GE 2: Readings in Philippine History

Course Description: This course focuses on the

political, social, and cultural development of the
Philippines.
Activities:
Knowing each other
Review: Prior Knowledge
Introduction: The Social Science Discipline
The Social Science Discipline

Anthropology Philosophy
Economics Political
Science
Geography Psychology
History Sociology
The Social Science Discipline
Anthropology – the science of man’s
origin
Economics – the science of scarcity
Geography – the science of the earth’s
surface
History – the science of significant past
events
The Social Science Discipline
Philosophy – the science of knowledge
Political Science – the science of
governance
Psychology – the science of human
behavior
Sociology – the science of society
Geographical Foundations
 Universe as a concept
 Geographical Elements (size, location, climate,
features)
 Philippine is an archipelago
 Three Big Group of Islands
 The Administrative Regions
 Provinces of the Regions
 Famous sites and cities, tourist spots and
destinations
PRELIM EXAMINATIONS
Examination Day
Checking of Papers
Definition and Subject Matter
 Greek word: Historia – means “knowledge acquired through
inquiry or investigation.”
 Existed: 2,400 years (with mathematics/philosophy)
 ClassicalLatin: historia – the account of the past of a person
or a group of people through written documents and
historical evidences.
 Tagalog: Kasaysayan…
 Traditional historians: mantra: “no document, no history”
 Question ?: …Does the absence of written documents about
people mean that they were people of no history or past?. But
how about cultural minorities, IPs…….
Definition and Subject Matter
 That was considered a loophole in history: so, historians started
using other kinds of historical sources, which may not be in
written form:
 Examples:
oral traditions – epics and songs, artifacts, architecture,
and memory.
 History becomes inclusive, and started collaborating with other
disciplines as its auxiliary disciplines:
 Archaeologists: – artifacts
 Linguists: cultural influence by studying language and changes it has
undergone
 Scientists:biologists, biochemists – analyzing genetic and DNA
patterns of human societies
Questions and Issues
 Historyas a discipline becomes complex;
dynamism of history.
 Questions: What is history? Why study history?
History for whom?
 Answers: “Historiography” – the history of
history…Herodotus, the “father of history”
 History versus historiography: not be confused
 History – studies past, events that happened in
the past, and the causes of such events.
Questions and Issues in History
 Historiography – studies history itself: i. e.
 How was a certain historical text written?
 Who wrote it?
 What was the context of its publication?
 What particular historical method was employed?
 What were the sources used?
 Historiography – allows students to have a better
understanding of history.—do not only learn facts, but
understanding of the facts and historian’s contexts.
Questions and Issues in History
The methods employed by the historian and
the theory and perspective, which guided
him, will also be analyzed.
Why Historiography important to history
students?
Historiography is important for someone
who studies history because it teaches the
student to be critical in the lessons of
history presented to him.
Importance of History
 To unite a nation.
A tool to legitimize regimes and forge a sense of
collective identity through collective memory.
 Used to make sense of the present. “One can
never understand the present and create a better
plan for the future, without understanding the
past
 Learning of past mistakes – help people not to
repeat the same mistake.
 Reminded of great past – inspire people to keep
good practices to move forward.
 History that has been taught and written is
intended for a certain group of audience.
 Example:
 1. The ilustrados - Rizal, Isabelo de los Reyes, Pedro
Paterno – wrote history intended for the Spaniards,
 Why? – so they would realize that Filipinos are people of
their own intellect and culture.
 2.American historians – depicted that Filipinos were
uncivilized in their publications
 Why? – to justify their colonization of the islands to fulfill
their civilizing mission – “white man’s burden”
 Others: North Korea, Nazi Germany, Thailand, Marcos…
One of the problems confronting history is the
accusation that history is always written by
victors.
Connotes: narrative of the past is always
written from the biases of the powerful and
dominant player .
 Example: WWII – USA always appears to be a
hero; and the imperial Japan, as the oppressors.
 Filipinos who collaborated with Japanese as
traitors or collaborators.
 But not always the case…
HISTORY AND THE HISTORIAN
 Ifhistory is written with agenda or is heavily influenced by
the historians, is it possible to come up with an absolute
historical truth?
 Is history an objective discipline?
 If it is not, is it still worthwhile to study history?
 Indeed, an exact and accurate account of the past is
impossible.
 Why? Simple reason…we cannot go back to the past….we
cannot access the past directly as our subject matter.
 Historians only get access representation of the past through
historical sources and evidences.
HISTORY AND THE HISTORIAN
 Historian’s Job:
 Not just to seek historical evidences and facts, but also to
interpret this facts.
 POSITIVISM: POINTS TO PONDER

