DANICA YAMBAO 1OMT 1S

READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY

Isabel Annesley Abao

• What is History?
o From the Greek word “historia/historie”.
▪ Information.
▪ Learning.
▪ Inquiry designed to elicit the truth.
▪ Investigation.
o Traditional Definition
▪ Records of the past.
▪ Record of human past.
• Past of mankind (Gottschalk, p.43).
▪ Based only on written accounts.
• Interviews/oral history/oral traditions and cultural artifacts are not considered records.
o Made up of:
▪ Material Culture
• Artifacts and remains.
• Example: Lantaka
▪ Immaterial Culture
• Superstitions, beliefs, and religion.
o Modern Definition
▪ Reconstruction of the past based on available written records, oral history, cultural artifacts, and
folk traditions.
▪ History is Contemporaneous – laging napapanahon o laging may bago dahil hindi natatapos ang
kasaysayan natin.
▪ Study of events and developments.
▪ Involves the collection, analysis, and synthesis of sources.
▪ Historians should do the important tasks of:
• Interpreting and recreating facts in an orderly and intelligible manner.
• Discovering patterns and trends (Theories in History).
▪ We see history depending on our interests but biases must be avoided.
o Kasaysayan
▪ Saysay
• Katuturan, kabuluhan, kahulugan.
▪ Salaysay
• Kuwento.
▪ Samakatuwid, ang kasaysayan ay salaysay hinggil sa nakaraan na may saysay para sa sariling
lipunan at kultura.
o History
▪ Interpretative and imaginative study of surviving records of the past, either written or unwritten,
in order to determine the meaning and scope of human existence.
▪ The soul of a nation that provides information of past events.

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• Divisions of History

o Unrecorded History (Pre-Historic)

▪ Refers to those early times of which there are no written records.
▪ No system of writing existed.
o Recorded History (Historic)
▪ Refers to that period which there are written records of some kind.
• Why Study History?
o Uses of History
▪ Bridges the gap between the present and the past.
▪ Explains causes of things and events.
▪ Interprets conditions of a given space and time.
▪ Gives the student a greater tolerance for the opinion of others.
▪ Serves as a tool in understanding self and development of national identity.
▪ Promotes nationalism and patriotism.
• Sources of History
o Primary Sources
▪ Written at the time the event occurred, by someone who was part of the event or witness of the
event.
▪ Graphic/visual materials and artifacts.
▪ Fossils.
▪ Oral tradition (oral literature, interviews).
o Secondary Sources
▪ Based on primary sources.
▪ Usually found in textbooks, encyclopedias, journal articles.
o Written Sources
▪ Chronicle, diary, memoirs, report, letter,.
▪ Diplomatic dispatch, surveyor’s notes.
▪ Social documents:
• Birth, death, marriage certificates.
• Church, police, school, government, business, hospital records.
• Title deeds, census reports, directories, souvenir programs.
• Statistical tables, graphs, charts.
▪ Dictionaries, inscriptions, literary works.
o Unwritten Sources
▪ Archeological evidence:
• Creative expressions, arts and crafts.
• Old sketches/drawings.
• Photographs, heirlooms, keepsakes.
• Tools, weapons, utensils, coins.
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• Old structures and landmarks, old maps.
• Buried artifacts, skeletal remains, funeral paraphernalia.
▪ Oral evidence, recordings.
• Tales, folk songs, protest songs, popular rituals.
▪ Graffiti.

METHOD OF DETERMINING AGE RANGE PROCESS

AGE OF ARTIFACTS
CULTURAL DATING Up to 5,000 years ago. Use written records of known age to
(Use of Written Records) date artifacts along with them.

Absolute Dating Archeologists decide based on years of

an object.

Relative Dating Comparison with other objects.

SCIENTIFIC DATING

Dendrochronology Up to about 8, 000 years ago. Match the pattern in wooden object to a
master tree ring pattern; count the rings.

Radiocarbon Dating From about 1,000 to 60,000 years Measure the amount of radiocarbon
ago. remaining in the object (remains of
plants and animals).

Potassium Argon Dating More than 500,000 years ago. Compare the amounts of potassium and
argon present in volcanic rock (bones
and tools inside rocks).

