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Chap 1. Historians Task (Schumacher)
Chap 1. Historians Task (Schumacher)
PHILIPPINES
John Schumacher
UNDERSTAND THE PAST… JUDGE THE
PRESENT… DEDICATE (THEMSELVES)
TO STUDYING THE FUTURE.
• Before 1872 – There was NO Filipino history.
• 19th Century - Resources were lacking but
Spanish chronicles could be mined.
• Present century –There is access to archival
documentation and resources (archaeology,
linguistics & anthropology)
- Much can be known about Filipino society
from pre-Hispanic and Spanish periods.
• Cracks in the Parliament
- William Henry Scott
- a curtain parchment conceals from modern
view the activities and thought of Filipinos and
reveals the activities of the Spaniards, only.
Problem:
“It is not what has been done, but
what has not been done”.
Cases/Examples:
Differences in the response of hacienderos
(elites) to the American rule.
- Negros and Iloilo hacienderos– quickly
embraced American rule (elite betrayal of the
Revolution)
- Panay and Tagalog hacienderos (more
resistant ; war continued until 1901).
TASK 2
• A real history of the revolution, including the
war against the Americans should be written –
a history of the Revolution and a regional basis
on the century before the Revolution.
- to show the different degrees and kinds of
nationalist response in different regions
- to explore the variations in different
socioeconomic classes and the reasons for
these differences
• Documents are not self-interpreting, thus
needs a human interpreter – the historian.
- historian’s viewpoint
- historian’s biases and prejudices
Critical historical method – requires the
historian to base himself on documentation and
draw the evidence for his assertions or
interpretations from the facts found in the
documents.
• Facts – require historians to demonstrate in
detail how he bridges the gap between the
documentation and the conclusions he draws
from it.
• Documents – memoirs, letters, literary works,
prayers, folk art
Task 3
• The historian should have the ability to
put the proper questions to documents
and determine the exact meaning of such
manifestations of popular thinking and
values
Nationalist history – writing history based on the
historian’s love of country.