EXAMINATION of SOURCES

A Primer
 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.  
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
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 published or unpublished,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.
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.
 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

 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
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
 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
FIRST VOYAGE
AROUND THE
Antonio Pigafetta

WORLD
 Learning Outcomes
- Analyze context of some sources and
its contribution to understanding
Philippine History as a whole

- Develop an understanding of the great

contribution of the accounts of Antonio
Pigafetta and Juan de Plasencia in the
grand narrative of Philippine History.
The Author: Antonio Pigafetta (1491-1531)
• The First Voyage Around The
World by Antonio Pigafetta
gave us an account of the
experiences of around 270
people who joined the
expedition.
• It contains an accurate and
detailed description of
everything they saw in their
travels.
• The book was written by Antonio Pigafetta
on board in one of the 5 ships that was first
to circumnavigate the world during a
Spanish expedition that was led by the
Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan.

• Antonio Pigafetta, the author of the book,

was on board the Victoria; this was the
only ship that was able to return to Spain.
• Pigafetta showed the queen
an image of our Lady, a very
beautiful wooden child Jesus,
and a cross. She asked for
the little child Jesus to keep in
place of her idols and this
image of child Jesus is now
known as the Sto. Niño
found in Cebu
Contribution of the document in the
grand narrative of Philippine history

This document, The First voyage Around

the World, elaborated the lifestyle back
then and it described what the local
islanders wore, what they ate, how they
communicated, and how they lived
Blood compact - an ancient
ritual to validate an agreement
or friendship.

- was described by Antonio

Pigafetta during their stopover
in Palawan (after the death of
Magellan).
LapuLapu - the first defender
of our sovereignty.
>> Pigafetta's journal is the
only known document about
him.
>>It is one of the best source
today of the customs and
usages of the Filipinos in the
early 16th century due to the
daily notes Pigafetta took and
details about the expedition that
he wrote about.
 Relevance of the Document : First Voyage
Around The World
• The book served as an evidence that the
world is round and not flat.
• Magellan proved that there was a way to
the east by continuously sailing west.
• In this voyage, Magellan discovered the
vastness of a body of water which he later
on named Pacific Ocean.
• We also find out how the first Filipinos
fought against an invader and delayed the
Spanish occupation by about 40 years.
Remember:

• Lapu-Lapu did not personally kill Magellan

• Magellan did not discover the Philippines.
• The Battle of Mactan delayed the Spanish
occupation by 40 years.
END
Thank you