A.Y.
2022-2023
LESSON 1.1: MEANING AND RELEVANCE
OF HISTORY
 History – a chronological record of significant events.
 Derived from the Greek word “historia”, meaning
inquiry or knowledge acquired by investigation.
 Study of past events
 Historiography – refers to how, what, and why
history is written
 Methods and practices used in producing
history.
 Development of history as a discipline
 Philosophy or significance of historical writing
 Theory of history and history of historical writing
 Study of history
 History – a chronological record of significant events.
 Derived from the Greek word “historia”, meaning
inquiry or knowledge acquired by investigation.
PREHISTORY AND HISTORY
 Prehistory – period where the information of the past
were recorded in materials other than written
documents.
 Artifacts, drawings, paintings, sculptures.
 History – information derived from written records of
past experiences.
 Derived from the Greek word “historia”, meaning
inquiry or knowledge acquired by investigation.
PREHISTORY OF THE PHILIPPINES
 Laguna Copperplate Inscription – earliest written
document known in the Philippines
 First legal document recorded in the Philippines
 Contain the release of the children of
Namwaran, the bearers, from their obligation.
 822 of the Saka Eara, the month of Waisaka,
and the fourth day of waning moon. (Monday,
April 21, 900 AD)
 Found in 1989 at Lumban, Laguna
TRANSLATED VERSION OF THE LCI
1. Hail! in the Saka-year 822; the month of March-
April; according to the astronomer: the 4th day of
the dark half of the moon; on
2. Monday. At that time, Lady Angkatan together
with her relative, Bukah by name
3. the child of His Honor Namwran, was given, as a
special favor, a document of full acquittal, by the
Chief and Commander of Tundun
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4. the former Leader of Pailah, Jayadewah. To the
effect that His Honor Namwran, through the
Honorable Scribe
5. was totally cleared of a debt to the amount of I
kati and 8 suwama (weight of gold), in the
presence of His Honor the Leader of Puliran,
6. Kasumuran; His Honor the Leader of Pailah,
namely: Ganasakti; (and) His Honor the Leader
7. of Binwangan, namely: Bisruta. And (His Honor
Namwran) with his whole family, on orders by the
Chief of Dewata,
8. representing the Chief of Mdang, because of his
loyalty as a subject (slave?) of the Chief,
therefore all the descendants
9. of His Honor Namwran have been cleared of the
whole debt that His Honor owed the Chief of
Dewata. This (document) is (issued) in case
10. there is someone. whosoever, some time in the
future. who will state that the debt is not yet
acquitted of His Honor…
WHY STUDY HISTORY
 History helps us understand people and societies
 Offers a storehouse of information about how
people and societies behave.
 Offers the only extensive evidential base for the
contemplation and analysis of how societies
function.
 People need to have some sense of how
societies function simply to run their own lives.
 History helps us understand change and how the
society we live in came to be
 The past causes the present, and so is the
future.
 Through history we grasp how things change.
 Through history we begin to comprehend the
factors that cause change.
 Through history we understand what elements
of an institution or a society persist despite
change.
 History contributes to moral understanding
 Provides a terrain for moral contemplation
 Studying the stories of individuals and situations
in the past test
 History provides identity
 Historical data include evidence about how
families, groups, institutions and whole
countries were formed and about how they have
evolved while retaining cohesion.
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 Histories that tell the national story meant to documents, reports, photographs, literature, and
drive home an understanding of national values other creative outputs.
and a commitment to national loyalty.
 Secondary Sources – based on primary sources
 Explains certain events of the past through
 Studying History is Essential for Good Citizenship
evaluation and interpretation of the records
 To promote national identity and loyalty through
created during a historical period.
a history spiced by vivid stories and lessons in
 Researches, textbooks, journals, commentaries,
individual success and morality.
biographies, criticism, reviews of literacy, and
 Most common justification for the place of
creative works.
history in school curricula.
 Provides data about the emergence of national  Tertiary Sources – based from secondary sources
institutions, problems, and values.
