Readings in Philippine History Emil Aries Layco BSME 2A

explains that knowledge is derived

Chapter 1: The Meaning of History, through conducting a process of
scientific investigation of past events. –
Sources of Historical Data, and Aristotle
Historical Criticisms Theories Constructed by Historian in
Sunday, 15 September 2019 investigating History
1. Factual History
Lesson 1: The Meaning of History  present the readers the plain and basic
1. HISTORY- derived from the Greek Word information: 3 W (what, when, where
HISTORIA, means “knowledge acquired who), 1H
through inquiry/research or investigation or 2. Speculative History
learning by inquiry”  goes beyond facts
- HISTORIA became known as the account  it concerns about the reason for which
of the past of person or of a group of events happened (WHY) and the way
people through written documents and they happened (HOW)
historical evidences.  Cause and effect of an event.
2. HISTORY
Historians- individuals who write history
- study of past- described in written
Traditional Historian- “no document, no history”
documents.
 Unless a written document can prove a
 Referred usually for accounts of
certain historical event, then it cannot
phenomena, especially human affairs in
be considered as historical facts.
chronological order.
Historiography- practice of historical writing
 Became an important academic
 History of history
discipline. Its duty is to write lives of
 Traditional method of doing historical
important individual like monarchs,
research that focus on gathering of
heroes, saints, and nobilities.
documents.
 Focused on writing about wars,
 Imaginative reconstruction of the past
revolutions, and other important
from the data derived by the historical
breakthroughs.
method
 It progressed and opened up to the
Verisimilitude- historian’s aim
possibility of valid historical sources,
 The truth, authenticity, plausibility
which are not limited to written
about a past.
documents, like government records,
Historical Method
chroniclers’ account or personal letters.
 process of critically examining and
Some are keener on passing their history
analyzing the records and survivals of
by word of mouth.
the past.
 “History is the record of what one age
Historical Analysis
finds worthy of note in another”-
 important element of historical
Burckhardt
method.
 “History in its Broadest sense, is
 Historians:
everything that ever happened” – Henry
o Select the subject to investigate
Johnson
o Collect probable sources of
 “The value and interest of history depend
information of the subject
largely on the degree in which the
o Examines the sources
present is illuminated by the past” -VS.
genuineness, in part of in whole
Smith
o Extract credible “particulars”/
 “Story of man’s struggle through the
data or facts from the sources
ages against nature and the elements;
or part of sources.
against wild beasts and the jungle and
some of his own kind who have tried to
keep him down and to exploit him for
their own benefit” – Jawaharal Nehru
 “systematic accounting of a set of
natural phenomena, taking into
consideration the chronological
arrangement of the account” ** this
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Readings in Philippine History
Lesson 2: Sources of Historical Data
Historical Data- are sourced from artifacts that have
been left by the past.
Artifacts- can either be relics or remains, or the
testimonies of witnesses to the past
 Can be found where relics of human
happenings can be found
Relics or Remains
 Offer researchers a clue about the past.
 Examples are: a coin, a ruin, a
manuscript, a book, a portrait, a stamp,
a piece of wreckage, a strand of hair, or
other archeological or anthropological
remains.
Testimonies of Witnesses
 Whether oral or written, or may have
been created to serve as records, such
as the record of property exchange,
speeches, and commentaries
Historian deals with:
 The dynamic or genetics (the becoming)
 Static (the being)
 Aims at being interpretative (explaining
why and how things happened and
were interrelated)
 Descriptive (telling what happened,
when, where, and who took part)
Written Sources of History
1. Narrative or literary
a. Are chronicles or tracts
presented in narrative form.
b. Written to impart a message
whose motives for their
composition vary widely.
c. Example: newspaper article,
personal narrative: diary, novel
or film; bibliography
2. Diplomatic or Judicial
a. Document/record an existing
legal situation or create a new
one, and it is these kinds of
sources that professional
historians once treated as
purest (best source).
Emil Aries Layco BSME 2A
3. Social Documents
a. Information pertaining to
economic, social political, or
judicial significance.
b. Examples: government reports
on municipal accounts, civil
registry records, etc.
Non-written/unwritten sources
1. Material Evidence
a. Also known as archeological
evidence
b. One of the most important
unwritten evidences.
c. Includes artistic creation such as :
pottery, jewelry, dwellings, graves,
churches, roads, etc.
2. Oral evidence
a. Also, an important info for
