HISTORICAL CRITICISM knowledge which informed it, and

its intended purpose

● Entails that the historian
acknowledge and analyze how
HISTORICAL CRITICISM
such reports can be manipulated
to be used as a war propaganda
● Historical sources is important
● Examines the origins of the
because the use of unverified,
earliest text to appreciate the
falsified, and untruthful historical
underlying circumstances upon
sources can lead to equally false
which the text came to be
conclusions
(Soulen & Soulen, 2001).
● Without thorough criticisms of
historical evidence, historical
Two Types of Historical Criticism
deceptions and lies will all be
● External Criticism
probable.
● Internal Criticism

Historical criticism has its roots in the TEST OF AUTHENTICITY

17th century during the Protestant
Reformation and gained popular ● To distinguish a hoax or a
recognition in the 19th and 20th misinterpretation from a genuine
centuries (Ebeling, 1963). document, the historian must use
tests common in police and legal
The absence of historical investigation detection.
paved the way for historical criticism to
rest on philosophical and theological
interpretation.

EXTERNAL CRITICISM

● Practice of verifying the

authenticity of evidence by
examining its physical
characteristics; consistency with
the historical characteristic of the
time when it was produced; and
the materials used for the
evidence
● External criticism of a document
include the quality of the paper,
the type of ink, and the language
and words used in the material
among others

INTERNAL CRITICISM

● Looks at Content of the source

and examines the circumstances
of its production
● Looks at the truthfulness and
factuality of the evidence by
looking at the author of the
source, its context, the agenda
behind its creation, the