GED 105 – 1ST YEAR • The difference between published and

unpublished documents, is that Published

READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY Documents such as books, music albums, or
films, have been made available to the public
in various formats, ensuring broad
accessibility. On the other hand, unpublished
Historical background of the works, like draft manuscripts or personal
document journals, are kept private by the creator and
are not distributed to the public.

History Oral History

• History is the study of the past, particularly
• Oral history as a body of literature based on
people and events of the past. It is a pursuit
first-person accounts created using an
common to all human societies and cultures.
interview process. These oral accounts may
Human beings have always been interested in
be published in either popular and/or
understanding and interpreting the past, for
scholarly books and articles; be integrated
many reasons.
into museum exhibits, TV scripts and
Primary Source programs, or other forms of media; or that
exist as archival material in archives,
• A primary source (also called original libraries, and other cultural institutions.
source) is a document, recording, artifact, or
• Unwritten sources.
other source of information that was created
at the time under study, usually by a source Artworks and Artifacts
with direct personal knowledge of the events
being described. It serves as an original
• Artifacts- an object made by a human being.
source of information about the topic.
Artifacts include art, tools, and clothing made
Kinds and Repositories of Primary Sources by people of any time and place. The term can
also be used to refer to the remains of an
object, such as a shard of broken pottery or
• Published documents- are those that are glassware.
intended for public distribution or use. • Artwork- is a physical object that may
Newspapers, magazines, books, reports, possess aesthetic and/or conceptual value.
government documents, laws, court This can encompass a wide variety of forms
decisions, literary works, posters, maps, and including paintings, sculptures, photographs,
advertisements are some of the examples. installations, drawings, collages, graffiti, and
• Open for public viewing. even digital creations like graphic designs.
The National Archives of the Philippines
• Unpublished documents- unlike published
ones, may be difficult to locate as they are • Organized under Republic Act No. 9470
kept in private and hence, may not be easily passed on May 21, 2007, the National
accessed by the public. These documents are Archives of the Philippines (NAP) was
also confidential and are restricted from established to store, preserve, conserve, and
public use like personal letters, which are in make available to the public the records,
the possession of the recipients. papers, periodicals, books, or other items,
articles or materials, that have been selected
for permanent reservation.
• The National Archives of the Philippines Intended audience
(NAP) is holding about 60,000,000 archival • is sometimes an individual person or group of
documents with a Spanish Collection people who were the target or originally
comprising an estimated 13,000,000 intended to view or witness something.
manuscripts from the 16th to 19th Century • Some sources make it easy for us to
with 400 titles on various aspects of determine who the intended audience was by
Philippine history under Spanish rule, addressing them specifically.
American regime, and Japanese occupation.
Three things to remember
The National Library of the Philippines • Type of source
• The creator
• The National Library of the Philippines • Time of creation
(NLP) is the repository of the printed and
recorded cultural heritage of the country and (Example)
other intellectual, literary, and information Writing a diary
sources. It was established by a royal decree • A letter always begins with Dear,
on 12 August 1887 and named as The (name of the recipient), which was
Museo-Biblioteca de Filipinas. stating the name of the intended
audience by the source.
The National Museum of the Philippines
Famous diary written by Anne
• The National Museum of the Philippines As Frank
an educational, scientific, and cultural • Anne Frank began writing her diary
institution, the National Museum (NM) when she was 13 years old. She was
operates the National Museum of Fine Arts, writing about her experience hiding
National Museum of Anthropology, National from the Nazis with her family during
Museum of Natural History, National World War Two. Annie and her
Planetarium, and other branch museums family were found and some of them
around the country. Its collection covers fine died. She intended it to be her private
arts, archeology, ethnography, and natural document and only for her. Therefore,
history. the intended audience of Anne’s diary
was the author itself. Even though
Provenance Anne’s father published the diary to
• Provenance refers to the origin or history of the public, the original audience was
something, particularly in terms of where it Anne herself.
comes from and how it has changed over
time. Some common audience
• a record of ownership, custody, or location
of a historical object. In the case of books, • Academic journals and textbooks -
this can mean signatures or notes written in university academics and students
books, as well as bookplates and stamps. • Books and newspapers - general
• tells us where something came from and who public
owned it. Knowing this helps us trust that an • Diaries - author themselves
item is real and appreciate its history. It can • Government documents -
also guide us in making better appreciation government employees
and belief in something that we see, giving us • Letters - recipient address
a deeper connection to the history of how it
was created.
 • The intended audience affects how 3. Contextualization:
stories about the past or present are
• Historical Context: Place the source within
told and understood. Different groups
its historical context to understand the
of people might see the same event in
broader events and circumstances
different ways. Knowing who the
surrounding it.
story is for helps us understand why it
was told a certain way and how it • Cultural Context: Consider the cultural and
influenced people. It helps us see the social factors that may have influenced the
bigger picture of history. author's perspective or the content of the
source.
4. Internal Consistency:
CONTENT PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS • Logical Coherence: Check for internal
OF IMPORTANT HISTORICAL consistency within the source, ensuring that
INFORMATION FOUND IN THE DOCUMENT the information is logical and free from
contradictions.
• Supporting Evidence: Look for evidence
Corroborating Sources in History
within the source itself that supports its
• Corroboration is the process of verifying the claims.
accuracy and reliability of historical sources.
5. External Consistency:
It's a crucial step in historical research, as it
helps to ensure that conclusions drawn from • Comparison: Compare the source's
the evidence are sound and trustworthy. information with other relevant sources to
identify any discrepancies or inconsistencies.
Here are some key methods for corroborating
historical sources: • Expert Opinion: Consult experts in the field
to get their assessment of the source's
1. Multiple Sources:
reliability and accuracy.
• Cross-referencing: Compare information
Analyzing a Source's Purpose
from different sources to identify
inconsistencies or contradictions. 1. Author's Background and Affiliations:
• Triangulation: Use evidence from three or Bias: Consider the author's personal beliefs,
more sources to strengthen the credibility of affiliations, or experiences that might influence their
your findings. perspective.
2. Source Analysis: Expertise: Evaluate the author's qualifications and
expertise on the topic.
• Author's Perspective: Consider the author's
background, biases, and potential motives for 2. Context and Time Period:
writing the source.
Historical Context: Understand the historical events
• Date and Time Period: Evaluate the and social conditions surrounding the source.
source's proximity to the events being
Time Period: Consider how the source's time period
described and the potential for bias or
might influence its perspective or content.
distortion over time.
3. Audience:
• Type of Source: Assess the reliability of the
source based on its type (primary, secondary, Target Audience: Identify who the author is trying
or tertiary). to reach with their message.
Intended Impact: Consider what the author hopes
to achieve through their writing (e.g., persuade, Visual source
inform, entertain). • Visual source like a photograph or painting
you are looking for a depiction that one
4. Tone and Language: clearly exaggerated for
Emotional Appeal: Analyze the author's use of
Extreme positivity
language and tone to determine their emotional
• When describing people or events the
stance on the topic. language of the sources is too positive and
Persuasive Techniques: Identify any rhetorical does not provide any negative information.
devices or persuasive techniques used to influence
Extreme negativity
the reader.
• When describing people or events the
5. Explicit or Implicit Purpose: language used by the creator is too negative
and does not provide any positive
Stated Purpose: Look for explicit statements of the information.
author's purpose in the introduction, conclusion, or
other parts of the text. Silence
• The source intentionally leaves out
Implicit Purpose: Infer the purpose based on the
important of which you are aware from the
content, tone, and context of the source. sources.
6. Supporting Evidence:
Obvious Errors
Evidence: Evaluate the quality and relevance of the • The source provides information that you
evidence used to support the author's claims. know to the false based on what you know
from alternate sources.
Bias: Consider whether the evidence is presented in
a way that supports a particular viewpoint. How do you prove bias?

