Understanding History

A. Definition and Significance of History: History is

1. Etymological Meaning: History is from

Greek and Latin word historia which means
information; a learning or knowing by
inquiry; narrative of past events, account,
tale or story.
 2. History as defined by Authors/ Known Personalities
Authors/ Individuals Definition and Significance of History
A process of creation or a formation of culture, specifically a
Nick Joaquin natural
  culture.
Aristotle An account of the unchanging past.
History is the unending dialogue between the past and the
E.H. Carr present.
De Kooning, Willem The past does not influence me; I influence it.
History never looks like history when you are living through
Gardner, John W. it.
Life must be lived forward, but it can only be understood
Kierkegaard, Søren backward.
McCullough, David History is who we are and why we are the way we are.
Maybe if people started to listen, history would stop
Tomlin, Lily repeating itself.
History offers the key to national identity and the basis for
Jose Rizal future
  development.
 3. Broad Definitions of History
• History is the study of past events.
• The recording and analysis of experiences of a society comprise the totality of
a people’s history.
• The use of correlated disciplines is necessary to understand the reasons and
consequence of human actions.
• Ang Kasaysayan ay pagsasalaysay ng isang sanaysay na may saysay.
B. Theories explaining how and why events happen in societies

1. Challenge and Response Theory (Arnold Toynbee)

• Man responds to situation placed before him. Thus, mankind’s
approach in coping with challenges determines history.
• History reflects the progress of civilizations and societies.
• The past is a succession of civilization and not of political
entities General pattern: growth, breakdown, and dissolution.
• The failure of a civilization to survive was a result of its inability to
respond to challenges.
2. Exchange Theory (Alvin Scaff)

• It refers to the systematic statement of principles that

govern the exchange of goods (tangible and intangible)
between individuals, between groups, between
organizations, and even nations.
3. Role of Historical Man (George Wilhelm Hegel)

• Man has a task to do so that events may happen.

• The role of the historical man follows a principle, which

he called Welt Geist or world spirit, which embodies
ideals like patriotism, heroism, and unity.
4. Materialistic Concept of History (Karl Marx)

• The prevailing economic system determines that form of

societal organization and the political and intellectual
history of the epoch, which thus attribute actions and
events in history to economic motives.
 5. Method of Historiography (Fernand Braudel)
• Human actions are not only based on human decision but
also of ‘structures’ that may be natural or man-made.

• To achieve total history is to integrate all aspects of man’s

past.
 6. Analyzing Conditions of the Masses (Teodoro Agoncillo-
Father of Filipino Nationalist Historiography)

• Philippine past should be written by analyzing the situation

of the masses.
7. Philippine History as People’s History (Renato Constatino)

• History is “the recorded struggle of people for ever increasing

freedom, and for higher realization of the human person.

• He presents the idea of the associated man, a man who interacts

with nature and other men. History is not just presenting a long,
unbroken chain of events but instead, it illustrates movement of
people and ideas over time and space.
C. Sources of History: Information provide the evidence
from which the historian obtains facts about the past.
1. Early Sources of Philippine History
• Religious orders which chronicled the history of the Philippines include
Augustinian, Franciscans, Dominicans, Jesuits, and Recollects.
• Fray Pedro Chirino (1604) a Jesuit, and Fray Juan Plasencia (1589) are among the
religious friars who recorded observations of Filipino Society and culture.
• Filipino Muslims were also able to preserve written materials of great historical value.
• Sarsila- Genealogical records of the datus or sultans of Sulu to preserve the lineage of
the ruling class
• Tarsila- Genealogical records of the datus or sultans of Maguindanao to preserve the
lineage of the ruling class
• Kitab- A book attributed to the late Hadji Butu Abdul Baqui, Wazir of Sulu Sultanate,
who tried to record the historical and personal events of his time.
• Philippine Insurgent Records (Philippine Revolutionary Records) represents the records
during the US suppression of Filipino from 1899-1903.
 2. Laws pertaining to the Repository of Filipiniana Materials 

• Public Law Act No. 1935- Creation of the Philippine Library, to consolidate all
libraries in the Philippine Colonial Government
• Public Law No. 3477- Separation of National Museum and National
Library
• Executive Order No. 486, s. 1951 (Pres. Elpidio Quirino) & Executive Order No.
39, s. 1963 (Pres. Diosdado Macapagal)- Collection of histories and customs
of each locality by public school teachers. These records were known as the
Historical Data Papers or Provincial Histories, intended to replace government
records destroyed during WWII.
 3. Classifications of Historical Sources

• Primary sources are those who have witnessed the event that took place or have
been part of the incident being studied. These include written records (e.g. narratives,
manuscripts, public documents, letters, and diaries) fossils, artifacts, and testimony
from living witnesses.

