methods
• EXTERNAL CRITICISM
- Aims at checking the
authenticity of the primary
source.
- Requires checking if the
paper and ink of the
document belong to the
period being studied.
 What is External Criticism?

⮚The problem of authenticity

⮚To spot 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
 Tests of Authenticity

6. Semantics – determining the

meaning of a text or word

7. Hermeneutics – determining
ambiguities

-Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

 Historical Methods

• INTERNAL
CRITICISM
- Checks the reliability
of the sources.
 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

 Tests 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
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
 Questions to be answered
for Internal criticism

1. How close was the

author being
studied?
-refers to the physical
location of the author of
the document.
Questions to be answered
for Internal criticism

2. When was the

account made?
-a primary source
should be closer or
contemporary to the
period being studied.
Questions to be answered
for Internal criticism

3. Who was the

recipient of the
account?
Questions to be answered
for Internal criticism

4. Is there bias to be
accounted for?
Questions to be answered
for Internal criticism

5. Does informed
common sense make
the account
probable?
- Is it appropriate?
Questions to be answered
for Internal criticism

6. Is the account
corroborated by
other accounts?
 6. Is the account
corroborated by other
accounts?

-When was the

artifact/document created?
-What type of PS is it?
-Who created it?
-Why was it written/produce?
 6.Is the account
corroborated by other
accounts?

-What’s the main point of

the author?
-Is there any evidence?
-Was it based on the point of
view of the author or is it
 SEATWORK

Write P if the source is

considered primary
and S if it is secondary
source.
 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.

• https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/454299.Santiago_V_Alvarez