PART 1

Understanding
History Using Primary
and Secondary
Sources
Let’s think!
Explain the following lines:

“Falsum in uno, falsum in omnibus.” (False in one thing, false

in everything.)

“There are three versions of the story: your version, my

version and the truth.”

“Youngsters of today are usually preoccupied with makeups

and gadgets while the veterans of the past groaned with
blood and despair.”
Let’s think!
Explain the following lines:

“Legend remains victorious in spite of history.” -- Sarah

Bernhardt

“The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world.

Lies will pass into history.” -- George Orwell

“History and experience tell us that moral progress comes not in

comfortable and complacent times, but out of trial and
confusion.” -- Gerald R. Ford.
What is History?
History, according to Louis
Gottschalk, refers to both an
event and the discipline. As
an event, it refers to a
historical phenomenon or
experience. Events serve as
the building blocks of a
historical process.
What is History?
On the other hand, History,
also refers to the discipline,
e.i. BA History and its
individual component courses
like The Philippines in the
Spanish Period.
To E.H. Carr …

- It is the inquiry conducted by the historian and

the series of past events into which he inquires.

- It is the continuous process of interaction

between the historian and his facts, an unending
dialogue between the present and the past.

- It means interpretation.

- It is what the historian makes

E[dward] H[allett] Carr
English historian, diplomat, journalist and international relations
theorist, and an opponent of empiricism within historiography
To Other Historians…

• History is the re-enactment in the historian's mind of the thought

whose history he is studying. – Collingwood

• History is the historian's experience. – Oakeshott

• History is “a selective system” not only of cognitive, but of

causal, orientations to reality. – Parsons
In Salazar’s definition, “Ang
Kasaysayan ay ‘salaysay na may
saysay’ at pag-uulat sa sarili.”
❤ (Navarro, Rodriguez and
Villan, page 2)

From Left to Right: Dr. Raul Sebastian, chair of the Department of History,
Dr. Zeus Salazar, founder of Bagong Kasaysayan (Bakas), Prof. Mc Donald
Pascual, Dr. Nancy Kimuell Gabriel, Founding President of SAKATUNDO,
Prof. Sherrenne De Amboy and Dr. Lars Ubaldo of DLSU Manila.
“History is a reconstruction
of past events.”
(Positivist Tradition of the West)
The Hierarchy of Historical Knowledge

5. History-as-Actuality/History as a Whole

4. History-as-Witnessed/Constructed Part

3. History-as-Remembered/Recovered Part

2. History-as-Written Document/Material Culture

1. History-as-Reconstruction of Events
Why do we Study History?

1. It is a requirement.

2. It is for us to understand
the present and get a
surmise of what the
future in store for us.
Why do we Study History?

3. “Ang lahat ng bagay

ay may kwento.” –
Howie Severino,
Gawad Kalatas
Awardee of Maringal
na Pantas
But…
1. We would understand our roots.
2. We would bridge our diversity (“One past but many
histories”).
…But…

3. We would love our country more than before

…But…

4. We would see our defects

as well as our strengths.

5. We would achieve political

determinism and self-
respect.
…But…

6. We would learn certain

attitudes which the
government and the
society consider worthy
or significant.
In Conclusion…
Ang hindi marunong
As the other disciplines, History is lumingon sa pinanggalingan,
important to us because we are reminded di makakarating sa
of our struggles in the past and who we paroroonan.
really are vis-à-vis those of the people of
other countries in the world. We reflect
and give value on the stages of our
development as a country. In so doing, we
value ourselves as a people with great
humanity and accomplishments.