North Eastern Mindanao State University- Cantilan Campus

GE- RPH

Introduction to History:
Definition,Issues, Sources, and
Methodology

Prepared by:
Jed M. Bohol
Course Instructor
 Objectives
At the end of the lesson, you should be able:
 
1.define history as an academic discipline;
2.distinguish between primary and secondary sources;
3.apply the knowledge of historical methodology and
philosophy through existing local or national history;
and
4.appreciate the importance of history by creating a life
history.
 
 Meaning of History

 Gottschalk (1969) suggests that

culture has developed from its
present connotation. Etymologically,
history has been taken from the
Greek word iotopia, meaning
"learning." Nowadays the term
connotes past events.
 
 Dr. Zeus Salazar defined history as
“mga pangyayari na may saysay para
sa grupo ng taong sinasaysayan nito”
(2000; Rosales, 2020).
 Samuel Tan, a prominent historian,
defined history as the dynamic process of
dealing with the past, in which the stages
or aspects of development are
interrelated, brought about by an
understanding of the present and future.

 History as described by a foreign scholar

is the record of what an era in another
considers worthy of notice.
 

Why do we need to
study history?
a. As Sterns says, history needs to be learned because it is
important to both culture and people because it allows us to
better understand ourselves, our talents, shortcomings and
ambitions.

b. Historical events remind us of the people's collective

experience, their suffering, their joy and their aspirations.
 Different Branches of History
History can be divided into different branches as follows:

 General history covering political, cultural, diplomatic and military history,

including environmental issues and the economic system;
 Cultural history which covers local and ethnic history, social history, and myth
history;
 Linguistics is another historical aid, linguists and historians collaborate by
researching language and the changes it has experienced in identifying historical
events, past relations between various groups, and the flow of cultural influence.
 
 Biologists and chemists are also valuable in history in the research and analysis of
past people 's genetic and DNA patterns
 
The Development of Philippine Historiography

Positivism - This thought requires empirical and observable

evidence before one can claim that a particular knowledge is true.
In the discipline of history, the mantra “no document, no history”
stems from this very same truth, where historians were required to
show written primary documents in order to write a particular
historical narrative.

Postcolonialism -  the critical academic study of the cultural,

political and economic legacy of colonialism and imperialism,
focusing on the impact of human control and exploitation of
colonized people and their lands.
History, the Historian, and Historiography
History, the Historian, and Historiography
History - events of the past and especially those relating to a
particular place or subject European history: a branch of knowledge
that records and explains past events. 
Historian - an expert in or student of history, especially that of a
particular period, geographical region, or social phenomenon.
Historiography - the study of historical writing.
Historical Sources

In general, historical sources can be classified between primary and

secondary sources.
Primary sources are those sources produced at the same time as the
event, period, or subject being studied. Eyewitness accounts of
convention delegates and their memoirs can also be used as primary
sources. The same goes with other subjects of historical study.
Archival documents, artifacts, memorabilia, letters, census, and
government records, among others are the most common examples of
primary sources.
Secondary sources are those sources, which
were produced by an author who used primary
sources to produce the material. In other words,
secondary sources, are historical sources, which
studied a certain historical subject.
Historians and students of history need to thoroughly
scrutinize these historical sources to avoid deception and
to come up with the historical truth. The historian should
be able to conduct an external and internal criticism of the
source, especially primary sources which can age in
centuries.
External criticism is the 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. Examples of the things that will be
examined when conducting external criticism of a document include the
quality of the paper, the type of the ink, and the language and words used
in the material, among others.
Internal criticism, on the other hand, is the examination of the
truthfulness of the evidence. It looks at the content of the source and
examines the circumstance of its production.
THANK YOU!