Chapter/ Module 1: Learning History

Lesson 1: Meanings and Relevance of History

historian’s duty

 to draw insights from the ideas and realities that have shaped the lives of men and women and
the society.
 To write about the lives of important individuals like monarchs, heroes, saints, and nobilities.

historian (or, in fact, a student of history) can comprehend how situations happened, identify their
elements, and think of how these situations can solve today’s predicaments, and help them plan for the
future.

study of history the study of the beliefs and desires, practices, and institutions of human beings.

WHY STUDY HISTORY?

An examination of the past can tell us a great deal about how we came to be who we are. It means
looking at the roots of modern institutions, ideas, values, and problems.

Looking at the past teaches us to see the world through different eyes-appreciating the diversity of
human perceptions, beliefs, and cultures. Different and/or new perspectives will enable us to analyze
critically the present contexts of our society and beings.

THE DEFINITION AND SUBJECT MATTER

 History was derived from the Greek word historia which means “knowledge acquired through
inquiry or investigation”.

 History as a disciplined existed for around 2, 400 years and is as old as mathematics and
philosophy. This term was then adapted to classical Latin where it acquired a new definition

 Historia became known as the account of the past of a person or a group of people through
written documents and historical evidences. That meaning stuck until the early parts of the
twentieth century. History became an important discipline.

History was also focused on writing wars, revolutions, and other important breakthroughs. It is thus
important to ask: What counts as history?
  Traditional historians lived with the mantra “no document, no history”. It means that unless a
written document can prove a certain historical event, then it cannot be considered as a
historical fact.

But as any other academic disciplines, history progressed and opened up to the possibility of valid
historical sources, which were not limited to written documents, like government records, chroniclers’
accounts, or personal letters. Giving premium to written documents essentially invalidates the history of
other civilizations that do not keep written records.
 Restricting historical evidence as exclusively written is also discrimination against other social
classes who were not recorded in paper.

Other Definitions of History:

 History is defined as a documented record of man and his society. (Gray, 1956, pp.1-3).
 As a field of study, history is a study of man and his achievements from the beginning of written
records to the present.
 As a literary form of history is an effective presentation of the unfolding events. But as a type of
literature history falls under non-fiction work.
 History comes from social history which defines it as a record of events showing the evolution
of man and his society from the earliest and from the age of barbarism to what he is today.

Understanding History
Why don’t we learn from history? (An excerpt from Lidell Hart, 1971)
What is the objective of history? One would simply answer, quite simply - “truth”. It is a word and an
idea that has gone out of fashion.
 The object might be more cautiously expressed thus: to find out what happened while trying to
find out why it happened. It seeks the casual relations between events.
 History has limitations as a guiding signpost; although it can show us the right direction, it does
not give detailed information about the road conditions. But its negative value as a warning sign
is more definite.
 History can show us what to avoid, even if it does not teach us what to do - by showing the most
common mistakes that mankind is apt to make and to repeat.
A second object lies in the practical value of history. The knowledge gained from the study of true
history is the best of all education for practical life. The study of history embraces every aspect of life. It
lays the foundation of education by showing how mankind repeats its errors and what those errors are.

Importance and Uses of History

Given are the uses of history as summarized by Foray and Salevouris (1988). Some of these are
interestingly explained by B.H. Lidedell Hart (1971).

A. History provides a source of personal and social identity.

B. History helps us understand the problems of the present.
C. History – good history – corrects misleading analogies and “lessons” of the past.
D. History can help one develop tolerance and open-mindedness.
E. History helps us better understand all human behaviors and all aspects of the human condition.
F. History provides the basic background for many disciplines.
G. History can be a source of entertainment.
H. History, when studied, can teach many critical skills.

Lesson 2: Historical Sources

With the past as history's subject matter, the historian's most important research tools are historical
sources.
 In general, historical sources can be classified between primary and secondary sources.
The classification of sources between these two categories depends on the historical subject being
studied.
 Primary sources are those sources produced at the same time as the event, period, or subject
being studied. Consist of documents, memoir, accounts, and other materials that were
produced at the period of the event or subject being studied.
Eyewitness accounts of convention delegates and their memoirs can also be used as primary
sources. The same goes with other subjects of historical study. Archival documents, artifacts,
memorabilia, letters, census, and government records, among others are the most common
examples of primary sources.
 Secondary sources are those sources, which were produced by an author who used primary
sources to produce the material. In other words, secondary sources are historical sources, which
studied a certain historical subject.

