Readings in the

Philippine History

Prepared by: Romalie Galleto

“WHO CONTROLS THE PRESENT, CONTROLS
THE PAST
WHO CONTROLS THE PAST, CONTROLS THE
FUTURE”
- GEORGE ORWELL
Why studying History
matters?

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 Lesson 1-
meaning of history

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HISTORy
 Etymologically, HISTORY (from Greek word Historia,
meaning “Knowledge acquired by investigation; learning
by inquiry)
 On the other side, events occurring before written record
are considered prehistoric; an umbrella term that relates to
past events as well as the memory, discovery, collection,
organization, presentation and interpretation of information
about these events. Hence, scholars who write about history
are called Historians.

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HISTORy
 History is a narration of the events which have happened
among mankind, including an account of the rise and fall of
the nations, as well as of other great changes which have
affected the political and social condition of the human
race.
- John Anderson, 1876. A Manual of General History
 The word History is referred usually for accounts of
phenomena, specially human affairs in chronological order.

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There are theories constructed by historians
in investigating history;
✣ a). Factual History
✣ b). Speculative History

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FACTUAL HISTORY

Presents readers the plainplain and basic information, the events that
took place (what), the time and date with which the event happened
(when), the place with which the event took place, and the people that
were involved (who).
SPECULATIVE HISTORY

• It goes beyond facts because it is concerned about the reasons for

which events happened (why), and the way they happened (how).

• It tries to speculate on the cause and effect of an event – (Cantal,

Cardinal et.al.)
The practice of historical writing is called
historiography, the traditional method in doing
historical research that focus on gathering of
documents from different libraries and archives
to form a pool of evidence needed in making
descriptive or analytical narrative.

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 “Only a part of what was observed in the past was
remembered by those who observed it; only a part of
what was remembered was recorded; only a part of
what was recorded has survived; only a part of what
has survived has come to the historian’s attention.”

- Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

 “Only a part of what is credible has been
grasped, and only a part of what has been
grasped can be expounded or narrated by the
historian.”

- Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

 Lesson 2-
sources of Historical data

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 Historical Sources
Sources – an object from the past or
testimony concerning the past on which
historians depend in order to create their
own depiction of that past.

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 Historical Data
Sources from artifacts that have been left by
the past. These artifacts are either relics or
remains, or the testimonies of the witnesses
to the past.

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Primary and secondary sources
✣ What are they?
✣ Advantages and disadvantages of using Primary
or Secondary sources
✣ Categories

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What is a Primary sources?

Primary sources enable the

researcher to get as close as
possible to what actually
happened during an historical
event or time period.   

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 Primary Source
✣ Diaries and journals
⨳ Example: Anne Frank was a teenager during World War II.
She kept a diary or journal the years before she died in a
concentration camp. Her diary was later published as the “
Diary of Anne Frank”. This is a primary source.
⨳ Example: Sarah Morgan was young woman during the Civil
War. She wrote in her diary or journal what happened to her
and her family during the war. This is a primary document
because it was first hand. She wrote it at the time it
happened.
⨳ Sarah Morgan Dawson: A Confederate Girl's Diary
 Primary Source
✣ Autobiographies
✣ An autobiography is when you write a story or book
about yourself.
■ Example: Nelson Mandela wrote his
autobiography about events in his life called
“Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of
Nelson Mandela. This is a primary document
because he wrote his first hand experiences.
 Primary Source
✣ Sound Recordings and interviews are considered primary
resources.
⨳ Example 1: During the Great Depression and World
War II, television had not been invented yet. The
people would often sit around the radio to listen to
President Roosevelt’s war messages. Those radio
addresses are considered “primary sources.”
⨳ Example 2: During the 2008 election Barack Obama,
had many interviews that were televised. Those
interviews are considered primary sources.
What is a secondary source?

A secondary source is
something written about a
primary source.

