Introduction to

Definition of History:

1. Derived from the Greek word “historia” which means

“knowledge acquired through inquiry or investigation

2. Also known as the study of the past

3. Is the account of the past of a person or a group of

people through written documents and historical
evidences

4. History also focused on writing about wars, revolutions,

and other important breakthroughs
No document, No History

1. It means that unless a written document can prove

a certain historical event, then it cannot be
considered as a historical fact.
Some Valid Historical Documents

1. Government Records

2. Chronicle’s Accounts

3. Personal Letters

4. Receipts, etc.
Discrimination in the Validity of History

1. Restricting historical evidence as exclusively

written is a discrimination against other social
classes who were not recorded in paper.

2. Others got their historical documents burned or

destroyed in the events of war of colonization.
Questions and Issues in History
Questions on History

1. What is history?

2. Why study history?

3. And history for whom?

Historiography
Historiography

1. Is the history of history

2. It covers how historians have studied and developed

history including its sources, techniques, and
theoretical approaches

3. It should not be confused with History because history

is the study of the past, the events that happened in
the past.
4. It focuses on how a certain historical text was
written, who wrote it, what was the context
of its publication, what historical method was
employed, what sources were used
Positivism:

1. Is the school of thought that emerged between

the 18th and 19th century. This thought requires
empirical and observable evidence before one
can claim that a particular knowledge is true.

2. Historians were required to show written

primary documents in order to write a particular
historical narrative.
Post-Colonialism

1. Is the school of though that emerged in the early

20th centry when formerly colonized nations
grappled with the idea of creating their identities
and understanding their societies against the
shadows of their colonial past.
Post-Colonialism

* Two Things in Writing History:

1. Tell the history of their nation that will highlight

their identity free from that colonial discourse
and knowledge

2. To criticize the methods, effects, and idea of

colonialism
History and the Historian
History and the Historian

1. Facts cannot speak for themselves. It is th

historian’s job not just to seek historical
evidences and facts but also the interpret
them. It is their job to give meaning to these
facts and organize them into timeline, establish
causes, and write history.
Historical Methodology

1. It comprises certain techniques and rules that

historians follow in order to properly utilize
sources and historical evidences in writing
history.
Historical Sources
Two Classification:

1. Primary Sources

2. Secondary Sources
Primary Sources:

1. Are those sources produced at the same time as

the event, period, or subject being studied.

A. Ex: (Commonwealth 1935)

1. Newspaper clippings
2. Records
3. Photographs
4. Eyewitness(es)
Secondary Sources:

1. Are those sources produced by an author who

used primary sources to produce material

A. Ex: (Philippine Revolution 1935)

1. Teodoro Agoncillo’s Revolt of the Masses 1956

Historical Sources:

A. When examining a source, the historian must

conduct:

(a) External Criticism

(b) Internal Criticism

External Criticism

1. The practice of verifying the authenticity of

evidence by examining the physical
characteristics; consistency with the historical
characteristic of the time when it was produced,
and the materials used for the evidence.
Internal Criticism:

1. 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:

1. The code was set of rules contained in an epic

Maragtas which was allegedly written by Datu
Kalantiaw. The documents was sold to National
Library and was regarded as an important
precolonial Document.
2. 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

1. 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.