MODULE 1: SOURCES AND

CRITICISM IN HISTORY

Introduction

Studying Philippine History requires varied perspectives to

fully understand and analyze its meaning and significance. To
realize this, primary sources are essential for they offer a
different lens that could give light to the other details needed to
create Philippine History.
This session is designed to equip you in evaluating
primary sources that could help you identify the corresponding
secondary sources derived from them. You will be guided in
using external and internal criticism to establish the credibility
and authenticity of these sources.

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 HISTORY: ITS MEANING, RELEVANCE AND
SOURCES

A. Desired Learning Outcomes

OutOutcome
 Evaluate primary sources for their credibility, authenticity, and provenance.

B. Objective
 Identify credible and authentic primary sources and know-how to evaluate their
provenance.

C. Pre-Test
True or False: Write true if the statement is factual and false if it is otherwise on the space
provided for.

________ 1. History deals with the past.

________ 2. A relic is an example of a primary historical source.
________ 3. The oral account is considered a reliable source of historical data.
________ 4. History has two major sources primary and secondary.
________ 5. Only primary sources maybe used in writing history.
________ 6. Secondary sources could be derived from primary sources.
________ 7. Validating the authenticity of historical sources is known as external criticism.
________ 8. Historiography is the study of history.
________ 9. A historical fact need not to be proven.
________ 10. Secondary sources provide interpretations of historical events.

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 D. Key Concept
MEANING OF HISTORY
- History is an account of the
unchanging past. (Aristotle)
- History can be termed as a
study which is concerned
with the human past.
(Reniev)
- History is an unending
dialogue between the past
and the present. (E.H Carr)
- History is a detailed account
of the events that have taken
place. (Henry Johnson)
https://www.scribd .com
HISTORY
HISTORICAL CRITICISM
External Criticism
-
answers concerns and questions
pertinent to the authenticity of a
historical source by identifying who
composed the historical material,
locating when and where the historical
material was produced, and
MEANING OF HISTORY
establishing the material’s evidential
value
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SOURCES OF HISTORY
 Documents
 Archaeological records
 Oral and video accounts
General Kinds of Historical Sources
 Primary Sources
- documents, physical objects, and
oral/video accounts by an individual
or group present at the time and
place being described
 Secondary Sources
- materials made by people long
after the events being described had
taken place
Internal Criticism
- deals with the credibility and reliability
of the content of a given historical
source. It focuses on understanding the
substances and message that the
historical material wants to convey by
examining how the author framed the
intent and meaning of a composed
material.
 MEANING OF HISTORY
History deals with the study of past events presented in chronological order and often
with an explanation. By its most common definition, the word history now means “the past of
mankind.” The practice of historical writing is called historiography. The traditional method of
doing historical research focuses on gathering documents from different libraries and archives to
form a pool of evidence needed to make a descriptive or analytical narrative. However, modern
historical writing does not only include the examination of documents but also the use of
research methods from related areas of study such as archaeology and geography.

SOURCES OF HISTORY

a. Documents – handwritten, printed, designed, drawn, and other composed materials

e.g. books, magazines, maps, journals, architectural perspectives, newspapers, paintings,
advertisements, and photographs

Relacion de las Islas Filipinas Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas

Colonial records such as government reports and legal documents form a significant
part of our collection of documents here and abroad, particularly in Spain and the United States.
In the 20th century and up to now, memoirs of personal accounts written by important historical
personages constitute another type of document. Philippine presidents such as Emilio Aguinaldo,
Manuel Quezon, and Diosdado Macapagal wrote their memoirs to highlight their roles as nation-
builders.

b. archaeological records – preserved remains of human beings, their activities, and their
environment

 fossils – remains of animals, plants, and other organisms

In the Philippines, the most significant excavated human remains include Callao Man’s toe
bone (dated 67000 BCE) and the Tabon Man’s skullcap (22000 BCE). Aside from human
remains, other archaeological records are generally categorized as fossils and artifacts.
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  artifacts – remnants of material culture

Laguna Copperplate Inscription Manunggul Jar

c. oral and video accounts – audio-visual documentation of people, events, and places

These are usually recorded in video and audio cassettes, and compact discs. Aside from
scholars, media people also use oral and video accounts as part of their news and public
affairs work.

GENERAL KINDS OF HISTORICAL SOURCES

a. Primary – documents, physical objects, and oral/video accounts by an individual or

The group present at the time and place being described
- The testimony of an eyewitness, of a witness by any other of the senses, or mechanical device
like the Dictaphone – that is, of one who or that which was present at the events of which he or it
tells (hereafter called simply eyewitness)

b. Secondary - materials made by people long after the events being described had
taken place
- The testimony of anyone who is not an eyewitness – that is, of one who was not present at the
events of which he tells

A primary source must thus have been produced by a contemporary of the events it narrates.
It does not, however, need to be original in the legal sense of the word original – that is, the very
document (usually the first written draft) whose contents are the subject of discussion – for quite
often a later copy or a printed edition will do just as well; and in the case of the Greek and
Roman classics seldom are any but later copies available. Primary sources need not be original in
either of these two ways. They need to be “original” only in the sense of underived or first-hand
their testimony. This point ought to be emphasized to avoid confusion between sources and
primary sources. The confusion arises from particularly careless use of the word original. It is
often used by historians as a synonym for manuscript or archival. If the key function of primary
source documents is to give facts, secondary source documents, on the other hand, provide
valuable interpretations of historical events.

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 HISTORICAL CRITICISM

External Criticism
– answers concern and questions
pertinent to the authenticity of a historical
source by identifying who composed the
historical material, locating when and where
the historical material was produced, and
establishing the material’s evidential value.

https://sirdezmodules.blogspot.com

Internal Criticism
- deals with the credibility and
reliability of the content of a given
historical source. It focuses on
understanding the substances and
message that the historical material
wants to convey by examining how
the author framed the intent and
meaning of a composed material.

https://sirdezmodules.blogspot.com

Sources:
Modified CHED Second Generation GE Faculty Training Materials
www.google.com
https://sirdezmodules.blogspot.com
stock.adobe.com
www.flaticon.com
www.bing.com

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 E. Activities and Assessment

 Accomplish the task given below

If you have internet If you have no internet

connection, search on online connection, search at home or
archives and libraries on in your own community
Philippine History. Gather examples of historical sources
examples of historical and identify whether primary
sources and identify whether or secondary sources. Choose
primary or secondary one primary source and make
sources. Choose one primary a narrative based from it.
source and make a narrative
based from it.

F. Reflection

For you who used the For you who searched at

internet, what home and own community,
challenges/struggles did you what challenges/struggles
experience in using online did you experience in
archives and libraries on searching sources on
Philippine History? How did Philippine History? How did
these challenges/struggles these challenges/struggles
affect your learning affect your learning
experience in Philippine experience in Philippine
History? History?

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 G. Post - Test

True or False: Write true if the statement is factual and false if it is otherwise on the
space provided for.
1. History deals with the past.
2. A relic is an example of a primary historical source.
3. Oral account is considered a reliable source of historical data.
4. History has two major sources primary and secondary.
5. Only primary sources may be used in writing history.
6. Secondary sources could be derived from primary sources.
7. Validating the authenticity of historical sources is known as external criticism.
8. Historiography is the study of history.
9. A historical fact need not be proven.
10. Secondary sources provide interpretations of historical events.

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