1. Provide a direct quote

Bias -from the source that demonstrates overly
positive or negative language numbers.
• when the creator's perspective is so strongly
for or against something that the information 2. Explain the creator's perspective
in the source has become unbalanced or -the creator wanted to convince the audience
prejudiced to have on the person or event.

Bias in a source 3. Explain the creating motives

- To explain what motivates the creator to
• Extremely positive- extremely in favor or
be so biased in their source.
pro. Note
• Extremely negative- “strongly against” or -Be aware that Bias does not automatically make
“Anti” the source unreliable or inaccurate.
How do you detect bias?
Perspective
• you need to look carefully at what the • is the point of view from which someone
source says. sees an event.

Written source • Perspective is the 'point of view' from which

the creator of a source describes historical
• In written sources you need to find word events.
choices that are extreme in their description.
 • Every person sees and understands events • Thirdly, you need to discover what
differently depending on their age, gender, significant event occurred at that time.
social position, beliefs, and values.
• Even modern historians have their own
perspectives which can influence how they
interpret the past.
• Finally, carefully read the information in the
source to identify specific language, ideas,
This can be as simple as identifying the and terminology that you need to learn more
creators: about in order to make sense of the source.

• nationality (e.g., American, Japanese,

etc.)
Contribution and relevance of the
• profession (e.g., university professor,
document in understanding the grand
soldier, etc.)
narrative of Philippine history.
• political persuasion (e.g., conservative,
Communist, etc.)
Cause and effect
• cultural background (Egyptian,
European, etc.)
is one of the most essential historical thinking
• gender (male, female, etc.) skills. It involves identifying and analyzing
• religious beliefs (Christian, Muslim, the reasons (causes) behind historical events
etc.) and understanding the outcomes or
• educational background (e.g., what consequences (effects) that follow. This skill
university they work for) helps historians make sense of why certain
events happened and how they shaped the
What is the historical context? world.