The classification of sources between primary and secondary depends not on the period when the
source was produced or the type of the source but on the subject of the historical research. For
example, a textbook is usually classified as a secondary source, a tertiary source even. However, this
classification is usual but not automatic. If a historian chooses to write the history of education in
the 1980s, he can utilize textbooks used in that period as a primary source. If a historian wishes to
study the historiography of the Filipino-American War for example, he can use works of different
authors on the topic as his primary source as well.

Both primary and secondary sources are useful in writing and learning history. However, historians
and students of history need to thoroughly scrutinize these historical sources to avoid deception and
to come up with the historical truth. The historian should be able to conduct an external and
internal criticism of the source, especially primary sources which can age in centuries.

 External criticism is the practice of verifying the authenticity of evidence by examining its
physical characteristics; consistency with the historical characteristic of the time when it was
produced; and the materials used for the evidence.
 External criticism examines the authenticity of the document or the evidence being used. This is
important in ensuring that the primary source is not fabricated
Examples of the things that will be examined when conducting external criticism of a document
include the quality of the paper, the type of the ink, and the language and words used in the
material, among others.

 Internal criticism, is the examination of the truthfulness of the evidence. It looks at the content
of the source and examines the circumstance of its production.
 Internal criticism looks at the truthfulness and factuality of the evidence by looking at the
author of the source, its context, the agenda behind its creation, the knowledge which informed
it, and its intended purpose, among others.
 internal criticism examines the truthfulness of the content of the evidence. However, this
criticism requires not just the act establishing truthfulness and/or accuracy but also the
examination of the primary sources in terms of the context of its production. For example, a
historian would have to situate the document in the period of its production, or in the
background of its authors. In other words, it should be recognized that facts are neither existing
in a vacuum nor produced from a blank slate. These are products of the time and of the people.
For example, Japanese reports and declarations during the period of the war should not be taken as
a historical fact hastily. Internal criticism entails that the historian acknowledge and analyze how
such reports can be manipulated to be used war propaganda. Validating historical sources is
important because the use of unverified, falsified, and untruthful historical sources can lead to
equally false conclusions. Without thorough criticisms of historical evidences; historical deceptions
and lies will be highly probable.

 One of the most scandalous cases of deception in Phiippine history is the hoax Code of
Kalantiaw. The code was a set of rules contained in an epic, Maragtas, which was allegedly
written by a certain Datu Kalantiaw.
 The document was sold to the National Library and was regarded as an important
precolonial document until 1968, when American historian William Henry Scott debunked
the authenticity of the code due to anachronism and 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. This claim, however, was disproven when historians
counterchecked Marcos's claims with the war records of the United States. These cases
prove how deceptions can propagate without rigorous historical research.

 The task of the historian 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.
History, like other academic discipline, has come a long way but still has a lot of remaining tasks to do. It
does not claim to render absolute and exact judgment because as long as questions are continuously
asked, and as long as time unfolds, the study of history can never be complete.

 The task of the historian is to organize the past that is being created so that it can offer lessons
for nations, societies, and civilization.
 It is the historian's job to seek for the meaning of recovering the past to let the people see the
continuing relevance of provenance, memory, remembering, and historical understanding for
both the present and the future.

Philippine historiography underwent several changes since the precolonial period until the present.
Ancient Filipinos narrated their history through communal songs and epics that they passed orally from
a generation to another.

When the Spaniards came, their chroniclers started recording their observations through written
accounts. The perspective of historical writing and inquiry also shifted. The Spanish colonizers narrated
the history of their colony in a bipartite view. They saw the age before colonization as a dark period in
the history of the islands, until they brought light through Western thought and Christianity.

Early nationalists refuted this perspective and argued the tripartite view. They saw the precolonial
society as a luminous age that ended with darkness when the colonizers captured their freedom. They
believed that the light would come again once the colonizers were evicted from the Philippines.

