GE 2 FIRST QUIZ REVIEWER

Historians, it is said, fall into one of

three categories:

Those who lie.

Those who are mistaken.
Those who do not know.

History - was derived from the Greek word historia which means “knowledge acquired through
inquiry or investigation”
Existed for around 2,400 years and is as old as Mathematics and Philosophy.

History and Historiography

History is the study of the past, the events that happened in the past, and the causes of such
events

Historiography is the history of history.

The 6 W Questions:

What happened?
When did it happen?
Where did it happen?
Why did it happen?
To whom did it happen?
What were its consequences?

What counts as History?

Traditional historians lived with the mantra of “no document, no history.”

History progressed and opened up to the possibility of valid historical sources, which were not
limited to written documents.

Other valid sources of history…

Their mortal remains...

Oral traditions (epics and songs)
Artifacts
Architectures
Memory
Paintings
Weapons
Maps
Coins
Old movies

Why study History?

History will give you a combination of skills and insights that will help you to:

• Prepare you for work

• Enable you to participate fully in society

• Develop you as a person

 History also helps us to understand many of the issues that affect the world today
 By broadening your knowledge of current affairs, you are developing yourself personally
and preparing yourself more fully for adult and working life.

 History is unique in that it investigates how human life has changed over time
 You will develop your understanding of change through the perspectives of political,
social, cultural, economic, religious and scientific history

Relevance to life

 You will develop an appreciation of the society in which you live and of other societies,
past and present
 You will also develop a greater awareness of your own identity and traditions
 You will learn more about the particular role of men/women in shaping the past

Research skills

Your study of the past will introduce you to many different types of evidence, such as:
• Maps
• Photographs
• Political cartoons
• Diary entries
• Memoirs
• Photographs
• Official records

Analytical skills
  You will also develop your ability to think critically, to evaluate the usefulness of
sources, to detect bias or propaganda
 These skills are very useful in many careers and in everyday life

Communication skills

 The study of history is not just about interpreting the past but also presenting your
thoughts
 History helps you to write in an organized, coherent, logical way, supporting your views
with evidence
 This will help you in your other subjects, as well as in life and work later

Relevance to careers

Employers tend to see those with a history education as:

• Independent thinkers
• Open-minded and objective
• Disciplined
• Good communicators
• Able to analyze issues and problems
• Able to put together logical arguments

ICT skills

 History allows you to access ICT, developing skills that are relevant to life and work
today
 The Internet offers a huge range of appropriate historical web sites
 Many other electronic resources also exist for the study of history, such as CD-ROMs,
library databases and catalogues

History and the Historian

 Historians only get to access representation of the past through historical sources and
evidences
 It is the historian’s job not just to seek historical evidences and facts but also to
interpret these facts.
 He is a person of his own who is influenced by his own context, environment, ideology,
education, and influences, among others.
 His subjectivity will inevitably influence the process of his historical research

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 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 evidence.

Some School of Thoughts in History

POSITIVISM
 is the school of thought that emerged between the 18th and 19th century.
 it requires empirical and observable evidence before one can claim that a particular
knowledge is true.
 the mantra, “no document, no history” stems from this very same truth.

POSTCOLONIALISM
 it emerged in the early 20th century when formerly colonized nations grappled with the
idea of creating their identities and understanding their societies against the shadows of
their colonial past.
It looks at two things in writing history:
1. To tell the history of their nation that will highlight their identity free from that of colonial
discourse and knowledge .
2. To criticize the methods, effects, and idea of colonialism.

THE ANNALES SCHOOL of HISTORY

 is a school of history born in France that challenged the canons of history
 it did away with the common historical subjects that were almost always related to the
conduct of states and monarchs
 scholars were concerned with social history and studied longer historical periods

SOURCES OF HISTORY
1. PRIMARY SOURCES
2. SECONDARY SOURCES
3. TERTIARY SOURCES

PRIMARY SOURCES
 are those sources produced at the same time as the event, period, or subject being
studied
 are the original sources of information recorded at the time an event occurred.
 are original materials that have not been altered or distorted in any way.
 is something that originates from the past.

Examples of Primary Sources

 archives and manuscript material
 photographs, audio recordings, video recordings, films
 journals, letters and diaries
  speeches
 scrapbooks
 published books, newspapers and magazine clippings published at the time
 government publications
 oral histories
 records of organizations
 autobiographies and memoirs
 printed ephemera
 artifacts, e.g. clothing, costumes, furniture
 research data, e.g. public opinion polls

Why use primary sources?

– To explain how major events are related to each other in time.
– To think critically and distinguish between fact and opinion.
– To recognize point of view in print and visual materials.
– To develop your own conclusions and analyze how historical events affect your life.
– To recognize failures and successes in the past in order to make better decisions as a citizen.
– To understand who you are by examining your roots or placing yourself in that time period or
situation.

