READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
2022-2023
MEANING AND RELEVANCE OF HISTORY
Ang kasaysayan ay repleksyon o interpretasyon ng nakalipas.
Ang SOURCES (o batis sa Filipino ay nagsisislbi bilang pundasyon
ng pag-aaral ng Kasaysayan).
WHAT IS HISTORY?
 Halaw sa isang salita na:
HISTORIA an ancient Greek term for “learning
through inquiry” (Hoefferle,2013)
 Study of past events
 “the never ending process whereby people seek to
understand the past and its many meanings” (The
American Historical Association)
 “a chronological record of significant events ( such as thos
affecting a nation or institution) often including an
explanation of their causes” (Merriam Webster)
HISTORY IS NOT ONLY AMERE COLLECTION OF NARRATIVES
COMPILED OR CALLATED BY AUTHORS, RATHER HISTORY
EMPLOYS A SYSTEM TO ORGANIZE NARRATIVE
COLLINGWOOD (1976)
 “history is a kind of research or inquiry.”
 “generically it belongs to what we call the sciences: that is,
the forms of thought whereby we ask questions and try to
answer them.”
 “what kind of things does history find out”… -actions of
human beings that have been done in the past.”
 History attempts to know the actions of human beings
that were accomplished in the past
HISTORY IS NOT ABOUT THE “WHAT IF’S” BUT ABOUT THE
“WHAT WAS”
History is the systematic account of a set of natural
phenomena. It is also an investigative work because people aim
to satisfy their thirst for truth. - Aristotle
ZEUS SALAZAR
Notable historian and retired professor of University
of the Philippines
 “Kasaysayan is the counterpart of history in the mother
tongue is an essential narrative with a group of people
that is characterized by uniqueness and identity”
(TRANSLATED)
 “Ang Kasaysayan ay salaysay na may saysay para sa isang
grupo ng tao na may kakanyahan, identidad na nakasandig
sa sariling wika at kalinangan”
 The essence of history depends on whose history is being
narrated and who the intended audiences are
HISTORY IS NOT THE PAST BUT RATHER A GLIMPSE OF THE
PAST.
THE ENTIRETY OF THE PAST CANNOT BE NARRATED AND
INCLUDED IN ALL OF THE WRITTEN HISTORIES FOR THE MAIN
REASON THAT NOT EVERYTHING WHICH HAPPENDED IN THE
PAST WERE RECORDED AND/OR DOCUMENTED.
THEREFORE, HISTORY DOES NOT CREATE NARRATION OF PAST
EVENTS; RATHER A RECREATION OF PAST EVENTS BASED ON
AVAILABALE MATERIALS
S.Y.
RELEVANCE OF HISTORY
COLLINGWOOD (1976)
 Human self-knowledge
 “the value of history… is that it teaches us what
man has done and thus what man is”
1. History contributes to moral understanding
2. History helps us understand people and societies
3. History provides identity
4. History is essential for good citizenship
REPOSITORIES OF HISTORICAL SOURCES IN THE PHILIPPINES
AND ABROAD
Philippine Depositories
 National Library of the Philippines
1. Filipiniana Division
2. Historical Data Papers
3. Philippine Revolutionary Records
4. Microfilm Section
 Archives of the University of Santo Tomas
 National Archives of the Philippines
 Archdiocesan Archives of Manila
 Manila Observatory Archives
 University of the Philippines Library
 Historical collection of the United States of American
Embassy -Ateneo de Manila University
 De La Salle University Library
 SIL
 Archives of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of
Mary
Spanish Depositories
 Archivo General De Indias (Seville)
 Archivo Historico Nacional ( Madrid)
 Museo Naval De La Ministerio De Marina (Madrid)
 Real Academia De La Historia (Madrid)
 Biblioteca National De Madrid (Madrid)
 Archivo De Ministerio De Asuntos Exteriores (Madrid)
MINISTERIO de CULTURA y DEPORTE launched the Portal de
Archivos Españoles(PARES) which offers free access to
digitalized copies of documents & other resources that can be
found in Spanish archives
Mexican Depositories
 Archivo General De La Nacional De Mexico
British Depositories
 The British Library
American Depositories
 National Archives and Records Service(NARS)
 Library of Congress (Washington D.C.)
