UNDERSTANDING HISTORY

NATURE OF HISTORY, ITS RELEVANCE AND ON IMPORTANCE OF PRIMARY SOURCES

 MEANING OF
HISTORY
The term history came from the
Greek term, historia, which means
inquiry or knowledge acquired from
investigation.
History is the study of the past as it is
described in written documents.
It provides the analysis and
interpretation of the human past
enabling us to study continuity and
changes that take place over time.
NATURE OF HISTORY
• History is a study of the present in the light of the past.
• History is a study about man.
• History is concerned with man in time.
• History is concerned with man in space.
• History provides an objective record of happenings.
• History is multisided.
• History is a dialogue between the events of the past and progressively emerging future ends.
• History is not only narration but it is also an analysis.
• Continuity and coherence are the necessary requisites of history.
• History is relevant and comprehensive.
RELEVANCE OF HISTORY

• History helps us understand people and societies.

• History contributes to moral understanding.
• History provides identity.
• Studying history is essential for good citizenship.
• History is useful in the world of work.
 PRIMARY SOURCES
In the study of history as an academic discipline, the use of primary
sources is necessary. A primary source provides a direct or firsthand
evidence about an event, an object, a person, or a work of art. These
primary sources provide the original materials on which other
research is based and enable students and other researchers to get
as close as possible to what actually happened during a particular
event or era.
Published materials can be viewed as primary sources as long as
they come from a time period that is being discussed, and were
written or produced by someone with firsthand experience of the
event.
DIFFERENT KINDS OF PRIMARY SOURCES

• Literary or Cultural Sources

• Novels, plays, and poems (both published and in manuscript form)
• Television shows, movies, or video clips
• Paintings or photographs
• Accounts that describe events, people, or ideas
• Newspaper
• Chronicles or historical accounts
• Essays and speeches
• Memoirs, diaries, journals, and letters
• Philosophical treaties or manifestos
DIFFERENT KINDS OF PRIMARY SOURCES
• Information about people
• Census Records
• Obituaries
• Biographies and autobiographies
• Information about a place
• Maps and atlases
• Census information
• Statistics
• Photographs of places
• City Directories
• Local Libraries or historical societies
• Information about an organization
• Archives (sometimes held by libraries, institutions, or historical societies)
SECONDARY SOURCES
Secondary sources generally describe, discuss, interpret, comment upon, analyze,
evaluate, summarize, and process primary sources. These secondary source
materials can be articles in newspapers, popular magazines, book or movie reviews,
and articles found in scholarly journals that discuss or evaluate someone else’s
original research.
REQUIRED READING

Letter of Andres Bonifacio to Emilio Jacinto (

Andres Bonifacio, Letter to Emilio Jacinto, April 24, 1897 - Katipunan: Documents and Studies (kasaysayan-kkk.info)
)
*click the link to access the material
 ACTIVITY 1
Below are sources about the peoples of the Cordillera. Answer if the source cited is a
primary source or a secondary source.
1. Francisco, Antolin. Notices of the Pagan Igorots in the Interior of the Island of Manila in
1789. Translated by William Henry Scott. Manila: University of Santo Tomas Press, 1988.
2. Campa, Buenaventura. "Una visita a las rancherias de Ilongotes." In Correo
SinoAnamita. Manila: Imprenta de Santo Tomas, 1891.
3. Kessing, Felix. The Ethnohistory of Northern Luzon. Kentucky: Stanford University
Press, 1962.
4. Rosaldo, Renato. Ilongot Headhunting, 1893-1974: A Study in Society and History.
California: Stanford University Press, 1980
5. Villaverde, Juan. "Informe sobre la reduccion de los infieles de Luzon." In Correo Sino-
Anamita. Manila: Imprenta de Santo Tomas, 1879
ACTIVITY 2
Answer the following questions in a brief yet comprehensive manner:
1. How important is history to mankind?
2. Differentiate primary sources from secondary sources.
3. Why is it more credible and reliable to use the primary sources?