Filipino historian Zeus Salazar introduced the new guiding philosophy for writing and teaching history:
pantayong pananaw (for us-trom us perspective). This perspective highlights the importance of
facilitating an internal conversation and discourse among Filipinos about our own history, using the
language that is understood by everyone.

CHAPTER/ MODULE 2: CONTENT AND CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF SELECTED PRIMARY SOURCES IN

PHILIPPINE HISTORY

 The historian's primary tool of understanding and interpreting the past is the historical sources.
Historical sources ascertain historical facts.
 Historians who study certain historical subjects and events need to make use of various primary
sources in order to weave the narrative.
Lesson 1 The KKK and the Kartilya ng Katipunan
The Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KAK) or Katipunan is
arguably the most important organization formed in the Philippine history. While anti-colonial
movements, efforts, and organizations had already been established centuries prior to the foundation of
the katipunan, it was only this organization that envisioned
 1. a united Filipino nation that would revolt against the Spaniards for
2. the total independence of the country from Spain.

Previous armed revolts had already occurred before the foundation of the Katipunan, but none of them
envisioned a unified Filipino nation revolting against the colonizers. For example, Diego Silang was
known as an llocano who took up his arms and led one of the longest running revolts in the country.
Silang. however, was mainly concerned about his locality and referred to himself as El Rey de Ilocos (The
King of locos).

The imagination of the nation was largely absent in the aspirations of the local revolts before Katipunan.
On the other hand, the propaganda movements led by the ilustrados like Marcelo H. del Pilar, Graciano
Lopez Jaena, and Jose Rizal did not envision a total separation of the Philippines from Spain, but only
demanded equal rights, representation and protection from the abuses of the friars.

In the conduct of their struggle, Katipunan created a complex structure and a defined value system that
would guide the organization as a collective aspiring for a single goal. One of the most important
Katipunan documents was the Kartilya ng Katipunan. The original title of the document was "Manga
[sic] Aral Nang [sic] Katipunan ng mga A.N.B." or "Lessons of the Organization of the Sons of Country"
The document was written by Emilio Jacinto in the 1896.

 Jacinto was only 18 years old when he joined the movement. He was a law student at the
Universidad de Santo Tomas. Despite his youth, Bonifacio recognized the value and intellect of
Jacinto that upon seeing that Jacinto's Kartilya was much better than the Decalogue he wrote,
he willingly favored that the Kartilya be distributed to their fellow Katipuneros.
 Jacinto became the secretary of the organization and took charge of the short-lived printing
press of the Katipunan. On 15 April 189 Bonifacio appointed Jacinto as a commander of the
Katipunan in Northern Luzon. Jacinto was 22 years old. He died of Malaria at a young age ot 24
in the town of Magdalena, Laguna.

The Kartilya can be treated as the Katipunan's code of conduct. It contains fourteen rules that
instruct the way a Katipunero should behave, and which specific values should he uphold. Generally,
the rules stated in the Kartilya can be classified into two. The first group contains the rules that will
make the member an upright individual and the second group contains the rules that will guide the
way he treats his fellow men.

Below is the translated version of the rules in Kartilya:

I. The life that is not consecrated to a lofty and reasonable purpose is a tree without a shade, if
not a poisonous weed.
II. To do good for personal gain and not for its own sake is not a virtue.
III. It is rational to be charitable and love one's fellow creature, and to adjust one's conduct, acts
and words to what is in itself reasonable.
 IV. Whether our skin be black or white, we are all born equal: Superiority in knowledge, wealth and
beauty are to be understood, but not superiority by nature.
V. The honorable man preters honor to personal gain; the scoundrel, gain to honor.
VI. To the honorable man, his word is sacred.
VII. Do not waste thy time: wealth can be recovered but not time lost
VIII. Defend the oppressed and fight the oppressor before the law or in the field.
IX. The prudent man is sparing in words and faithful in keeping secrets.
X. On the thorny path of life, man is the guide of woman and the children, and if the guide leads to
the precipice, those whom he guides will also go there.
XI. Thou must not look upon woman as a mere plaything, but as faithful companion who will share
with thee the penalties of life; her (physical) weakness will increase thy interest in her and she
will remind thee of the mother who bore thee and reared thee.
XII. What thou dost not desire done unto thy wife, children, brothers and sisters, that do not unto
the wife, children, brothers and sisters of thy neighbor.
XIII. Man is not worth more because he is a king, because his nose is aquiline, and his color white,
not because he is a priest, a servant of God, nor because of the high prerogative that he enjoys
upon earth, but he is worth most who is a man of proven and real value, who does good, keeps
his words, is worthy and honest; he who does not oppress nor consent to being oppressed, he
who loves and cherishes his fatherland though he be born in the wilderness and know no tongue
but his own.
XIV. When these rules of conduct shall be known to all, the longed- for sun of Liberty shall rise
brilliant over this most unhappy portion of the globe and its rays shall diffuse everlasting joy
among the confederated brethren of the same rays, the lives of those who have gone before,
the fatigues and the well-paid sufferings will remain. If he who desires to enter has informed
himself of all this and believes he will be able to perform what will be his duties, he may fill out
the application for admission.

