UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MINDANAO
GE2-Readings in
Philippine History
Lesson 1- Meaning and Relevance of
History
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MINDANAO
WHAT IS HISTORY?
Etymology
➢Historia (Latin) – inquiry or
investigation
➢Estoire or Histoire (Old French) –
account of events or chronicle
➢Estoria/iotopia/ Historia (Greek) –
knowing or learning, inquiry,
knowledge acquired through
investigation
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Definition of History (by
Louis Gottschalk)
• Traditionally, we define history as the study of past
human events.
• But this does not only include events, but also
persons, words, thoughts, places that may not
mean anything during that period of time.
• And historian must consider multiple limitations in
analyzing past human events such as;
1. inability of the human mind to recollect everything,
2. inadequacy of the human imagination,
3. human speech, and
4. the incompleteness of records.
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How is history being made?
Since history is based upon recollections – written or
spoken testimony, then it is subjective.
Therefore, to study it objectively, it must first be an
object. What are those objects? These were the ruins,
parchments, coins, and relics. Free from personal
feelings.
By this time, according to Gottschalk, historians’ aim
verisimilitude, or trying to re-create past human
events as approximately similar to the truth of the
past.
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HISTORY
It is the art and science of investigating
and recording past human events that are
definite in time and space, social in nature
and socially significant.
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Pioneer of History
•Herodotus
➢ Father of History
(Greek)
➢ Born in Halicarnassus,
484BCE
➢ started writing Histories
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• Filipino Nationalist
Historian, 1985
• wrote The History of
the Filipino People
• History deals with the
past, not with the
future. We use
history to avoid the
mistakes of the past,
not to recreate the
very same events.
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• wrote The
Philippines: A Past
Revisited
• Philippine History is
a story of struggle
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THEORIES OF HISTORY
➢History is the study of great
people
According to the ancient Greek
writer Plutarch, true history is the
study of great leaders and
innovators.
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Jose Rizal Adolf Hitler
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➢History is the study of the ‘winds of
change’
-factors and forces that produce
significant historical change rather
than on individuals. ‘Winds of change’
means those powerful ideas, forces
and movements that shape or affect
how people live, work and think.
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Rise of Christianity
14
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➢History is the study of difficulty and
response
Some historians, such as the British
writer Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975),
believed historical change is driven by
difficulties and responses. All civilizations
are shaped not just by their leadership or
conditions but by how they respond to
difficult problems or crises.
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Spanish Colonization
16
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➢History is the study of dialectics
The theory of dialectics was first
introduced by German philosopher
George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-
1831) who applied it to history. In
philosophy, dialectics is a process
where two or more parties with vastly
different viewpoints reach a
compromise and mutual agreement.
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•According to Marx, history was shaped
by the “material dialectic”: the struggle
between economic classes. Marx
believed the ownership of capital and
wealth underpinned most social
structures and interactions. All classes
struggle and push to improve their
economic conditions, Marx wrote,
usually at the expense of other classes.
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➢History is the story of the
unexpected
Some historians believe
history is shaped by the
accidental and the surprising,
the spontaneous and the
unexpected.
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21
In June 1914, Archduke
Franz Ferdinand’s car
took a different route
through Sarajevo and
passed an aimless Gavrilo
Princip, a confluence of
events that led to World
War I.
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Importance of Studying
History
• History Helps Us Understand People and Societies
History offers a storehouse of information about how
people and societies behave. Data from the past must
serve as our most vital evidence in the quest to figure out
why our complex species behaves as it does in societal
settings.
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• History Helps Us Understand Change and How the
Society We Live in Came to Be
The past causes the present, and so the future. Any time
we try to know why something happened we have to look
for factors that took shape earlier. We need to look further
back to identify the causes of change. Only through
studying history can we grasp how things change; only
through history can we begin to comprehend the factors
that cause change; and only through history can we
understand what elements of an institution or a society
persist despite change.
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• History Contributes to Moral Understanding
History also provides a terrain for moral contemplation.
Studying the stories of individuals and situations in the
past allows a student of history to test his or her own
moral sense, to hone it against some of the real
complexities individuals have faced in difficult settings.
People who have weathered adversity in historical
circumstances can provide inspiration.
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• History Provides Identity
History also helps provide identity. Historical data include
evidence about how families, groups, institutions and
whole countries were formed and about how they have
evolved while retaining cohesion. Histories that tell the
national story, emphasizing distinctive features of the
national experience, are meant to drive home an
understanding of national values and a commitment to
national loyalty.
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• Studying History Is Essential for Good Citizenship
A study of history is essential for good citizenship. History
provides data about the emergence of national
institutions, problems, and values. It offers evidence also
about how nations have interacted with other societies,
providing international and comparative perspectives
essential for responsible citizenship. Further, studying
history helps us understand how recent, current, and
prospective changes that affect the lives of citizens are
emerging or may emerge and what causes are involved.
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“Circumstances rule men;
men do not rule
circumstances."
-Herodotus, Histories
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References
Agoncillo, Teodoro. History of the Filipino People 8th
edition. Quezon City: C&E Publishing, Inc., 2012.
Constantino, Renato. The Philippines: A Past Revisited
from the Spanish Colonization to the Second
World War. Quezon City, Philippines, 1974.
Galicia, Reynaldo, Palencia, Marjueve, and Solmerano,
Ernesto Thaddeus. Readings in Philippine History.
Sampaloc, Manila: Fastbooks Educational Supply,
Inc., 2018
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