HISTORY Historical Criticism

 Greek word “Historia” To be used as evidence

 knowledge acquired by investigation External Criticism
 events occurring before written records Problem of authenticity
“prehistoric” Spot fabricated forged faked documents
 scholars who write about history “Historian” Distinguish
 narration of the events which happened among Test of authenticity
mankind including account of the rise and fall of o Determine the date
the nations, as well as of other great changes o The author
which have affected the political and social o Anachronistic style
condition of the human race – John Anderson o Anachronistic reference to events
1876 o Provence or custody
 account of phenomena, human affairs in Internal Criticism
chronological order Problem of credibility
Factual History – purely facts Relevant particulars
 plain and basic information, events that took Verisimilar
place, time, and date Test of Credibility
 answers the question what, when, where and o Identification of the author
who o Determination of the approximate date
Speculative History o Ability to tell the truth
 beyond facts because it is concern about the
reason
 speculate the cause and effect of an event
 answers the question why and how
Historiography
 Practice of historical writting
 Method in doing historical research that focuses
on gathering documents
SOURCES AND HISTORICAL DATA
Sources – an object from the past or testimony
Primary Sources
 Enables the researchers to get as close as
possible
 Firsthand information
o Diaries and journals
o Autobiographies
o Sound recording and interviews
Secondary Sources
 Something written about primary source
 Secondhand information
 Written “After the fact”
Advantage
Primary
 Provide a window into the past – unfiltered
access
 Personal documents – can give a very real sense
of being alive during a past era
Secondary
 Analysis, synthesis, interpretation or evaluation
 Best for uncovering background
 Get expert views of the event and often bring
together multiple primary sources
Disadvantage
Primary
 Often incomplete and have little context
Secondary
 Open to questions
 Do not provide exact information
 Do not represent firsthand knowledge
Written Sources
 Narrative or Literary
 Diplomatic or Juridical
o Purest / best source
 Social Document
o Economic, social political or judicial
significance