• Oral History
o Pass knowledge, culture, tradition and history through word of mouth
o Usually in the form of stories, songs, folktales, epics, myths and legends.
o Although they are not written, can be considered as history because they provide a clear description of
society’s past.
• Levels of History
o Scope
▪ Biography
▪ Genealogy
▪ Local History
▪ National History
o Focus
▪ Political History
▪ Cultural History
▪ Special History
▪ Metahistory
• 2 Components in History
o Sources
o Historian

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• Historical Methodology
o Choosing a topic.
o Gathering of sources.
o Examination of sources or Historical Criticism (External and Internal Criticism).
o Extraction of data from authentic and credible sources.
o Writing of history.
▪ Must be well-organized, coherent and elegantly written.
• Historical Criticism
o External Criticism
▪ Question of authenticity.
▪ Two types of inauthentic sources:
• Do not originate from where/when they claim.
• Contain inaccurate information.
▪ Check materials for anachronism.
▪ Examines the physical appearance of the document (eg: color of paper used, condition and
characteristics of the paper, ink used, handwriting style, etc.)
▪ Examines the content, words used in the document.
▪ Auxiliary Tools
• Paleography (handwriting).
• Diplomatics (charters, conventions).
• Archaeology (archaeomagnetic analysis, dendrochronology).
• Statistics (marriage, birth records, economic growth).
• Sigillography (seals).
• Chronology (ways of keeping, marking time).
• Codicology (handwritten books- material, binding, cataloging, preservation).
• Papyrology (writing on papyrus).
• Epigraphy (texts written on stone/metal).
• Heraldry (coats of arms).
• Numismatics (coins).
• Linguistics (grammar vocabularies).
• Genealogy (family relationships).
• Proposography (biographical materials to construct group portraits).
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o Internal Criticism
▪ Problem of credibility.
▪ Higher level criticism.
▪ Source criticism.
▪ Genesis of Source (Provenance)
• Where source was produced, by whom, when?
▪ Interpretation
• Deciphering intended meaning of author.
▪ Authorial Authority
• With what authority does the author speak?
▪ Competence of Eyewitness
• Psychological state of author, selectivity of report, prejudices, outside influences
especially of higher authorities.
• Could observer have understood what s/he saw.
• Was observer technically or socially qualified to understand what s/he saw.
• Could observer actually believe what he saw.
• Difference between what observer might consciously know and be able to report and the
way her/his consciousness is affected by the culture s/he inhabits.
▪ Trustworthiness of Observer
• Tendency of people to lie necessitates the study of the author’s life
• Check for inconsistencies, lapses, suppressions in the story.
• Political motives, pressures (fear for life, or well-being, job security, influence,
connections), vanity.
• Difficulties in the Writing and Study of History
o Scarcity of written materials especially in the local level.
o Problems of paleography and translation with regard to documents written in Spanish and other foreign
languages.
o Biases and prejudices on the part of the foreign writers.
o Lack of representative materials for the whole country.
o Lack of trained historians.
• Is History an Art or a Science?
o As a social science discipline.
▪ A systematic study of written and unwritten accounts about the past events.
▪ The methodology of the historian is scientific in so far as it does not permit the imagination to
impede with the collection and investigation (i.e. taking into account the authenticity and
credibility) of historical data.
o As branch of the humanities
▪ Historian may use his imagination to re-capture the past as closely as the data allow him in order
to give it life, meaning and relevance.
▪ Teodoro Agoncillo
• Any historical piece becomes a dull compilation of data devoid of life, which for him is
not history (since history deals with life as it was lived).

PIGAFETTA’S ACCOUNT SUMMARY

• Educational and Professional Background
o Educational
▪ Astronomy
▪ Cartography
▪ Geography
o Professional
▪ Writer
▪ Geographer
▪ Seafarer

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• Relevance of the Readings at the Present Situation of the Country
o The 3 Gs (God, Gold, and Glory)
o Conflict between religious groups.
o Social hierarchy.
o Separation of Church and State.
• Relevance of the Readings to Students
o It involves acquiring knowledge of our past as Filipinos.
o Gives a deeper and more detailed narration and insight on how our ancestors lived.
o It gives us a unique insight on what happened from the perspective of an ally of Magellan.
o It gives us the responsibility as students to consider every aspect and understand things from every angle.
o It emphasizes how studying history gives us wide opportunities to gain deeper understanding of past
events.

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