Eastern Visayas State University Tanauan Campus Preliminary Period

Tanauan, Leyte MODULAR HOME INSTRUCTION

Eastern Visayas
General Education Courses
First Semester SY. 2022-2023
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Module No: 1 & 4

Date: ________
TOPIC: Chapter 1: Introduction to History: Definition, Issues, Sources, and Methodology
RESOURCES: READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY W/ INDIGENOUS PEOPLE STUDIES EDUCATION
SUBJECT CODE: GEN ED 003
INSTRUCTOR: MR. JAY ABDON SILAO

This chapter introduces history as a discipline and a narrative. It presents the definition of the
history, which transcends the common definition of history as the study of the past. This chapter also
discusses several issues in history that consequently opens up for the theoretical aspects of the discipline.
The distinction between primary and secondary sources is also discussed in relation to the historical subject
matter being studied and the historical methodology employed by the historian. Ultimately, this chapter
also tackles the task of the historian as the arbiter of facts and evidences in making his interpretation and
forming historical narrative.

OBJECTIVES:
By the end of this module, students will have completed the following objectives:
• To understand the meaning of history as an academic discipline and to be familiar with the
underlying philosophy and methodology of the discipline.
• To apply the knowledge in historical methodology and philosophy in assessing and analyzing
existing historical narratives.
• To examine and assess critically the value of historical evidences and sources.
• To appreciate the importance of history in the social and national life of the Philippines.
• Evaluate primary sources for credibility, authenticity and provenance.

Study Notes!

1. How will you explain this tagline “History repeat itself”?

2. Why do we need to study history?
3. How history helps our present day?

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 Lesson # 1
Definition and Subject Matter
History was derived from the Greek word historia which means “knowledge acquired through inquiry or
investigation”. History as a discipline existed for around 2,400 years and is 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
academic discipline. It became the historian’s duty to write about
the lives of important individuals like monarchs, heroes, saints,
and nobilities. History was also focused on writing about wars,
revolutions, and other important breakthroughs. It is thus
important to ask: What counts as history? Traditional historians
lived with the mantra of “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 civilization that do not keep written records. Some were keener on passing their history by
words of mouth.

Others got their historical documents burned or destroyed in the events of war or colonization. Restricting
historical evidence as exclusively written is also discrimination against other social classes who were not
recorded in paper. Nobilities, monarchs, the elite, and even the middle class would have their birth,
education, marriage, and death as matter of government and historical record. But what of peasant families
or indigenous groups who were not given much thought about being registered to government records?
Does the absence of written documents about them mean that they were people of no history or past? Did
they even exist?

Lesson # 2
Question and Issues in History

Indeed, history as a discipline has already turned into a complex

and dynamic inquiry. This dynamism inevitably produced various
perspectives on the discipline regarding different questions like:
What is history? Why study
history? And history for
whom? These questions can
be answered by
historiography. In simple
terms, historiography is the
history of history. History and historiography should not be confused
with each other. The former’s subject of study is the past, the events
that happened in the past, and the causes of such events. The latter’s
object of study, on the other hand is history itself (i.e., How was a

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 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?). Thus, historiography lets the students have
a better understanding of history. They do not only get to learn historical facts, but they are also provided
with the understanding of the facts’ and the historian’s contexts. The methods employed by the historian
and the theory and perspective, which guided him, will also be analyzed. Historiography is important for
someone who studies history because it teaches the students to be critical in the lessons of history presented
to him.

Positivism is the school of thought that emerged between the eighteenth and nineteenth century. This
thought requires empirical and observable evidences before one can claim that a particular knowledge
is true. Positivism also entails an objective means of arriving at a conclusion. In the discipline of history,
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 is a school of thought that emerged in the early twentieth 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 of their nations that will highlight their
identity free from that of colonial discourse and knowledge, and second is 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.

Lesson # 3
History and the Historian

If history 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? It is not,
is it still worthwhile to study history? These questions
have haunted historians for many generations. Indeed, an
exact and accurate account of the past is impossible for
the very simple reason that we cannot go back to the past.
We cannot access the past directly as our subject matter.
Historians only get to access representation of the past
through historical sources and evidences.

Historical research requires rigor. Despite the fact that

historians cannot ascertain absolute objectivity, the study
of history remains scientific because of the rigor of
research and methodology that historians remain
scientific because of the rigor of research and
methodology that historians employ. Historical
methodology comprises certain techniques and rules that historians follow in order to properly utilize sources
and historical evidences in writing history. Certain rules apply in cases of conflicting accounts in different
sources, and on how to properly treat eyewitness accounts and oral sources as valid historical evidences. In
doing so, historical claims done by historians and the arguments that they forward in their historical
writings, while may be influenced by the historian’s inclinations, can still be validated by using reliable
evidences and employing correct and meticulous historical methodology

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 The Annales School of History is a school of history born in France that challenged the canons of history.
This school of thought did away with the common historical subjects that were almost always related to
the conduct of states and monarchs. Annals scholars like Lucien Febvre, Marc Bloch, Fernand Braudel,
and Jacques Le Goff studied other subjects in a historical manner. They were concerned with the social
history and studied longer, historical periods. For example, Annales scholars studied the history of
peasantry, the history of medicine, or even the history of environment. The history from below was
pioneered by the same scholars. They advocated that the people and classes who were not reflected in
the history of the society in the grand manner be provided with space in the records of mankind. In doing
this, Annales thinkers married history with other disciplines like geography, anthropology, archaeology,
and linguistics.

