LESSON 2:

DISTINCTION
BETWEEN PRIMARY
AND SECONDARY
SOURCES
In conducting any historical research, different sources of
information are required to gain extensive knowledge on a
particular topic.

Some researchers rely on written sources while other

choose to make use of oral sources.
In this day and age, the proliferation of fake news is
evident in both print and digital media platforms.

Thus it becomes more apparent that sources of texts

should be scrutinized for their credibility.

The historian’s most important research tools are

historical sources.

In general historical sources can be classified between

primary and secondary sources.
 HISTORICAL
SOURCES

Primary Sources - are those produced at

the same time as the event, period or
subject being studied.
The 1986
Constitutional
Commission
The 1986 constitution commission his
primary source can include:
The draft
constitution

Minutes of the
commission

Newspaper clippings

Eyewitness accounts of the commission

delegates
 PRIMARY
SOURCES
1.These people are either participants or eyewitnesses to the event.
2. Photographs that may reflect social conditions of historical realities and everyday life.
3. Material evidence of the pre-historic past like cave drawings, old syllabus and ancient writings.
4. Statistical tables, graphs and charts
5. Cartoons for political expression or propaganda.
6. Old sketches and drawings that may indicate the conditions of life of societies in the past.
7. Oral history or recordings by electronic means of accounts of eyewitnesses or participants.
Secondary Source - are those sources used by the
author who used primary sources to produce
the materials.

Secondary sources are historical sources which

studied certain historical subject
 Teodoro Agoncillo's Revolt of the Masses: The Story
of Bonifacio and the Katipunan published in 1956.

Agoncillo used primary sources with his research like documents

and interview with the veterans of the Revolution
The primacy of primary over secondary
sources has always been recognized . This
due to the fact that a primary source provides
better and more accurate historical details compared to
secondary source.

The authenticity and reliability of primary

sources
should be scrutinized before they are used.

Cases of forgery and mislabeling are

common in Philippine historiography.
 Who allegedly forged the signature of Gen.
Ubano Lacuna that led to the captivity of
Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo

An example of forgery in historical documents is the story of the great

forger , Roman Roque

The supposed autobiography of Josephine

Bracken which asserts her marriage to Rizal under
catholic rites was badly forged
Historian and students of history need thoroughly scrutinize these historical sources to avoid deception
and to come up with the historical truth.

Historian should be able to conduct an external and internal criticism of the source.
 EXTERNAL
CRITICISM
The practice of verifying the authenticity
of the evidence by examining its physical
characteristics

Consistency with the historical characteristics

of the time when it was produced and the
materials used for the evidence .
EXAMPLE
:
Quality of
paper

Type of
ink

Language
used
 INTERNAL
CRITICISM
The examination of the truthfulness of evidence by looking at
the author of the source.

It looks at the content of the source and examines the

circumstances of its production

Looks at truthfulness and factuality of the evidence by looking

at the author of the source, its context, the agenda behind of its
creation, the knowledge which informed it and intended purposes
EXAMPLE
:

Japanese Declaration of
War

One of the scandalous cases of
deception in the Philippine
history is the hoax Code of
Kalantiaw
The authenticity of the code
was debunked due to the lack
of evidence to prove that the
code existed in the Precolonial
Philippine Society
Ferdinand Marcos also claimed that he was a decorated
World War II soldier who led a guerilla unit called “Ang
Maharlika”.

This was widely believed by students of history and

Marcos had war medals to show.
Alfred
McCoy

This claim was disproven when historian

counterchecked Marcos's claim with the war
records of the United States
These cases prove how deceptions can propagate without
rigorous historical research.

The task of the historians is to look at the available

historical sources and select the most relevant and
meaningful for history and for the subject matter that he is
studying.
 NEXT LESSON MODULE 2 :
MGA GUNITA NG HIMAGSIKAN
(EMILIO AGUINALDO)