READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
Mr. Allan Jay F. Madra
Professorial Lecturer
Chapter 1.
INTRODUCTION TO HISTORY: DEFINITIONS, ISSUES, SOURCES AND METHODOLOGY
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
TO UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF HISTORY AS AN ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE AND TO BE FAMILIAR WITH THE
UNDERLYING PHILOSOPHY AND METHODOLOGY OF THE DISCIPLINE;
• TO APPLY THE KNOWLEDGE IN HISTORICAL METHODOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY IN ASSESSING AND ANALYZING
EXISTING HISTORICAL NARRATIVES;
• TO EXAMINE AND ASSESS CRITICALLY THE VALUE OF HISTORICAL EVIDENCES AND SOURCES; AND
• TO APPRECIATE THE IMPORTANCE OF HISTORY IN THE SOCIAL AND NATIONAL LIFE OF THE PHILIPPINES
HISTORY
– is known as the study of the past events.
- It has something to deal with the importance to human civilization.
- It is derived from the Greek word “HISTORIA” which means “knowledge acquired through inquiry and
investigation”.
HISTORIA became known as the account of the past of a person or of a group of people through written documents and
historical evidences.
• On the other hand, HISTORY focused on writing about wars, revolutions, and other important breakthroughs.
• History asks the questions: What counts as History?
• Traditional Historians lived with the mantra “No document, No History.” It means that unless a written
document can prove a certain historical event, then it cannot be considered as a historical fact.
• Some were keener on passing their history by word of mouth.
• Others got their historical documents burned and destroyed in the events of war or colonization.
• Nobilities, monarchs, the elite, and even the middle class would have their birth, education, marriage, and death
as matters of government and historical record.
Questions:
Does the absence of written documents about them mean that they were people of no history or past?
Did they even exist?
QUESTIONS AND ISSUES IN HISTORY
Questions:
1. What is History?
2. Why study History?
3. History for whom?
These questions can be answered by HISTORIOGRAPHY. It is the history of history. It lets the students have a better
understanding of history.
SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT ABOUT HISTORY
• POSITIVISM – is the school of thought that emerged between the 18 th and 19th century. It requires empirical and
observable evidence before one can claim that a particular knowledge is true,
• Here, historians were required to show written primary documents in order to write a particular historical
narrative.
• Positivist historians are expected to be objective and impartial not just in their arguments but also on their
conduct of historical research.
• The time that we were colonized by the Americans, historians depicted the Filipino people as uncivilized in their
publications, they intended that narrative for their fellow Americans to justify their colonization of the islands.
• POSTCOLONIALISM – is a school of thought that emerged in the early 20 th century when formerly colonized
nations grappled with the idea of creating their identities and understanding their societies against the shadows
of their colonial past.
• Postcolonial history looks at two things in writing history: First, to tell the history of their nation that will
highlight their identity free from that of the colonial discourse and knowledge.
• Second, is to criticize the methods, effects and idea of the colonialism.
HISTORY AND HISTORIANS
• The historian should be able to conduct an external and internal criticism of the source, especially primary
sources which can age in centuries.
EXTERNAL CRITICISM – is the practice of verifying the authenticity of evidence by examining its physical
characteristics.
INTERNAL CRITICISM – is the examination of the truthfulness of the evidence.
SOURCES OF HISTORY
1. Documents
- handwritten, printed, drawn, designed and other composed material
- Books, newspapers, magazines, journals, maps, architectural perspective, paintings, photographs
2. Archaeological Records
- preserved remains of human beings
- These include the fossils (remains of animals, plants and other organisms) and artifacts (remnants of material
culture developed by human beings)
3. Oral and Video accounts
- audio-visual documentation of people, events, and places
-usually recorded in video and audio cassettes.
KINDS OF HISTORICAL SOURCES
• PRIMARY SOURCES
-documents, physical objects, and oral/video accounts made by an individual or a group present at the time and
place being described.
• SECONDARY SOURCES
-materials made by people long after the events being described had taken place
