RPH Lesson1

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READINGS IN

PHILIPPINE
HISTORY
INTRODUCTION TO HISTORY:
DEFINITION, ISSUES, SOURCES, AND METHODOLOGY
LEARNING OBJECTIVE:

To understand the
To apply the knowledge in
meaning of history as
historical methodology
an academic
and philosophy in
discipline and to be
assessing and analyzing
familiar with the
existing historical
underlying philosophy
narratives.
and methodology.

To examine and To appreciate the


assess critically importance of
the value of history in the
historical social and national
evidences and life of the
sources. Philippines.
This chapter introduces the following:

•History
•Several Issues in History
•Distinction of Primary and Secondary
Sources
•Task of Historian
What is History?
Definition and Subject Matter

• from the Greek word historia which means


“knowledge acquired through inquiry or
investigation”.
• Existed for around 2400 years.
• Historia became known as the account of the
past of a person or of a group of people
through written documents and historical
evidences.
Definition and Subject Matter

• History focused on writing about wars,


revolutions and other important breakthroughs.

• “No document, No history”

• history progressed and opened up to the


possibility of valid historical sources.
Definition and Subject Matter

• 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.
Definition and Subject Matter

• 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 they were people of no history or
past?
• Did they even exist?
Definition and Subject Matter
History became more inclusive and started
collaborating with other disciplines such
as:

• Archeologist
• Linguists
• Scientist
QUESTIONS AND ISSUES IN HISTORY
History
- The past, event that happened in the past
and the causes of such events.

Historiography
-is the history of history.
- History itself
QUESTIONS AND ISSUES IN HISTORY
History played various roles in the past

• It unites a nation
• It make sense of the present
QUESTIONS AND ISSUES IN HISTORY

Any history that has been taught and


written is always intended for a certain
group of audience.
QUESTIONS AND ISSUES IN HISTORY

One of the problems confronted by history


is the accusation that the history is
always written by victors.
HISTORY AND THE HISTORIAN
• If history is written with agenda or
heavily influenced by the historian, 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?
HISTORY AND THE HISTORIAN

Therefore, it is the historian’s job


not just to seek historical evidences
and facts but also to interpret these
facts.
HISTORY AND THE HISTORIAN

-The historian is not a blank paper.


-He is a person of his own who is
influenced by his own context,
environment, ideology, education, and
influences among others.
HISTORY AND THE HISTORIAN

Historical Historical
methodology
research comprises certain
requires techniques and
rigor. rules that
historians follow.
HISTORY AND THE HISTORIAN

•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 evidence
HISTORICAL SOURCES

Primary Sources

- Are those sources produced at


the same time as the event,
period, or subject being studied.
HISTORICAL SOURCES

Secondary Sources

- Are those sources, which were


produced by an author who used
primary sources to produce the
material.
HISTORICAL SOURCES

For example:
On the subject of 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
HISTORICAL SOURCES

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.
HISTORICAL SOURCES

For example:
If a historian wishes to write the
history of education in the 1980s, he
can utilize textbooks used in that
period as a primary source.
HISTORICAL SOURCES

For example:
If a historian wishes to study the
historiography of the Filipino-American
War, he can use works of different
authors on the topic as his primary
source as well.
HISTORICAL SOURCES

The historian should be able to conduct


an external and internal criticism.
External Criticism

Is the practice of verifying the


authenticity of evidence by examining its
physical characteristics; consistency with
the historical characteristic of the time
it was produced; and the materials used
for evidence.
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.
Validating historical sources is
important because the use of
unverified, falsified, and
untruthful historical sources can
lead to equally false conclusion
ACTIVITY 1
Essay:
•Discuss the importance of being
able to scrutinize historical
sources using internal and
external criticism.

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