Lesson # 4
Historical Sources
With the past as history’s subjects matter, the historian’s most
important research tools are historical sources. In general,
historical sources can be classified between primary sources.
The classification of sources between these two categories
depends on the historical subjects being studied.

Primary Sources are those sources produced at the same time as

the event, period, or subject being studied. For example, if a
historian wishes to study the Commonwealth Constitution
Convention of 1935, his primary sources can include the
minutes of the convention, newspaper clippings, Philippine
Commission reports of the U.S Commissioners, records of the
convention, the draft of the Constitution, and even photographs
of the event. 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.

On the other hand, Secondary Sources are those sources, which

were produced by an author who used primary sources to produce
the materials. In other words, secondary sources are historical
subjects. 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 nineteenth century while Agoncillo published his
work in 1956, which makes the Revolt of the Masses a secondary source with this research like documents
of the Katipunan, interview with the veterans of the Revolution, and correspondence between and among
Katipuneros.

However, a student should not be confused about what counts as a primary or secondary sources. As
mentioned above, the classification of sources between primary and secondary depends not on the period
when the source was produced or 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

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 usual but not automatic. Of 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-America 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, historian 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. 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 materials, among others.

Internal criticism, on the other hand, is the examination of the truthfulness of the evidences. It looks at the
content of the source and examines the circumstances 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. For example,
Japanese reports and declaration during the period of the war should not be taken as a historical fact hastily.

Chapter Exercise

A. True or False. Write true if the statement is true. Otherwise, write false in the space provided.

_______1. History is the study of the Past.

_______2. Historical sources that were not written should not be used in writing
history.
_______3. Then subject of historiography is history itself.
_______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 are three types of sources: primary, secondary, and tertiary sources.
_______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 discovered as primary, secondary,
or tertiary sources. Write your answer in the space provided.

1. Jose 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 front of an old church, clipped among the pages. At the back of the photo was a fine
inscription that says: “Kalamba, 19 de Junio 1861”.

Is the photograph a primary, secondary, or a tertiary source?

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2. It was Lean’s first day in his first year of college in a big university. His excitement made him come
to class unusually early and he found their classroom empty. He explored the classroom and sat at the

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 teacher’s table. He looked at the table drawer and saw a book entitled U.G. An Underground Tale:
The Journey of Edgar Jopson and the First Quarter Storm Generation. He started reading the book
and realized that it was a biography of a student leader turned political activist during the time of
Ferdinand Marcos. The author used interviews with friends and family of Jopson, and other primary
documents related to his work and life.

Is the book a primary, secondary, or a tertiary source?

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3. Lorena was a new teacher of Araling Panlipunan in a small elementary school in Mauban, Quezon.
Her colleagues gave her the new textbook that she ought to use in class. Before the class started,
Lorena studied the textbook carefully. She noted that the authors used works by other known historians
in writing the textbook. She saw that the bibliography included Teodoro Agoncillo’s The Revolt of the
Masses and The Fateful Years: Japan’s Adventure in the Philippines, 1941-45. She also saw that the
authors used Ma. Luisa Camagay’s Working Women of Manila During the 19 th Century and many
others.

Is the textbook a primary, secondary, or a tertiary source?

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4. Manuel visited the United States for a few months to see his relatives who have lived there for decades.
His uncle brought him on tours around Illinois. Manuel visited the Field Museum of Natural History
where a golden image of a woman caught his eye. Manuel looked closer and read that the image was
called “The Golden Tara.” It originated from Agusan del Sur and was bought by the museum in 1922.
It was believed to be made prior to the arrival of the Spaniards in the Philippines.

Is the sculpture a primary, secondary, or tertiary source?

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5. Gregoria loved to travel around the country. She liked bringing with her a travel brochure that informs
her of the different sites worth visiting in the area. Her travel brochure was usually produced by the
tourism department of the province. It shows pictures of destination visited by tourist and a few basic
information about the place like the origin of the name, the historical significance of the place, and
some other information acquired by the office’s researchers and writers.

Is the travel brochure a primary, secondary, or tertiary source?

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C. My Primary Source. Using the examples of a primary source in this chapter, bring a primary source
that can be used in the writing of your life history. Present this in class and discuss how it qualifies as a
primary source.

References

Carr, E (1991). What Is History. London, United Kingdom: Penguin.

Lemon, M. (1995). The Discipline of History and the History of Thought. New York, United States of America:
Routledge.
Tosh, J. (2002). The Pursuit of History: Aims, Methods, and New Directions in the Study of Modern History
(Revised 3rd Ed.). London, United Kingdom: Pearson Education Ltd.

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