 Ayer Collection of Newberry Library (Chicago)
 Lilly Library (Bloomington, Indiana)
 Harvard University Library ( Massachusetts)
 Stanford University Library(California)
 University of Michigan (Michigan)
 READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
CLASSIFICATION AND TYPES OF HISTORICAL
SOURCES
HOWELL AND PREVENIER (2001)
 Sources are artifacts that have been left by the past
 They exist either as relics, what me might call”remains”,
or as testimonies of witnesses of the past
ARTIFACTS
 Something made or given shape by humans, such as a tool
or a work of art- Collins English Dictionary
 A usually simple object (such as a tool or ornament)
showing human workmanship or modification as
distinguished from a natural object
 …an object remaining from a particular period- Merriam
Webster Dictionary
ECOFACTS
 An excavated piece of evidence consisting of natural
remains, as opposed to an object of human workmanship
 Contrasted with artifact- Oxford Dictionaries
MAIN TYPES OF WRITTEN SOURCES
 PRIMARY SOURCES
 SECONDARY SOURCES
PRIMARY SOURCE
“The testimony of an eyewitness, or of a witness by
any other of the senses, or of a mechanical device like the
dictaphone- that is, of one who or that which was present at
the events of which he or it tells”- Gottschalk (1950)
SECONDARY SOURCE
“The testimony of anyone who is not an eyewitness-
that is, of one who was not present at the events of which he
tells”- Gottschalk(1950)
CATEGORIES ON WRITTEN HISTORICAL SOURCES
 NARRATIVE
 LITERARY
 DIPLOMATIC OR JURITICAL
 SOCIAL DOCUMENTS
NARRATIVE OR LITERARY
Include chronicles or tracts presented in narrative
form, written in order to impart a particular message.
DIPLOMATIC OR JURIDICAL
... [these] are understood to be those which
documents an existing legal situation or create a new one, and
it is these kinds of sources that professional historians once
treated as the purest, the 'best' source.
This is a document, usually sealed or authenticated in
some other way, intended to provide evidence of the
completion of legal transaction or proof of the existence of
juristic fact and which could serve as evidence in a judicial
proceeding
SOCIAL DOCUMENTS
the products of record-keeping by bureaucracies such as state
ministries, charitable organizations, foundations. churches, and
schools.
Contain information of economic, social, political, or judicial
import.
S.Y. 2022-2023
UNWRITTEN SOURCES
 ARCHEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE
 ORAL EVIDENCE
 MATERIAL EVIDENCE
ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE
...[these] can tell historians a great deal about the culture of
the area, the ways of life, the artistic ambitions of people who
lived there.
ORAL EVIDENCE
 Could include folk tales, myths, legends, folk songs and
popular rituals.
 Contain information of economic, social political, or
judicial import.
 Interview
MATERIAL EVIDENCE
► May include photographs, videos, and sound recordings.
TESTS OF AUTHENTICITY AND CREDIBILITY
What is the Difference between Method [of History] and
Historiography?
METHOD refers to the process of thoroughly examining and
critically analyzing the records and survivals of the past. It
means the accumulation of data about the past to be
thoroughly examined and critically analyzed by a set of
scientific rules so that a certain past that is attempted to
reconstruct can be determined whether it actually happened
or not.
HISTORIOGRAPHY
 “HISTORY OF HISTORY” OR “HISTORY OF WRITING OF
HISTORY”
 Refers to the development of historical narratives
 Process of reconstructing historical data that have already
been tested by the method. It means synthesizing of
historical data into a narrative discourse
SOURCE CRITICISM
 EXTERNAL CRITICISM OR TEST OF AUTHENTICITY
 INTERNAL CRITICISM OR TEST OF CREDIBILITY
BASIC ASSUMPTIONS WITH SOURCES
1. Sources like relics, artifacts, remains, documents and
witnesses are accurate when proven to be authentic and
credible. Relics, artifacts, and remains, though, are more
reliable while documents(narratives) and witnesses are more
detailed and specific.
2. The authenticity of a source increases the credibility of that
source
3. A primary source is more reliable than a secondary one.
4. The credibility of a source is increased if it is corroborated by
independent sources.
5. Sources would tend to be bias, especially to its provenance
or to the one who made it or held its custody.
6. If sources like witnesses or their testimonies do not have
immediate interest or direct involvement to the event, they
become more credible than those who have interest or direct
involvement.
7. If all independent sources agree to a certain event, then the
event becomes usually acceptable or factual.
8. Testimonies of witnesses are credible if the witnesses are
mentally and emotionally fit at the time of the interview or
declaration.
9. The source that does not conform to its social environment
or milieu is considered a fabricated source.
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY S.Y. 2022-2023
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY S.Y. 2022-2023