 Offers evidence about how nations have IMPORTANCE OF PRIMARY SOURCES
interacted with other societies, providing
international and comparative perspectives.  Direct contact with the original records and artifacts
 Helps understand how recent, current, and invites students to explore the content with active
and deeper analysis, and to respond thoughtfully;
prospective changes that affect the lives of
citizens
 Critical thinking is developed as students probe
 Encourages habits of mind that are vital for the context, purpose, meaning, bias, and
responsible public behaviour perspectives in their analysis of the past;
SKILLS THAT A STUDENT MAY DEVELOP IN
STUDYING HISTORY  In the interaction with the various sources from the
past, a learn-led inquiry is being fostered;
 The ability to assess evidence
 There is a realization that history is a reflection of
 History builds experience in dealing with and various perspectives of those who interpret the past
assessing various kinds of evidence. events; and
 One kind of evidence helps form the capacity to
distinguish between the objective and the self-  It brings back to story to history allowing students to
serving statements share the author's perspectives
 Ability to assess conflicting interpretations
LESSON 1.3: INTERNAL AND
 Learning history means gaining some skill in
EXTERNAL CRITICISM
sorting through diverse, often conflicting
interpretations.
 Historical Method - probing primary sources that will
 Identifying conflicting interpretations is an
be used in writing history
essential citizenship skill for which history
 Includes source criticism which studies the
provides training
external and internal validity of sources.
 Experience in assessing past examples of change
 Source Criticism asks the following questions
 Vital to understanding change in society today. (According to Gilbert J. Garranghan and Jean
 Analysis of change means developing some Delanglez in 1946)
capacity for determining the magnitude and  When was the source, written or unwritten,
significance of change. produced?
 Where was it produced?
LESSON 1.2: DISTINCTION BETWEEN PRIMARY
 By whom was it produced?
AND SECONDARY SOURCES
 From what pre-existing material was it
produced?
 Primary sources – original records of a certain event
 In what original form was it produced?
by people who have actually experienced or  What is the evidential value of its contents?
witnessed it.
 Includes letters, legislations, newspaper,
articles, diaries, interviews, government
 A.Y. 2022-2023
 External Criticism – determine the authenticity of
sources by examining the date, locale, creator,
analysis, and integrity of the historical source.
 Materials used in a source must match the time
and place whit it was produced.
 Internal Criticism – determine the credibility of the
source.
 Studies the content of the source to know its
truthfulness.
 Content must be reasonable and historically
precise
 Rely on a data which is NOT supported by
evidence.
 Code of Kalantiaw – introduced as written by Datu
Kalantiaw of Negros in 1943
 It was found out to be a hoax according to
William Henry Scott
 It was a forgery written by Jose E. Marco in
1913.
PRINCIPLES OF SOURCE CRITICISM FOR
DETERINING RELIABILITY
 Human sources may be relics such as a fingerprint; or
narratives such as a statement or a letter. Relics are
more credible sources than narratives.
 Any given source may be forged or corrupted.
Strong indications of the originality of the source
increase its reliability.
 The closer a source is to the event which it purports
to describe, the more one can trust it to give an
accurate historical description of what actually
happened.
 A primary source is more reliable than a secondary
source, which is more reliable than a tertiary source,
and so on.
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 If a number of independent sources contain the
same message, the credibility of the message is
strongly increased
 The tendency of a source is its motivation for providing
some kind of bias. Tendencies should be minimized
or supplemented with opposite motivations.
 If it can be demonstrated that the witness or source
has no direct interest in creating bias then the
credibility of the message is increased.
PROCEDURES TO EXAMINE
CONTRADICTORY SOURCES
 If the sources all agree about an event, historians
can consider the event proved;
 However, majority does not rule; even if most
sources relate events in one way, that version will
not prevail unless it passes the test of critical textual
analysis;
 The source whose account can be confirmed by
reference to outside authorities in some of its parts
can be trusted in its entirety if it is impossible similarly
to confirm the entire text;
 When two sources disagree on a particular point, the
historian will prefer the source with most
"authority" that is the source created by the expert or
by the eyewitness;
 Eyewitnesses are, in general, to be preferred
especially in circumstances where the ordinary
observer could have accurately reported what
transpired and, more specifically, when they deal with
facts known by most contemporaries;
 If two independently created sources agree on a
matter, the reliability of each is measurably
enhanced;
 When two sources disagree and there is no other
means of evaluation. then historians take the source
which seems to accord best with common sense.
QUESTIONS THAT SHALL BE ASKED TO
EVALUATE EYEWITESS OF PRIMARY SOURCES
 Is the real meaning of the statement different from
its literal meaning?
