Mariano Marcos State University

College of Arts & Sciences

Department of Social Sciences

Jerry C. Buenavista
Faculty
 SocSc 01:

READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY

THE METHOD AND SKILLS OF HISTORY:
A PRACTICAL GUIDE

Conal Furay &

Michael Salevouris
 Outline:
Uses of History

Nature of History

Process of History

Methods of Historical Analysis

The Question of Truth

TOPIC 1. THE USES OF HISTORY

vHistory is a window into the past

vIt helps us appreciate multiple perspectives and

interpretations

vAnalyzing history strengthens our critical thinking skills

vIt gives us an understanding of other people and cultures

vHistory can be influential in shaping human affairs.

vHistory is a guide on making judgments.

vHistory provides a better understanding about the present

situation.
TOPIC 2.
NATURE OF HISTORY: HISTORY AS RECONSTRUCTION
What is History?
• First: History is the sum total of everything that has happened in the
past.
§ (history-as-actuality)

• Second: History is an account of the past.

§ (history-as-record)
• “History is not ‘what happened in the past’;
• rather, it is the act of selecting, analyzing, and writing about the past…” (James
Davidson and Mark Lytle, 1982)
The Nature of History

History is…
…both the past and the study of the past.
The Nature of History
…visualize walking at night…

…a companion turns on a search light.

 The Nature of History

…the landscape represent

the past.

…the one with the search

light is the historian.
The Nature of History
This analogy may give us an idea of the nature of
history….
…but it is IMPERFECT.

NO ONE CAN PRESENT THE PAST AS IT ACTUALLY

WAS…
The Nature of History
HISTORY is an individualized view…

A particular vision…

A personalized version…

…an act of creation…

AN ACT OF RE-CREATION.
The Process of History
v Historian must rely on surviving records…
v Historians are fallible, capable of error, with personal
biases, political beliefs, economic status, and
idiosyncrasies.
ØThere is an element of subjectivity in historical accounts.
ØHistorians are justified in viewing an event from any
perspective they wish.
ØHistorians could excessively focus on his or her own
viewpoint.
Methods of Historical Analysis
vselection of a subject
vcollection of probable sources
vexamination for genuineness
vextraction of credible particulars
= HISTORIOGRAPHY
The Question of the Truth
vThe past did happen. Limited records of past events
still constitute a tangible link between past and present.

vHistory is not fiction. History must be based on

available relevant evidence.

vHistory is dynamic or constantly changing.

Exercise:
• The following statements use “history” in one or the other of its two
meanings: (1) the past itself or (2) an account of the past. Your task is to
decide which meaning of history the author of each statement intended.
Use “P” (for “Past”) to indicate passages that use the word “history” to
mean the past-as-reality, and “A” (for “Account”) to indicate passages that
use the word “history” to mean an account or accounts (a reconstruction)
of the past.

1. “Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history.” (Abraham Lincoln)

1. “History, as the study of the past, makes coherence of what happened

comprehensible by reducing events to a dramatic pattern and seeing them
in a simple form.” (Johan Huizinga)
3. “History is baroque. It smiles at all attempts to force its flow into
theoretical patterns or logical grooves; it plays havoc with our
generations, breaks all rules.” (Will Durant)

4. “A page of history is worth a volume of logic.” (Oliver Wendell

Holmes)