Introduction to History: Definition, Issues, Sources, and Methodology
1. Etymology—derived from Greek word “historia” means “knowledge acquired through inquiry or
investigation”. It became known as the account of the past of person or of a group of people
through written documents and historical evidences. “No document, no history.”
2. HISTORIOGRAPHY—history of history. A better understanding of history means not only get to
learn historical facts, but also provided with the understanding of the facts’ and historian’s contexts
3. POSITIVISM—emerged between 18th and 19th century. This thought requires empirical and
observable evidence before one can claim that a particular knowledge is true. It entails an objective
means of arriving at a conclusion. Positivist historians are expected to be objective and impartial not
just in their arguments but also on their conduct of historical research.
4. POSTCOLONIALISM—emerged in early 20th century when formerly colonized nations grappled
with the idea of creating their identities and understanding their societies against the shadows of
their colonial past. It looks at 2 things in writing history: To tell history of their nation that will
highlight their identity free from that of colonial discourse and knowledge; and to criticize the
methods, effects and idea of colonialism. Postcolonial history therefore is a reaction and an
alternative to the colonial history that colonial powers created and taught to their subjects
5. HISTORIAN—“Facts cannot speak for themselves.” It is the job of the historian to give meaning
to these facts and organize them into a timeline, establish causes, and write history. Historian is a
person of his own who is influenced by his own context, environment, ideology, education, and
influences; his interpretation of the historical fact is affected by his context and circumstances; his
subjectively will inevitably influence the process of his historical research: the methodology he will
use, the facts he shall select and deem relevant, his interpretation, and the form of his writings. Can
history still be considered as an academic and scientific inquiry?
6. HISTORICAL METHODOLOGY—It compromises certain techniques and rules that historians
follow in order to properly utilize sources and historical evidences in writing history. Certain rules
apply in cases of conflicting accounts in different sources, and on how to properly treat eyewitness
accounts and oral sources as valid historical evidence.
7. ANNALES SCHOOL OF HISTORY—It is a school of history born in France that challenged the
canons of history. Annales scholars: Lucien Febvre, Marc Bloch, Fernand Braduel, Jacques Le Goff
-studied other subjects in a historical manner. They were concerned with social history and studied
longer historical periods. They advocated that the people and classes who were not reflected in the
history of the society in the grand manner be provided with space in the records of mankind.
Annales thinkers married history with other disciplines like geography, anthropology, archaeology,
and linguistics.
8. HISTORICAL SOURCES—These are the historian’s most important research tools. Primary
sources are those produced at the same time as the event, period, or subject being studied
(Eyewitness accounts of convention delegates and their memoirs are used as primary sources.
Archival documents, artifacts, memorabilia, letters, census, and government records). Secondary
sources are those produced by an author who used primary sources to produce the material. These
are historical sources, which studied a certain historical subject.
9. EXTERNAL CRITICISM—It is the practice of verifying the authenticity of evidence by examining
its physical characteristics, consistency with the historical characteristic of the time when it was
produced and the materials used for the evidence. Examples of the things that will be examined
when conducting external criticism of a document include the quality of the paper, the type of ink,
and the language and words used in the material, among others
10. INTERNAL CRITICISM—It looks at content of the source and examines the circumstances of its
production. It looks at the truthfulness and factuality of the evidence by looking at the author of the
source, its context, the agenda behind its creation, the knowledge which informed it, and its
intended purpose. It entails that the historian acknowledge and analyze how such reports can be
manipulated to be used as a war propaganda. Validating historical sources is important because the
use of unverified, falsified, and untruthful historical sources can lead to equally false conclusions.
Without thorough criticisms of historical evidences, historical deceptions and lies will all be
probable.
11. PHILIPPINE HISTORIOGRAPHY—It underwent several changes since the precolonial period
until present. Ancient Filipinos narrated their history through communal songs and epics that they
passed orally form a generation to another. Spaniards came. Their chroniclers started recording
their observations through written accounts. The Spanish colonizers narrated the history of their
colony in bipartite view. Filipino historian Zeus Salazar introduced the new guiding philosophy for
writing and teaching history: pantayong pananaw (for us-from us perspective) – this perspective
highlights the importance of facilitating an internal conversation and discourse among Filipinos
about our own history, using the language that is understood by everyone.