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• Secondary sources are written "after the fact" - that is, at
a later date.
• Usually the author of a secondary source will have
studied the primary sources of an historical period or
event and will then interpret the "evidence" found in
these sources.
• You can think of secondary sources as second-hand
information.
 Secondary Source
• Think about it like this….

• If I tell you something, I am the primary source. If you

tell someone else what I told you, you are the
secondary source.

• Secondary source materials can be articles in

newspapers, magazines, books or articles found that
evaluate or criticize someone else's original research
Why Use Primary Sources?
Advantages

✣ Primary sources provide a window into the past—unfiltered access to the

record of artistic, social, scientific and political thought and achievement
during the specific period under study, produced by people who lived
during that period
✣ these unique, often profoundly personal, documents and objects can give a
very real sense of what it was like to be alive during a long-past era.
Primary Source Disadvantages

✣ Primary sources are often incomplete and have little context. Students must
use prior knowledge and work with multiple primary sources to find
patterns
✣ In analyzing primary sources, students move from concrete observations
and facts to questioning and making inferences about the materials.
Why Use Secondary Sources?
Advantages
✣ Secondary sources can provide analysis, synthesis, interpretation, or
evaluation of the original information.
✣ Secondary sources are best for uncovering background or historical
information about a topic and broadening your understanding of a topic by
exposing you to others’ perspectives, interpretations, and conclusions
✣ Allows the reader to get expert views of events and often bring together
multiple primary sources relevant to the subject matter
Secondary Source Disadvantages
✣ Their reliability and validity are open to question, and often they do not
provide exact information
✣ They do not represent first hand knowledge of a subject or event
✣ There are countless books, journals, magazine articles and web pages that
attempt to interpret the past and finding good secondary sources can be an
issue
Written Sources of History
• Narrative or Literary
• Diplomatic or Juridical
• Social Documents
 Diplomatic Sources
✣ It is these kind of sources that professional historians once
treated as purest, “best” source. A legal document is
usually sealed or authenticated to provide evidence that a
legal transaction has been completed and can be used as
evidence in judicial proceedings in case of dispute.
 Social Documents
✣ These are information pertaining to economic, social, political or judicial
significance. They are records kept by bureaucracies. Examples such as
government reports, municipal accounts, property registers and records of
census.
 Lesson 3
Historical criticism

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What is Historical Criticism?
✣ Historical criticism strives to examine literary works
within their historical context. In analyzing a text,
historicists consider cultural, political and social forces
that influenced and are revealed through the text.

✣ In order for a source to be used as evidence in history,

basic matters about its form and content must be settled
Historical Criticism:
1. External Criticism
2. Internal Criticism
What is External Criticism?
 The problem of authenticity
 To spot fabricated, forged, faked documents
 To distinguish a hoax or misrepresentation
Tests of Authenticity

1. Determine the date of the document to see whether they are anachronistic (a chronological misplacing
of persons, events, or customs in regard to each other)

e.g. pencils did not exist before the 16th Century

2. Determine the author

e.g. handwriting, signature, seal

3. Anachronistic style

e.g. the use of idiom, ortography, punctuation

-Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

Tests of Authenticity
4. Anachronistic reference to events – something that is mistakenly placed in a time
where it does not belong.
e.g. too early, too late

5. Provenance or custody- history of ownership

e.g. determines its genuineness
What is Internal Criticism?
 The Problem of Credibility

 Relevant particulars in the document – is it credible?

 Verisimilar – as close as what really happened from a critical examination of

best available sources

-Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

Tests of Credibility

1. Identification of the author

e.g. to determine his reliability; mental processes, personal attitudes
2. Determination of the approximate date
e.g. handwriting, signature, seal
3. Ability to tell the truth
e.g. nearness to the event, competence of witness, degree of
attention

-Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

 Thank you!

Any questions?

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Tell me what you think
1. Inside this bubble, write a particular event in the
Philippine history that interests you most or that you want
to learn more about it.
2. Outside the bubble, tell us what makes it interesting for
you?