historians, much are told by the
tales or sagas of ancient peoples
and folk songs or popular rituals
from the pre-modern period of
Philippine History.
b. During the present age, interview is
another major form of oral
evidence
Two General Kinds of Historical Sources
1. Primary Sources or DIRECT
a. Are originals, first-hand account of
an event or period usually written
or made during or close to the
event or period
b. those sources produced at the same
time as the event, period, or subject
being studied
c. regarded as the source of best
evidence. – because the data came
from the testimony of able eye and
eye witness to past events.
d. Provides direct or firsthand
evidence about an event, object, a
person, or a work of art
e. Examples of Primary or Direct
sources: Archival documents,
artifacts, memorabilia, letters,
census, government records,
diaries, journals, newspaper.
f. Different Kind of Primary Sources
i. Literature or Cultural
sources
1. Novels, plays, poem
2. Television shows,
movies, or videos
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Readings in Philippine History Emil Aries Layco
3. Paintings or
photographs
ii. Accounts that describe
events, people, or ideas
1. Newspapers
2. Chronicles or
historical accounts
3. Essays and
speeches
4. Memoirs, diaries,
journals, and letters
5. Philosophical
treatises or
manifestos
iii. Information about people
1. Census records
2. Obituaries
3. Newspaper articles
4. Biographies and
autobiographies
iv. Finding information about
place
1. Maps and atlases
2. Census information
3. Statistics
4. Photographs
5. City directories
6. Local libraries or
historical societies
v. Finding Information about
an organization
1. Archives (held by
libraries,
institutions, or
historical societies)
2. Secondary Sources or INDIRECT
a. Generally, describe, discuss,
interpret, comment upon, analyze,
evaluate, summarize, and process
primary sources
b. Materials made by people long
after the events being described
had taken place to provide valuable
interpretations of historical events
c. Those sources which were
produced by an author who used
primary sources to provide
material.
d. Examples are: biographies,
histories, literary criticism, books
written by a third party about
historical events, art and theater
reviews
e. Newspaper or journal articles that
interpret
BSME 2A
Lesson 3: Historical Criticisms
1. Historical Criticism- examines the origins of
earliest text to appreciate the underlying
circumstances upon which the text came
be.
2. Goals of Historical Criticism
a. To discover the original meaning of
the text in its primitive or historical
context and its literal sense or
sensus literalis historicus.
b. To establish a reconstruction of the
historical situation of the author
and recipients of the text
3. AUTHENTICITY- is determined by external
criticism, whereas
4. CREDIBILITY is established by internal
criticism.
5. Two Types of Historical Criticisms
a. External Criticism – determines the
authenticity of the source.
i. Refers to genuineness of
the documents a researcher
used in a historical study.
ii. Conducts document
analysis using science
iii. The authenticity of the
material may be testes in
two ways:
1. By paleography
(deciphering and
dating of historical
manuscripts)
2. Diplomatic
Criticisms (critical
analysis of historical
document to
understand how
the document came
to be, the
information
transmitted.
b. Internal Criticisms
i. determines the historicity
of the facts contained in the
document. It is not
necessary to prove the
authenticity of the material
or document.
ii. is textual criticism, it
involves factors such as
competence, good faith,
position, and bias of the
author
iii. it looks at the content of
the document to determine
its authenticity.
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Readings in Philippine History Emil Aries Layco BSME 2A
iv. It involves determining the
intention of the source of
date
6. Auxiliary science that help in determining
authenticity and genuineness of a
document
a. EPIGRAPHY
o The study of inscriptions and
the art of deciphering them
b. Diplomatics
o Science of charters and
diplomas and includes
knowledge of the practices and
of forms used in them
c. Paleography
o Study of writing, which has a
history all of its own
d. Philology
o In all its branches is of greatest
use in determining date and
authenticity
7. Greatest influencer upon study of history
a. Archeology – scientific study of life
and culture of the past, especially
ancient peoples, as far as
excavations of ancient cities, relics,
artifacts, etc..
b. Anthropology- the study of
humans, especially of the variety,
physical and cultural characteristics,
distribution, customs, social
relationships, etc. of humanity
c. Prehistory- is history before
recorded history as learned from
archeology
8. Chemistry and the papermaker’s art may
be able to say and have often said that a
given document written on a wood pulp
with a particular ink, for example, cannot be
older than the definite date when these
materials were first manufactured.

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