1: The Meaning of History, Sources of

Historical Data and Historical Criticisms

Lesson 1: The Meaning of History
The Limitation of Historical Knowledge
History as the Subjective Process of Re-creation
Historical Method and Historiography

Lesson 2: Sources of Historical Data

Written Sources of History
Non-written Sources of History
Primary versus Secondary Sources

Lesson 3: Historical Criticisms

Test of Authenticity
History

What is history? Take a look at the following definitions of history. Which ones do you agree with?

History is:
o A recitation of unrelated facts that do not contribute to a larger story
o An agreed upon set of facts or a forever-fixed story that is never subjected to changes and updates
o A simple acceptance of what is written about a historical topic, event, or person
o A simple historical chronology of famous dates, incidents, and people
o A strict reliance solely on the past with no examination of how the past has influenced the present or how it may
influence the future
o About one absolute truth, one particular perspective, or one set of facts and figures
o A chronological storytelling in its finest form; it sequentially weaves together many related historical and contemporary
events and ideas that are linked to a larger story
History
Historia – Greek word which means learning by inquiry

- the systematic accounting of a set of natural phenomena, taking into

consideration the chronological arrangement of the account
--Aristotle - Greek philosopher

- referred usually for accounts of phenomena, especially human affais in

chronological order.

Knowledge is derived thorough conducting a process of scientific investigation of

past events.
 History

Which definition did you pick in Slide #2? Did you go for the last one? Good!!!

Here are some other definitions of the nature of history:

History is:
✔ Interpretative – it invites students to debate multiple perspectives, offer their opinions and educated
interpretations, and challenge existing beliefs
✔ Revisionist in scope – it is an ongoing conversation and a constant process of re-examining the past and
deconstructing myths based upon new discoveries, evidence, and perspectives
✔ Constant process of questioning – it requires questioning the texts, examining them with a critical eye, and
asking new questions
✔ Integrative of many disciplines - it especially incorporates geography, literature, art, sociology, economics
and political science
✔ Inclusive – it ensures that the experiences of all classes, regions, and ethno-racial groups, as well as both
genders, are included
✔ Controversial – it presents all the facts, and examines both the
negative and positive actions of people, encourages us to think
about social justice and social change, and promotes real understanding
of historical issues and events
History

Here are some other definitions of the nature of history:

History is:

✔ Incorporates historiography - it includes many different interpretations of historical events written by

many different hitorians
✔ Relevant – it uses past experiences to explain what is important in our lives today
✔ All that has happened to men – all of man’s experiences, all of man’s actions, political strivings, economic
organizations, social groupings, all of man’s ideas, good and bad, logical and illogical. In short, it is
everything in man’s past (Shaffer, 1960)
Theories constructed by historians in investigating history:

Factual History – presents to readers the plain and basic information vis-à-vis
the events that took place (what), the time and date with which the events
happened (when), the place with which the events took place (where), and the
people that were involved (who).

Speculative History – goes beyond the facts because it is concerned about the
reasons for which events happened (why), and the way they happened (how).
“It tries to speculate on the cause and effect of an event.”

(Cantal, Cardinal, Espino & Galindo, 2014)

Historians – individuals who write about history. They seek to understand the
present by examining what went before.

Historiography – the practice of historical writing. The traditional method in doing

historical research that focus on gathering of documents from different libraries and
archives to form a pool of evidence needed in making a descriptive or analytical
narrative.

• The modern historical writing does not only include examination of documents
but also the use of research methods from related areas of study such as
Archaeology and Geography.
The Limitation of Historical Knowledge

The incompleteness of records has limited man’s knowledge of history. Although

it may have happened, the past has perished forever with only occasional traces.

The whole history of the past ( called history-as-actuality) can be known to a

historian only through the surviving records (history-as-record). And most
history-as-record is only a tiny part of the whole phenomenon.

Even archaeological and anthropological

discoveries are only small parts discovered from
the total past.
The Limitation of Historical Knowledge

Historians study the records or evidences that survived the time. They tell
history from what they understood as a credible part of the record.

However, their claims may variable as there can be historical records that could
be discovered, which may affirm or refute those that they have already presented.
This explains the “incompleteness” of the “object” that historians study.
History as the Subjective Process of Re-Creation

From the incomplete evidence, historians strive to restore the total past of
mankind. They do it from the point of view that human beings live in different
times and that their experiences maybe somehow comparable, or that their
experiences may have significantly differed due to the place and time.

For the historian, history becomes only that part of the human past which can
be meaningfully reconstructed
from the available records and from inferences
regarding their setting.
History as the Subjective Process of Re-Creation

The historian’s aim is verisimilitude (truth, authenticity, plausibility) about a

past.

Unlike the study of natural science that has objectively measurable phenomena,
the study of history is a subjective process as documents and relics are scattered and
do not together comprise the total object that the historian is studying.

Historians deal with human testimonies as

well as physical traces.