SECONDARY SOURCES
 Are those sources which were produced by an author who used primary sources to
produce the material
 These are historical sources, which studied a certain historical subject
 is made up of information collected from numerous primary sources that is interpreted
by the collector.
 A secondary source may offer information that is more analytical and comprehensive
than that found in a primary source.
 Secondary sources of information are derived from primary sources
 Summaries of primary sources
 Analyses or interpretations of primary sources

When using secondary sources, it thus helps to ask these questions:

– Has the author been trained in the right field, and does he or she have decent credit in the
academic world?
– Where was the source published and could that impact the contents at all?
– When was the source published?
– What is the scope of the source?
– Which sources has the author used and how critical has he or she been?

Why use secondary sources?

– To get expert opinions in order to evaluate what really happened.
– To gain insight by examining the same event from different perspectives.
– To form your own opinion.
– To save time by reading information collected from a number of different sources.

Secondary Source Examples:

 magazine articles
 histories
 criticisms
 Commentaries
 Book reviews are secondary sources
 Bibliographies (also considered tertiary);
 Biographical works;
 Commentaries, criticisms;
 Dictionaries, Encyclopedias (also considered tertiary);
 Histories;
 Literary criticism such as Journal articles;
 Magazine and newspaper articles;
 Monographs, other than fiction and autobiography;
 Textbooks (also considered tertiary);
 Web site (also considered primary)

TERTIARY SOURCES
 Tertiary sources consist of information which is a distillation and collection of primary
and secondary sources.
 These are sources that index, abstract, organize, compile, or digest other sources.
 Some reference materials and textbooks are considered tertiary sources when their
chief
 purpose is to list, summarize or simply repackage ideas or other information.
 Tertiary sources are usually not credited to a particular author.

Examples of Tertiary Sources

 Almanacs;
 Bibliographies (also considered secondary);
 Chronologies;
 Dictionaries and Encyclopedias (also considered secondary);
 Directories;
 Fact books;
 Guidebooks;
 Indexes, abstracts, bibliographies used to locate primary and secondary sources;
 Manuals;
 Textbooks (also be secondary)

Some general questions you should ask of any type of source are:
– What type of source is it? What does its form tell us? Is it a neatly engraved inscription, an
undecorated, heavily used bit of earthenware, or a roughly scribbled letter on cheap paper?
– Who created the source? How did they gather the necessary information? Were they an
eyewitness, or did they rely on researching other sources or on the stories of people who had
witnessed the event? Could they be biased?
– With which goal was the source created? Did the creator want to tell a truthful story or, for
instance, influence others through propaganda? How reliable does that make it?
– What is the context in which the source was created? To understand a source it helps to know
something about the society and immediate context in which it was made.
– What is the content of the source and how do we interpret it? What does it tell us and what
does it not tell us? What are its limitations? What sorts of questions could this source answer?

In practice the difference between primary and secondary sources depends upon:
– how close the writer was to the events described, whether or not the account was produced
at the time or later and the motives of the writer.
– On the subject of the historical research

EXTERNAL CRITICISM
 Is the practice of verifying the authenticity of evidence by examining its physical
characteristics;
 Its consistency with the historical characteristic of the time when it was produced;
 The materials used for the evidence

Examples :
– Quality of the paper
– Type of the ink
– Language and words used in the material

INTERNAL CRITICISM
 Is the examination of the truthfulness of the evidence
 Looks at the content of the source
 Examines the circumstances of its production
 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.

Cases proven to be hoax:

- Japanese reports and declarations during the period of the war should not be taken as a
historical fact hastily.
– Code of Kalantiaw (set of rules contained in an epic Maragtas, which was allegedly written by
certain Datu Kalantiaw)
– Was sold at the National Library
– Was regarded as an important precolonial document until 1968
– William Henry, debunked the authenticity of the code due to anachronism and lack of
evidence
– Ferdinand Marcos also claimed that he was a decorated WWII soldier who led a guerilla unit
called Ang Maharlika
– Disproven when historians counterchecked Marco’s claims with the war records of the US

Task of the Historians:

 Look at the available historical sources and select the most relevant and meaningful for
history and for the subject matter he is studying
 Organize the past that is being created
 Seek for the meaning of recovering the past

Changes in Philippine Historiography

 Ancient Filipinos narrated their history through communal songs and epics
 Spanish colonizers narrated the history of their colony in bipartite view
 Early nationalists refuted the view of the Spaniards and argued the tripartite view
 Filipino historian Zeus Salazar introduced the new and guiding philosophy for writing
and teaching history: pantayong pananaw (for us-from us perspective): This persperctive
highlights the importatnce of facilitating an internal conversation and discourse among
Filipinos about our own history, using the language that is understood by everyone.