Definition of History
derived from the Greek noun ἱστορία
ἱστορία (historia) = learning; inquiry
“the past of mankind”
- Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History
• 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
History • was an English
historian, diplomat,
Defined by journalist and
E.H. Carr 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
• The historian is many times removed
from the events under investigation
• Historians rely on surviving records
• 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.
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
These are objects from the
past or testimonies Tangible
concerning the past on remains of the
which historians depend in
order to create their own past.
depiction of that past. - Anthony Brundage,
Going to Sources
- Howell and Prevenier, From
Reliable Sources an Introduction to Historical Method
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.
1. Written sources
2. Images
3. Artifacts
4. Oral testimony
(Visual Four examples of
primary sources related
Images) to visual 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.
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.
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).
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
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
Another type of classification are:
1. written and non-written,
2. published or unpublished,
3. textual, oral or visual 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
1. Material evidence – also known as
archaeological evidence
2. Oral evidence – told by the tales or
sagas of ancient people.
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 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"
Born: (Lightning of Fire) because of his
in Cavite, inflamed bravery and dedication as
Philippines
July 25, 1872
commander of Cavite's famous battles
(particularly that in Dalahican)
Died: October
30, 1930 • “Hero” of the Battle of Dalahican.
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
• 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.
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
Printed materials
History textbook (serials, 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
- 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
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
biased?
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