As the primary governing document, which determines the rules of conduct in the Katipunan, properly
understanding the Kartilya will thus help in understanding the values, ideals, aspirations, and even the
ideology of the organization.

Analysis of the "Kartilya ng Katipunan

This primary source also needs to be analyzed in terms of content and context. As a written
document for a fraternity whose main purpose is to overthrow a colonial regime, we can explain the
content and provisions of the Kartilya as a reaction and response to certain value systems that they
found despicable in the present state of things that they struggled against with.
For example, in the fourth and the thirteen rules in the Kartilya are an invocation of the inherent
equality between and among men regardless of race, occupation or status. In the context of the Spanish
colonial era where the indios were treated as the inferior of the white Europeans, the Katipunan saw to
it that the alternative order that they wished to promulgate through their revolution necessarily
destroyed this kind of unjust hierarchy.
 Moreover, one can analyze the values upheld in the document as consistent with the
burgeoning rational and liberal ideals in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Equality, tolerance,
freedom, and liberty were values that first emerged in the eighteenth century French Revolution, which
spread throughout Europe and reached the educated class of the colonies. Jacinto, an ilustrado himself,
certainly got an understanding of these values. Aside from the liberal values that can be dissected in the
document, we can also decipher certain Victorian and chivalrous values in the text. For example, various
provisions in the Kartilya repeatedly emphasized the importance of honor in words and in action. The
teaching of the Katipunan on how women should be treated with honor and respect, while positive in
many respects and certainly a significant stride from the practice of raping and physically abusing
women, can still be telling of the Katipunan's secondary regard for women in relation to men. For
example, in the tenth rule, tne document of specifically stated that men should be the guide of women
and children, and that he should set a good example, otherwise the women and children would be
guided guided in the path of evil. Nevertheless, the same documents stated that women should be
treated as companions of men not as playthings that can be exploited for their pleasure.

ln the contemporary eyes, the Katipunan can be criticized because of these provisions. However,
one must not forget the context where the organization was born. Not even in Europe or in the whole of
the West at that juncture recognized the problem of gender inequality. Indeed, it can be argued that
Katipunan's recognition of women as important partners in the struggle, as reflected not just in Kartilya
but also in the organizational structure of the fraternity where a women's unit was established, is an
endeavor advanced for its time. Aside from Rizal's known Letter to the Women of Malolos, no same
effort by the supposed cosmopolitan Propaganda Movement was achieved until the movement's
eventual disintegration in the latter part of the 1890s.

Aside from this, the Kartilya was instructive not just of the Katipunan's conduct toward other
people, but also for the members' development as individuals in their own rights. Generally speaking,
the rules in the Kartilya can be classified as either directed to how one should treat his neighbor or to
how one should develop and conduct one's self. Both are essential to the success and fulfillment of the
Katipunan's ideals. For example, the Kartilya's teachings on honoring one's word and not wasting time
are teachings directed toward self-development, while the rules on treating the neighbor's wife,
children, and brothers the way that you want yours to be treated is an instruction on how Katipuneros
should treat and regard their neighbors.

All in all, proper reading of the Kartilya will reveal a more thorough understanding of the
Katipunan and the significant role that it played in the revolution and in the unfolding of the Philippine
history, as we know it.