READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY INTRODUCTION TO HISTORY: DEFINITION, ISSUES, SOURCES, AND METHODOLOGYLEARNING OBJECTIVES To understand the meaning of history as an academic dis ine and to be familiar with To apply the knowledge in historical methodology and philosophy in assessing and analysing existing historical narratives. To examine and assess critically the value of historical evidences and sources To appreciate the importance of history in the social and national life of the PhilippinesDEFINITION O HISTORY —was derived from the Greek word historia which means “knowledge acquired through inquiry or investivation”. O History a discipline existed for around 2.400 years and is as old as mathematics and philosophy. This term was then adapted to classical Latin where it acquired a new definition, O Historia became known as the account of the past of a person or of a group of people through written documents and historical evidences. That meaning stuck until the early parts of the twentieth century. C History became an important academic discipline. O History was also focused on writing about wars, revolutions, and other important breakthroughs, Olt is thus important to ask: What counts as history? Traditional historians lived with the mantra of “no document, noCONTINUATION. O Butas any other academic di iplines, history progressed and opened up to the possibility of valid historical sources, which were not limited to written documents, like government records, chronicler’ accounts, or personal letters. O Restricting historical evidence as exclusively written is also discrimination against other social classes who were not recorded in paper. O Nobilities, monarch: and death as matters of government and historical record. the elite, and even the middle class would have their birth, education, marriage, © But what about the peasant families or indigenous groups who were not given much thought about being registered to government records? Does the absence of written documents about them mean that they were people of no history or past? Did they even exist?HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY History asa discipline has already turned into a complex and dynamic inquiry Historiography, in simple terms isthe history of history. The former's object of stu isthe past, the events that happened in the past and the causes of such events. The latter's object af study, on the other hand, is history itself (i How was a certain historical text written? Who wrote it? What was the context of its publication? What particular historical method was employed? What were the sources used?) Historiography is important for someone who studies history because it teaches the student to be critical inthe lessons of history presented to him.CONTINUATION.POSITIVISM O Iisa schoo! of thought that emerged between the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Q This thought requires empirical and observable evidence before one can claim that a particular knowledge is true. O Positivism also entails an objective means of arriving at a conclusion. In the discipline of history, the mantra “no document, no history” stems from this very same truth, where historians were required to show written primary documents in order to write a particular historical narrative. O Positivist historians are also expected to be objective and impartial not just in their arguments but also on their conduct of historical research.POSTCOLONIALISM Iisa school of thought that emerged in the early twentieth century when formerly colonized nations grappled with the idea of ereating their identities and understanding their societies against the shadow of their colonial past. Postcolonial history looks at two things in writing history: > Fit Totel he history of thi nation ht wil highligh and knowledge idemity fee from that of eoloal discourse Second: To eriiciz the methods, effets, and idea of colonialism, Ci Iris therefore a reaction and an alternative to the colonial history that colonial powers created and taught to their subjects.HISTORY AND THE HISTORIAN : G1 this an exact and accurate account ofthe past is impossible forthe very simple reason that we eannot go back to the past. We cannot access the past directly as our subject matter. Historias only get to access representation of the past ‘through historical sources and evidences. Its the historian’s job not just to seck historical evidences and facts but also to interpret these facs. “ Facts cannot speak for themselves". Ais the job ofthe historian to give meaning to these facts and organize them into a timeline, establish caus write history. Meanwhile, historian is nota blank paper who mechanically interprets and analyzes present historical fact. and G1 His person of his own whois influences by his own context, environment, ideology, education, and influences, among others. 1 Tins, in one way or another, history i always subjective that sso, can history stil be considered as an academic and scientific inquiry?HISTORICAL SOURCES PRIMARY SOURCES are those sources produced at the same time as the event, period, or subject. For example, ifa historian wishes to study the Commonwealth Constitution Convention of 1935, his primary sourees can include the minutes of the convention, newspaper clippings, Philippine Commission reports of the U.S. Commissioners, records of the convention, the draft of the constitution, and even photographs of the event Eyewitness accounts of convention delegates and their memoirs can also be used as primary sources, The same goes with other subjects of historical study. Archival documents, artifacts, ‘memorabilia, leters, census, and government records, among others are the most common examples: of primary sourcesHISTORICAL SOURCES Q SECONDARY SOURCES i sources which were produced by an author who used primary sources to produce the material. In other words, secondary sources are historical sources, which studies a certain historical subject. G For example, on the subject of the Philippine Revolution of 1896, students can read Teodoro Agoneillo’s Revolt of the Masses: The Story of Boni jo and the Katipunan put ed originally in 1956, O The Philippine Revolution happened in the last years of the nineteenth century while Agoncillo published his work in 1956, which makes the Revolt of the Masses a secondary source. © Both primary and secondary sources are useful in writing and learning history. However, historians and students of history need to thoroughly scrutinize these historical sources to avoid deception and to come up with the historical truth.EXTERNAL CRITICISM O 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 extemal criticism of a document include the quality of the paper, the type of the ink, and the language and words used in the material, among others.INTERNAL CRITICISM O It is the examination of the truthfulness of the evidence. It looks at the context of the source and examines the circumstance of its production. Gi It looks at the truthfulness and factuality of the evidence by looking at the author of the souree, its context, the agenda behind its creation, the knowledge which informed it, and its intended purpose, among others. O For example: Japanese reports and declarations during the period of the war should not be taken as a historical fact hastily, Gi Intemal criticism entails that the historian acknowledge and analyze how such reports can be manipulated to be used as war propaganda.CONTINUATION: G One of the most scandalous cases of deception in Philippine history is the hoax Code of Kalantiaw, The code was a set of rules contained in an epic, Maragtas, which was allegedly written by a certain Datu Kalantiaw. O The document was sold to the National Library and w regarded as an important precolonial document until 1968, when American historian Willian Henry Scott debunked the authenticity of the code existed in the precolonial Philippine society. OFerdinand Marcos also claimed that he was a decorated World War II soldier who led a guerilla unit called Ang Maharlika.CONTINUATION: OThe task of the historian is to look at the available historical sources and select the most relevant and meaningful for history and for the subject matter that he is studying. Otis the the continuing relevance of provenance, memory, remembering, and histor understanding for both the present and the future. istorian’s job to seek for the meaning of recovering the past to let the people seePHILIPPINE HISTORIOGRAPHY * Itunderwent several changes ince the precolonial period until the present. * Ancient Filipino narrated their history through communal songs and epics that they passed orally from a generation to another. * When the Spaniards came, their chroniclers started recording their observations through written accounts. The perspective of historical writing and inquiry also shifted. The Spanish colonizers narrated the history of their colony in a bipartite view. They saw the age before colonization as a dark period in the history of the islands, until they brought light through Western thought and Christianity.CONTINUATION: * Early nationalists refuted this perspective and argued the tripartite view. They saw the precolonial society as a luminous age that ended with darkness when the colonizers captured their freedom. * They believed that the light would come again once the colonizers were evicted from the Philippines. 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.