ACTIVITY IN PRELIM

INSTRUCTIONS: Read the questions carefully before answering briefly. Do not add your own facts;
provide only what is being asked. A mere yes or no answer without explanation will not be credited.
1.Is history a narrative? Support your answer.
Like it or not, history is a narrative representation of the past because historians cannot know “the past-
thing-in-itself.” In addition, as a narrative discourse, “the-past-as-history” can be articulated and
communicated in as many different modes or forms of expression as the historian (and everyone else) can
imagine
2. The following passage below is taken from the ‘Proclamation of the Philippine Independence’:
“…taking into consideration that their inhabitants being already weary of bearing the ominous
yoke of Spanish domination on account of the arbitrary arrests and hash treatment practiced by
the Civil Guard to the extent of causing death with the connivance and even with the express orders
of their commanders, who sometimes went to the extreme of ordering the shooting of prisoners
under the pretext that they were attempting to escape, in violation of the provisions of the
Regulations of their Corps, which abuses were unpunished and on account of the unjust
deportations, especially those decreed by General Blanco, of eminent personages and of high social
position, at the instigation of the Archbishop and friars interested in keeping them out of the way
for their own selfish and avaricious purpose, deportations which are quickly brought about by a
method of procedure more execrable than that of a decision being rendered without a hearing of
the persons accused.” What content of the document does this passage demonstrate? Substantiate
your answer.
The Declaration of Independence is the document in which Filipino revolutionary forces under General
Emilio Aguinaldo (later to become the Philippines' first Republican President) proclaimed the sovereignty
and independence of the Philippine Islands from the colonial rule of Spain after the latter was defeated at
the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War. The declaration, however, was not
recognized by the United States or Spain, as the Spanish government ceded the Philippines to the United
States in the 1898 Treaty of Paris, in consideration for an indemnity for Spanish expenses and assets lost.
The content of the document does this passage demonstrate is the declaration of independence is one of
the most important milestones in Philippine history. The country was colonized by many nations for
hundreds of years. Imagine achieving your freedom after all the hardships you’ve been through. It is
priceless.
3. History has already turned into a complex and dynamic discipline. Its relationship with other
discipline or branches of learning makes it more meaningful and significant as it draws strength
and energy from them. For a clearer understanding of the relationship of history with other
disciplines, experts allowed their thoughts to wander in the avenue of these disciplines to draw
knowledge that may be useful to them. Explain the relationship of history with the disciplines of
economics and political science. MODULE: READINGS IN THE PHILIPPINE HISTORY
Economics is guided by Politics and Economics always takes the help of Political Science for securing
right economic policies and goals. Thus, Political Science and Economics are two highly and closely
related interdependent social sciences. The two cannot be separated. Their boundaries overlap and cross.
 4. Sylvester 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. Sylvester visited the Field Museum of
Natural History where a golden image of a woman caught his eye. He 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 Spaniard in the Philippines.
What kind of historical source is the sculpture? Support your answer.
Primary sources
are first-hand accounts or direct evidence created by a witness about an event, object, or person. Some
examples of primary sources include: Artwork (painting, sculpture, print, performance piece, etc.)
Journals, Diaries, and Autobiographies.
5. The 1987 Philippine Constitution provides for the formation of regional autonomous regions in
the Philippines. This led to the establishment of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
(ARMM). Sarah, a student wanted to seek historical evidences and facts on the matter and to
interpret these facts. What kind of method should she adopt in this situation? Substantiate your
answer.
History is more complex than many people realize. No, for real. It is so much more than memorizing
names, dates, and places. History is very much 'scientific.' It involves critical thinking. It involves
formulating hypotheses based on evidence and testing them. That is what this lesson is about.
Historical methodology is the process by which historians gather evidence and formulate ideas about the
past. It is the framework through which an account of the past is constructed.

6. Is there a chance for a historical source to be inconsistent and unreliable? Support your answer.
Historical records are no different. Some sources may be considered more reliable than others, but every
source is biased in some way. Because of this, historians read skeptically and cross-check sources against
other evidence.
7. Mikee 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 Dennis Villan’s
The Revolution of the Masses and The Painful Years: Japan’s Adventure in the Philippines, 1945-
1956. She also saw that the authors used Trisha Domalanta’s Working Men of Dagupan During the
17th Century and many others. What kind of source is the textbook? Support your answer.

Secondary Sources

These sources offer an analysis or restatement of primary sources. They often try to describe or
explain primary sources. They tend to be works which summarize, interpret, reorganize, or
otherwise provide an added value to a primary source.

Examples of Secondary Sources:

Textbooks, edited works, books and articles that interpret or review research works, histories,
biographies, literary criticism and interpretation, reviews of law and legislation, political analyses
and commentaries.

8. Give a short backgrounder on the events that led to the expedition of Magellan.

 20 September 1519: The fleet sets sail.

 26 September 1519: A supply crisis.
 December 1519: Tensions rise.
 October 1520: Mutineers strike.
 November 1520: Into the Pacific.
 March 1521: Land at last.
 27 April 1521: Magellan is slain.
 November 1521: A new commander

9. What are the challenges usually encountered in studying history?

The major challenges to historical research revolve around the problems of sources, knowledge,
explanation, objectivity, choice of subject, and the peculiar problems of contemporary history. Sources
The problem of sources is a serious challenge to the historian in the task of reconstructing the past.
10. Explain the principle of ‘No records, no documents; no history’.
No documents, no history,” one said. In this century the notion of a document has been enormously
expanded so that any artifact surviving from the past can serve as the answer to some historian's question.
Aerial photography, for example, can reveal settlement patterns long since buried.