Historical context- is the awareness that the people The Causes and Effects of World War I
who created historical sources were living at a time
when may have held opinions and beliefs that are Cause: The assassination of Archduke Franz
very different from what we consider to be normal Ferdinand of Austria in 1914.
by today's standards.
Effect: This triggered a series of events that
There are four steps to identifying a source's led to the outbreak of World War I.
historical context
Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and
• The first step is to determine when the source due to a complex web of alliances, major
was created. Be as precise as possible, powers like Germany, Russia, France, and
identifying the century, decade, year, month, Britain were drawn into the conflict.
or even the exact day.
• Secondly, you need to discover where it was Historical events
created.
• are important because they provide us with
For example, if a soldier wrote a letter in a valuable lessons and insights into the past,
camp before a battle, or a convict wrote a helping us understand the present and shape
letter on a ship while in transit, or a the future.
newspaper printed a news report in a • historical events are important because they
particular country or town, this information offer us valuable lessons, insights, and
guidance for the future. They provide us with
can become important to know in the context a roadmap for progress, a deeper
of a source. understanding of human nature, and a sense
 of identity and belonging. So, let us embrace something happening in the present. As
the wisdom of history, for it holds the key to people often say, "history repeats itself,"
a brighter and more enlightened future. which means that when a major event occurs
in our time, we often look back into the past
RELEVANCE OF THE DOCUMENT TO to see how others have dealt with the same
PRESENT things.

What is historical significance? For example, very few people were aware of
the devastating Spanish flu of 1918.
Historical significance - is a decision that However, when the COVID-19 viral
modern people make about what is important outbreak occurred in 2020, the Spanish flu
from our past. In assigning historical suddenly became a popular historical topic as
significance, we can choose specific events, people wanted to know how we had dealt
people, locations, and ideas as being with global pandemics before and how that
particularly important to us. information could be applied in the present.

• Since significance is a decision that we make, • Third, memory. Things often become
it means that different people can decide that significant because they have been
different things are significant, or that they remembered in a particular way over time. In
can disagree about the reasons a particular history, it is common for certain people or
person, event, place, or idea is important. events to become more famous with each
• Therefore, significance is not the same to passing year, often meaning they are more
everyone or at all times in history. What we significant after the fact than they were at the
consider to be important can change. As a time that it occurred. In these situations, we
result, some events that were considered tend to focus on just one particular aspect of
significant a century ago may no longer be a person or event, whether good or bad and
important to us now. tend to ignore everything else about it.

The four criteria follow the acronym NAME: N For example, the Egyptian pharaoh
for Novelty, A for Applicability, M for Memory, Tutankhamun was only a minor king in
and E for Effects. ancient history and didn’t achieve great
military, architectural, or economic feats.
• Firstly, novelty. Things are often considered After his death, the ancient Egyptians barely
to be important if they do something new mentioned him at all, and he quickly faded
which had never been seen before. The word from their memory. However, after his
novelty means the quality of being new, tomb’s discovery in 1922 by modern
original, or unusual. This is often the way that archaeologists, he instantly became a
people from the past measured the household name simply due to the vast
significance of people and events from their wealth found with him. Now, more people
own time. know the name of Tutankhamun than all of
the greater pharaohs who achieved more than
For example, the election of Barack Obama he did in Egyptian history.
as the president of the United States of
America was seen as a significant event • Fourth: effects. Finally, things are
because he was the very first person of frequently considered to be significant
African-American heritage to obtain this because a lot of people have been affected by
position. them. The effects caused by a person or event
can either be immediate or continue to impact
• Secondly, applicability. Things from the more people over the days, months, years,
past can suddenly be considered significant decades, or even centuries afterward.
because we realize that they are similar to Typically, the more people affected, either
 for better or for worse, the more significant it The interplay between change and continuity is
is considered to be. essential for understanding historical
development. While change is often the catalyst for
For example, Gavrilo Princip, the Bosnian progress and innovation, continuity provides a sense
Serb who assassinated Archduke Franz of stability and connection to the past.
Ferdinand, is considered significant due to
the fact that his actions directly led to the Examples of Change and Continuity:
outbreak of World War I and also then set up
the conditions for the start of World War II. Industrial Revolution: A period of rapid
technological change that transformed societies, yet
Change and Continuity in History: A many traditional cultural practices and values
Balancing Act persisted.

• History is a complex tapestry woven with Colonialism: A period of significant political and
threads of change and continuity. While economic change, but also a time of cultural
change is often the most noticeable aspect of exchange and the preservation of some indigenous
historical development, continuity provides a traditions.
foundation for understanding how societies
evolve over time. Globalization: A contemporary trend toward
interconnectedness and interdependence, yet many
Change: The Driving Force of History national identities and cultural traditions remain
strong.
• Social Change: Shifts in societal structures,
values, and norms.
• Economic Change: Transformations in
economic systems, industries, and trade
patterns.
• Political Change: Alterations in
governments, political ideologies, and power
structures.
• Technological Change: Advancements in
technology that shape societies and cultures.
• Cultural Change: Shifts in cultural
practices, beliefs, and values.

Continuity: The Foundation for Understanding

Cultural Heritage: The preservation of traditions,

customs, and beliefs that connect people to their past.

Institutional Structures: The persistence of

institutions, such as governments, religions, and
educational systems, that provide stability and
continuity.

Historical Patterns: The recognition of recurring

patterns and trends in historical development.

Underlying Principles: The enduring principles and

values that shape societies, even as they undergo
change.