• Secondary sources are sources have not been part of the event being considered. It
also refers to articles written about the primary sources (e.g. magazines, newspapers,
pamphlets, typescripts, and articles written about the primary sources).

  Archeology studies and reconstructs the cultural events of the past through
the material remains left by people. Archeologists study artifacts and fossils.
Archeological excavation refers to the systematic recovery and study of these
pieces of material evidence. Archeology gives us an idea on how things might
have looked like at a particular time.
 Archeologists who made significant contributions in the development of
Philippine history are the following:
Archaeologists Contribution
He conducted the first major expedition on archaeological
Alfred Marche undertakings

  in the Philippines particularly at Marinduque and other sites in Central

  Philippines.

Feodor Jagor A German traveler reported having encountered a priest in Naga,

  Camarines Sur who collected artifacts from ancient graveyards.
He led the team of the 2nd major archaeological expedition at
Carl Guthe Palawan,

  Bohol, Northern Mindanao and other places in Central Philippines to

  collect Chinese ceramics exported to Philippines from China.

Henry Otley Beyer He published the Outline Review of Philippine Archaeology by Islands

  and Provinces, a pioneering research activity in Philippine prehistory.

He retrieved a fossilized tooth of a dwarf elephant in Cabarruyan
Von Koenigswald Island
in Lingayen Gulf. He named the specie of the dwarf elephant as
  Elephas

  Beyeri after H. Otley Beyer, the Father of Philippine Archaeology and

  Prehistory. He is a Paleontologist known for his work on Java Man.

Wilhelm Solheim II He conducted the 1st postwar excavations in Masbate Island from 1951-
  1953. Alfredo evangelista and E. Arsenio Manuel assisted him.
Robert Fox and Alfredo They recovered tradeware ceramics from China and Thailand in
Evangelista Calatagan. Robert Fox conducted a systematic arcaeological work in
  Cagayan Valleywere new fossil discoveries such as those of crocodiles,
  giant tortoise, pigs, and deer were found in Cagayan.
Neil McIntosh He undertook the analysis and x-rays of the Tabon skull cap and
  mandible in 1975.
Marcelino Maceda He is from San Carlos University who conducted archaeological
  excavations at Kulaman Plateau in Bukidnon and recovered a number of
  limestone burial jars.
Samuel Briones A graduate student of Silliman University who reported the presence of
  the limestone burial jars in several caves he visited in 1966.
Karl Hutterer and Rosa Both form San Carlos University who recovered prehistoric artifacts in
Tenazas the middle of Cebu City.
Cecilia Locsin, Maria Isabel The team of students from Ateneo de Manila who conducted
Ongpin, and Socorro archaeological diggings from 1968- 1970 at Lemery, Batangas.
Paterno  
Avelino Legaspi Toigether with Wilhelm Solheim II, they dug in the area of Davao del Sur
  were they found tools made from large sheels, manufactured through a
  flaking technique similar to that used in making stone tools.
D. Unhistorical Data

• There were some narratives that have been previously accepted in

Philippine History as facts but later were found out to be historical
errors.
• Story of Maragtas- It is about the 10 Malay Datu from Borneo who settled into the
Philippine Islands.
• Code of Kalantiaw- It was said to be a set of ancient laws promulgated in 1433 by Datu
Bendara Kalantiaw of Aklan, the 3 Muslim ruler of Panay.
rd

• Legend of Princess Urduja- It is about the legendary woman warrior named Urduja. She
has been adopted as a symbol of a woman of distinguished courage, an inspiration for
women in the country.
References:

• Halili, Maria Christine N. (2010) Philippine history. Manila: Rex

Bookstore, Inc.

• Quotations about history. http://www.quotegarden.com/history.html.

Date Retrieved: June 24, 2013