 How well could the author observe the thing he
reports? Were his senses equal to the observation?
 A.Y. 2022-2023
 How did the author report and what was his ability to
do so?
 Regarding his ability to report, was he
biased?
 When did he report in relation to his
observation?
 What was the author's intention in
reporting?
 Are there additional clues to intended
veracity?
 Do his statements seem inherently improbable: e.g.,
contrary to human nature, or in conflict with what we
know?
 Some types of information are easier to observe and
report on than others.
 Are there inner contradictions in the document?
QUESTIONS THAT SHALL BE ASKED TO
EVALUATE INDIRECT EYEWITESS OR
SECONDARY SOURCES
 From whose primacy testimony does the secondary
witness base his statements?
 Did the secondary witness accurately report the
primary testimony as a whole?
 If not, in what details did he accurately report the
primary testimony?
CONDITIONS FOR ORAL TRADITIONS AS A
SOURCE OF HISTORY
 Broad Conditions
 The tradition should be supported by an
unbroken series of witnesses, reaching from
the immediate and first reporter of the fact to the
living mediate witness from whom we take it
from, or to the one who was the first to commit it
to writing.
 There should be several parallel and
independent series of witnesses testing to the
fact in question.
 Particular Conditions
 The tradition must report a public event of
importance, such as would necessarily be
known directly to a great number of persons.
 The tradition must have been generally
believed, at least for definite period of time.
 During that definite period it must have gone
without protest, even from persons interested
in denying it.
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 The tradition must be one of relatively limited
duration (Elsewhere, Garraghan suggests a
maximum limit of 150 years, at least in cultures
that excel in oral remembrance)
 The critical spirit must have been sufficiently
developed while the tradition lasted, and the
necessary means of critical investigation must
have been at hand.
 Critical-minded persons who would surely
have challenged the tradition – had they
considered it false - must have made no such
challenge.
LESSON 1.4: KINDS OF REPOSITORIES OF
PRIMARY RESOURCES.
 Published Documents – those that are intended for
public distribution.
 Newspapers, magazines, books, reports,
government documents, laws, court decisions,
literary works, posters, maps, and
advertisements.
 It does not immediately mean that they are
reliable
 Readers must comprehend not just the
substance of the document but also the
background of the author.
 Unpublished Documents – documents such as
diaries, journals, letters, wills, and other personal
papers.
 May be difficult to locate as they are kept in
private.
 These are confidential and are restricted from
public use like personal letters.
 Oral Traditions – histories or stores transferred
through generations
 Oral histories, artworks, and artifacts.
 Come from people who have actually witnessed
or experienced the past events.
 It is essential that their reliability is properly
evaluated.
 Artworks and artifacts – These are visual documents
that tell us several views of the past from the
perspectives of creators.
 Drawings, Paintings, Sculptures, Photographs,
and Artifacts
 National Archives of the Philippines – Organized
under R.A 9470, passed on May 21, 2007
 Established to store, preserve, conserve, and
make available to the public records, papers,
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periodicals, books, or other items selected for

permanent reservation.
 Materials may be in the form of electronic,
audio-visual, or print.
 NAP is holding about 60,000,000 archival
documents.
 Spanish Collection comprises an estimate of
13,000,000 manuscripts from the 16th to 19th
century with 400 titles on various aspects of
Philippine history
 Spanish Rule – royal decrees of Spanish
monarchs, reports of Spanish governors-
general.
 American and Japanese Occupation
Records – includes Philippine National Guard
records, civil service rosters, war trials
 Recent Records – notarial documents,
registers, civil service records, 1,000 cubic
meter of inactive records of national/local
governments
 National Library of the Philippines – repository of
the printed and recorded cultural heritage of the
country and other intellectual, literary, and information
sources.
 Established by a royal decree on August 12,
1887
 Named as the Museo-Biblieoteca de Filipinas.
 Its mission is to acquire, organize, conserve,
and preserve Filipiniana materials
 Provide equitable access to library resources.
 Has one of the largest collections of materials in
various forms in the country.
 It holds Rizal’s novels, including the unfinished
novels, and the Philippine Declaration of
Independence.
 National Museum of the Philippines – operates the
National Museum of Fine Arts, National Museum of
Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History,
National Planetarium, and other branch museums
around the country.
 Covers fine arts, archaeology, ethnography, and
natural history.