INTRODUCTION TO HISTORY (readings of philippine history)

The introduction to history

1. •NATURE, MEANING, AND RELEVANCE
•SOURCES AND CRITICISM

2. HISTORY?

3. Learning Outcomes
At the end of the lesson, students are expected to:
•Explain the meaning, nature, and relevance of studying
history.
•Determine the different types of history and their focus on
the study.
•Articulate the uses and importance of studying history as it
relates to their everyday lives.
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•Categorize a document based on a kind of historical source.
•Examine the authenticity and reliability of a document for a
historical source.

4. What is history?
•First: History is the sum total of everything that has
happened in the past.
•Second: History is the study of an account of the past.
“History is not ‘what happened in the past’; rather, it is the act
of selecting, analyzing, and writing about the past…” (James
Davidson and Mark Lytle, 1982)

5. What is history?
History is…
…both the past and the study of the past.
***in the academe, the second definition is given
premium

6. The Nature of History
…visualize walking at night…
…a companion turns on a search light.

7. The Nature of History
…the landscape represent
the past.
…the one with the search
light is the historian.

8. The Nature of History
This analogy may give us an idea of
the nature of history….
…but it is IMPERFECT.
NO ONE CAN PRESENT THE PAST AS
IT ACTUALLY WAS…

9. The Nature of History
HISTORY is just an individualized view… (of the
Historian)
…an act of creation…
AN ACT OF RE-CREATION.

10. The Process of History
❖Historians must rely on surviving records.***
***This is especially true to traditional historical writing
wherein the main basis for history is written documents.

11. How do historians arrive at “the account”?
ALL OF
THE PAST

12. The Process of History
❖Historian must rely on surviving records…
❖Historians are fallible, capable of error, with
personal biases, political beliefs, economic status,
and idiosyncrasies.
➢There is an element of subjectivity in historical
accounts.
➢Historians are justified in viewing an event from any
perspective they wish.
➢Historians could excessively focus on his or her own
viewpoint.

13. The Process of History
•Can history be objective?
•It is always written from a point of view.
•Involves a human interpreter.
If “SCIENTIFIC HISTORY” is a myth,
CRITICAL HISTORICAL METHOD is not.

14. The Question of the Truth in the writing of History
❖Limited records of past events still constitute a tangible
link between past and present.
❖History is not fiction. History must be based on available
relevant evidence.
❖History is dynamic or constantly changing.

15. The Process of History
Knowing how to put the questions and what questions to put
to a document will make a difference to the historian’s point
of view.
HISTORY NEVER DELIVERS READY-MADE ANSWERS.
But the historians questions may shed a light on his people’s
problems of the present.

16. Uses of History
❖History can be influential and shaping human affairs.
❖History provides informed perspective about the world.
❖History is a guide on making judgments.
❖History provides a better understanding about the present
situation.

17. Historiography
•The practice of historical writing.
•Modern historical writing: includes
archaeology and geography.

18. Types of History
•Factual History
-Gives basic facts and information about the events in the past.
-Answers the questions “what?”, “when?”, “where?” and “who?”
•Speculative History
-Gives inferences and speculations based on given facts.
-Answers “why?” questions (and other deeper questions)

19. Side lecture: Other Kinds/Types of Historical Writings
According to Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
Hegel…
•Original History
•Reflective History
▪Universal History
▪Pragmatic History
▪Critical History
▪Fragmentary History
•Philosophy of History

20. According to Friedrich Nietzsche…
•Monumental History
•Antiquarian History
•Critical History
Side lecture: Other Kinds/Types of Historical Writings

21. Sources of History
•Documents
•Archaeological finds (fossils and artifacts)
•Oral and video accounts
•Primary sources – documents, physical
objects, oral and video accounts made at
present time and place being described
(and by actual witnesses).
•Secondary sources – made long after
events have taken place

22. Sources of History
•Challenge with primary sources
•Ability of historians to read and
understand texts in foreign languages
❑Resort to reading translations
▪The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 (1903-
1909) edited by Emma Blair and James
Robertson
▪Annotation of Antonio Morga’s Sucesos
de las Yslas Felipinas by Rizal, translated
by Austin Craig
*liken it to how difficult it is to
understand anime or K-dramas
without subtitles…but sometimes, the
subs are badly translated.

23. Sources of History
•Challenge with primary sources
•Discerning the cultural context and historical value of primary sources.
____________________________________________
❖Primary Sources – give facts
❖Secondary Sources – provide valuable interpretations of historical
events
***some include tertiary sources which compile both primary and
secondary sources (e.g. almanacs)

24. Sources of History
•Many documents have
primary and secondary
segments. Requires
meticulous reading to identify
these segments.
▪Example: Newspapers

25. Historical Criticism
•Historical criticism examines the origins of the earliest text
to appreciate the underlying circumstances upon which the
text came to be (Soulen & Soulen, 2001).
Two Goals:
▪To discover the original meaning of the text in its primitive or historical context and
its literal sense (sensus literalis historicus).
▪To establish a reconstruction of the historical situation of the author and recipients
of the historical text.

26. Historical Criticism
•External Criticism
▪Concerns and questions about the authenticity of the historical
source
•Internal Criticism
▪Deals with the reliability and credibility of the contents
▪Involves the question of the relevance/importance of the
information given by the document

27. Historical Criticism
TEST OF AUTHENTICITY
❖Examining the material whether they are not
anachronistic:
•Paper was rare in Europe before 15
th
century.
•Pencils did not exist before 16
th
century
•Typewriting was not invented until 19
th
century
❖Identifying the handwriting, signatures, seal,
letterhead, or watermark by comparing with
another authentic specimen.
❖Paleography, sigillography and diplomatics.

28. Locating Primary Sources
•The National Library
•The National Archives
•Academic Institutions
▪UP Main Library
▪Ateneo de Manila’s Rizal Library
▪USC Cebuano Studies Center
•Archives outside the Philippines
•Filipiniana Collections on the Internet

29. References
•Conal Furay and Michael Salevouris. The Method and Skills of
History: A Practical Guide (Chapter 1 & 2)
•Neil Martial R. Santillan, Ph.D. An Introduction to Philippine
Historiography: Sources and Discourses.
•Schumacher, J. (1991). Making of a Nation. Chapter 1