• School of thought that emerged between the 18th and 19th century.
• Requires empirical and observable evidence before one can claim
that a particular knowledge is true.
• Also entails an objective means of arriving at a conclusion.
• 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.
• Positivist historians are also expected to be objective and impartial
not just in their arguments but also on their conduct of historical
research.
 POSTCOLONIALISM

• A school of thought that emerged in the early 20th century when

formerly colonized nations grappled with the idea of creating their
identities and understanding their societies against the shadows of
their colonial past.
• Postcolonial history looks at two things:
1. to tell the history of their nation that will highlight their identity
free from that of colonial discourse and knowledge
2. to criticize the methods, effects, and idea of colonialism
• Postcolonial history is therefore a reaction and an alternative to the
colonial history that colonial powers created and taught to their
subjects.
HISTORICAL SOURCES:
 Primary Sources are those sources produced at the same
time as the event, period, or subject being studied.
 Examples: subject of study – Commonwealth Constitution
Convention of 1935
 Primary sources:
a. minutes of the convention, newspaper clippings,
Philippine Commission reports of the US Commissioners,
records of the event
b. Eyewitness accounts of convention delegates and their
memoirs
• Other primary sources:
• Archival documents, memorabilia, letters, census and
government records
HISTORICAL SOURCES:
 Secondary Sources are those sources which where
produced by an author who used primary sources
to produce material.
 For Example:
* On the subject of the Philippine Revolution of
1896, students can read Teodoro Agoncillo’s Revolt
of the Masses: The Story of Bonifacio and the
Katipunan published originally in 1956. The
Philippine Revolution happened in the last years of
the nineteenth century while Agoncillo published his
work in 1956, which makes the Revolt of the Masses
a secondary source
Techniques in Scrutinizing Historical Sources
 External Criticism: is the practice of verifying the
authenticity of of evidence by examining its
physical characteristics:
• Consistency with historical characteristic of the
time when it was produced and the material used
for the evidence.
• Examples:
• Quality of the paper
• Type of ink
• Language and words used in the material
Techniques in Scrutinizing Historical Sources
 Internal Criticism: is the examination of
truthfulness and factuality of the evidence.
 It looks into:
• Content of the source
• Circumstance of the production
• Author of the source
• Its context
• The agenda behind its creation
• Intended purpose
Chapter Exercise
A.True or False:
1. History is the study of the past.
2. Historical sources that were not
written should not used in writing
history.
3. The subject of historiography is history
itself.
Chapter Exercise
A. True or False:
4. History has no use for the present, thus,
the saying “past is past” is true.
5. History is limited to the story of a hero
versus a villain.
6. Only primary sources may be used in
writing history.
7. There three types of sources: primary,
secondary and tertiary sources.
Chapter Exercise
A. True or False:
8. External criticism is done by examining the
physical characteristics of a source.
9. Internal criticism is done by looking at a
source’s quality of paper and type of ink,
among others.
10. The historians are the only source of
history.
B. What Source? Read the following scenarios
and classify the sources as to primary,
secondary or tertiary
1. John was exploring the library in his new school in Manila.
He wanted to study the history of Calamba, Laguna during
the nineteenth century. In one of the books, he saw an
old photograph of a woman standing in an old church,
clipped among the pages. At the back of the photo was a
fine inscription that says: “Kalamba, 16 de Junio 1861.”
Is the photograph a primary, secondary or tertiary
source?
More Samples: c/o hand outs
Editorial Cartoons:
No. 1
No. 2