GE 002 – READINGS in PHILIPPINE HISTORY

Chapter 1 – Appreciating the Field of History

This chapter hopes to bring understanding and appreciation of history – a social science discipline
which is often afforded a backseat mainly because of the popular notion that history is boring and repetitive.

In addition, both the traditional and modern concepts of history will be explored and various key terms
will be explained.

Objectives :
At the end of the chapter, the students should be able to:
1. Locate in time the birth of the discipline.
2. Appreciate the role of the historian/s.
3. Differentiate the various relevant terms such as social science, history, historiography, and
historical methodology.
4. Contrast and evaluate the traditional and modern concepts of history.

Lesson 1: Scope of History and Definition of Terms

Preliminary Activity: Natural and Social Sciences (25 pts)

A. Look at the following terms:

Economics Geography Political Science Sociology Astrology

History Chemistry Physics Zoology Botany

Biology Psychology Astronomy Anthropology Geology

Where do these fields of discipline belong? Categorize each field either as NATURAL SCIENCE or
SOCIAL SCIENCE. (15 pts.)

NATURAL SCIENCES SOCIAL SCIENCES

B. Answer the following questions: (10 pts.)

1. Can Geography be considered a social science? Why or why not?

2. Which field is not classifiable under any of the two categories? Expound using not more than three (3)
sentences.

Discussion:

History belongs to the field of Social Sciences. Likewise, Economics, Political Science, Anthropology,
Psychology and Sociology, among others, are also classified under the Social Sciences.

Common to these fields of discipline is the fact that they focus on people, human relationships, and the
social dynamics at play. Henceforth, social science can be simply defined as the scientific study of human
society and social relationships.

History, as a field of discipline, is as old as mathematics and philosophy and has existed for about
2,400 years.

History is often defined as “the study of the past”. There is some truth to it but essentially it is an
incomplete definition. Etymologically, history comes from the Greek word “historia” which refers to “the
knowledge acquired through inquiry or investigation”. Later, the term “historia” was adapted to classical Latin
and acquired a new definition. At this point, History came to be known as “the account of the past of a person or
a group of people through written documents and historical evidences”.

Historians fulfill the essential task of interpreting what happened in the past. However, they only get to
access representations of the past through historical sources and evidences. This brings to the fore the reality
that the exact account of the past can never be fully recorded but the historian, as much as possible, produces a
record of events according to his interpretation based from the available credible sources.

To put in proper perspective the accounts of the past, historiography offers the much needed help to the
historians. Historiography, simply put, is the “history of history”.

Historiography is essentially the writing of history based on the critical examination of sources, the
selection of particular details from the authentic materials in those sources, and the synthesis of those details
into a narrative that stands the test of critical examination.

Therefore, historiography, answers queries such as “how was a certain historical narrative written?”,
“who was the author?” “what was the context of its publication”, “what particular historical method/s and
sources were used?” This means that people interested in history are not only presented with historical facts but
are also provided with the understanding of the facts and the historians’ contexts. Hence, with the aid of
historiography, the students are allowed to have a better understanding of history.
 Historians, because they interpret the past, are confronted with issues of subjectivity. Despite this,
however, history itself is a scientific discipline because it employs the rigors of research and methodology. What
then is historical methodology?

Historical methodology is the process by which historians gather evidence and formulate ideas about
the past. In addition, it is the framework through which the account of the past is constructed.

In particular, historical methodology is composed of certain techniques and rules that historians follow
in order to properly utilize sources and historical evidences in writing history. With historical methodology,
historical evidences are validated and corroborated thus shedding light to conflicting accounts of eyewitnesses.

Therefore, although there is subjectivity in the historian’s interpretation of the historical narrative,
historical methodology ensures a balanced account of the past because it employs the scientific method.

Assignment: (25 pts)

Work with your group. Select and copy a headline story from any of the existing Philippine daily
broadsheets dated anywhere from 2012 to 2018. Discuss among yourselves the headline and do a mini-
historiography.

Lesson 2: Traditional versus Modern Concept of History

Preliminary Activity: (20 pts)

A. Work with your groupmates. Choose one secretary to list down the group’s answers. In List down ten
(10) Philippine historical events that you can recall. Do not edit your thoughts, list down those that
immediately came to your mind. (10 pts)

HISTORICAL EVENTS
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

B. Answer the following question: (10 pts)

 What theme is common among these events? In other words, what do these events commonly highlight?
Why do you think this js so?

Discussion

Whenever people are asked to cite a historical event, they usually mention wars, pandemics, murders,
heroes, kings, and all sorts of events worthy of a newspaper headline. This is not surprising because until the
early part of the twentieth century, historians were using framework of the traditional concept of history.

As stated above, the traditional concept views history as “the account of the past of a person or a group
of people through written documents and historical evidences”.

A mantra is a phrase or slogan repeated frequently serving as the principle that guides the behavior of
those repeating it. Inevitably, traditional historians’ reliance on written documents and historical evidences lead
them to the mantra “no document, no history”. This means that unless a written document can confirm a certain
historical event, then it cannot be considered as a historical fact.

The traditional concept of history, however, has its limitations:

First, it essentially nullifies the history of civilizations that leave no traces of written records. In fact,
some civilizations chose to rely heavily on oral traditions. Documents being burned or destroyed poses another
challenge.

Second, the traditional concept of history presents a restrictive, if not discriminative, outlook because
historical documents usually presented the ruling class, (monarchs, elites, etc.) but neglected recording the lives
of ordinary people. Corollary to this, keeping birth records and other related documents of indigenous groups
were given very minimal attention.

Recent developments have addressed the above limitations thus giving rise to the modern concept of
history. Modern historians have started employing other valid sources such as oral traditions which include
epics, songs and poems. Giving importance to artifacts were likewise given emphasis. Highlighting these new
forms of evidence necessitated that modern historians collaborate with professionals of other disciplines such as
the linguists, biochemists, and archeologists, among others, to offer mankind an enhanced view of the past.

Assignment: (50 pts)

Work with your group members and come up with the following output:

1. Mantra of a person who does not appreciate the Philippine History subject.
In other words, what do you think will be the slogan of a person who dislikes Philippine History?
Make a catchy one-slide powerpoint presentation for this. (10 pts.)
2. Except those already mentioned in the Preliminary Activity in Lesson 1, name one (1) allied
discipline of History and discuss how it helps History. Make a two-slide powerpoint presentation
for this. (20 pts).

3. As a group, come up with your own definition of the modern concept of history. Make sure to use
your own words. (20 pts)
References:

Candelaria, John Lee P. and Alporha, Veronica C. (2018). Reading in Philippine

History. Quezon City: Rex Book Store

Gottschalk, Louis. (1969). Understanding History: A Primer of Historical

Method. New York: A.A. Knopf.

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