LESSON 1 HISTORY: INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL SOURCES o ORAL STATEMENTS- include any form of statement made orally by an eyewitness.

It
 History refers to the study and interpretation by a historian of the data and other may be through video recordings, audio recordings, or transcribed.
sources of past human activities, people, societies, and civilizations leading to the o RELICS - are any objects whose physical or visual characteristics can provide some
present day. information about the past.
 Etymologically, the word history comes from the Greek word historia, which means o IMAGES - these include artifacts, ruins, and fossils.
inquiry.  SECONDARY SOURCES - interpret and analyze, primary source. It is reviewed, organized,
 A historian is an expert or student of history, especially that of a particular period, or interpreted, often with the help of other secondary sources.>Biographies >Critical
geographical region, or social phenomenon. These historians seek not only historical reviews >Textbooks
evidence and facts but also to interpret these facts.  TERTIARY SOURCES- they provide third-hand information by reporting ideas and details
SOME COMMENTS OF THE HISTORIANS ABOUT HISTORY from secondary sources. An eyewitness is more reliable than testimony at second hand,
 George Orwell - "The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate which is more reliable than hearsay. > Dictionaries >Encyclopedias >Handbooks
their own understanding of their history."
 Robert Penn Warren - "The lack of a sense of history is the damnation of the modern
world." LESSON 2: HISTORICAL CRITICISMS
 A.J.P. Taylor - "History is not just a catalogue of events put in the right order like a HISTORICAL CRITICISMS
railway timetable."  is also known as the historical-critical method.
 Michael Crichton - "If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are  is a branch-of criticism that investigates the origin of a text or source in order to
leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree. understand the meaning behind the text.
 Karl Marx - "History of all hitherto existing history of class society is the struggles.  The primary goal of historical criticism is to discover the text's primitive or original
 Confucius - "Study the past if you could define the future." historical context and its literal sense. The secondary goal seeks to establish a
 Victor Hugo - "Let us study things that are no more It is necessary to understand them, if reconstruction of the historical situation of the author and the recipients of the text.
only to avoid them."
EXTERNAL CRITICISM
SOURCES OF HISTORY This type of criticism looks for the obvious signs of forgery or misrepresentation, This type of
 Historical sources are the tangible remains of the past. It is an object from the past or criticism tests the authenticity of the sources. It is interested in the writing style of the
testimony concerning the past on which historians depend in order to create their own eyewitness and his ignorance of the facts,
depiction of the past.
 Three kinds of sources: primary, secondary, and tertiary. TEST OF AUTHENTICITY
 PRIMARY SOURCES - are materials produced by people or groups directly involved in the  1st step: to testing a source is to determine the date of the document to see whether it is
event or topic being studied. These sources range from diaries, eyewitness accounts, anachronistic. Anachronism means out of time or order, something that could not have
letters, legal documents, official documents (government or private), and even been there at that particular time. It
photographs.  2nd step: is to determine the author's handwriting, signature, or seal.
FIVE MAIN CATEGORIES OF PRIMARY SOURCES  3rd test: in determining the authenticity of the source is by looking for the anachronistic
o WRITTEN SOURCES OR DOCUMENTS- they are written or printed materials that have style
been produced in one form or another sometime in the past. They may be published  4th test is the anachronistic reference to events.
materials such as travelogues, transcriptions of speeches, autobiographies, journals, or  5th test of authenticity is the provenance or custody of the document. Provenance is the
newspapers. place of origin of earliest known history of documents. It traces the roots of any source.
o NUMERICAL RECORDS -includes any type of numerical data in printed or handwritten  The other two test of authenticity is the semantics and hermeneutics.
form.
 SEMANTICS - It is the linguistic study of meaning. In this test semantics determine the c. Look at important historical event at the time the source was made.
meaning of the text and words of the source. d. Ascertain intended audience.
 HERMENEUTICS - It is a theory and methodology of interpretation. Hermeneutics is C. Content Analysis of the Important Historical Information Found in the Document
more than interpretation or method used when immediate comprehension fails.  First look for corroboration between the research you gather from the internet and the
primary source that your instructor has given to you.
INTERNAL CRITICISM  Next, in order to analyze the primary source, look for bias. There is a bias when a
It refers to the accuracy of the content of a document. It has to do with what the document source’s information is unbalanced or prejudiced. There are two kinds of bias: either it is
says. It investigates the content or substance of a document and the author's point of view. strongly positive (strongly in favor of) or strongly negative (strongly against).
This type of criticism tests the credibility of the source.  Most of the primary sources that we will encounter are written documents, so we will
focus our attention on those kinds of primary sources.
TEST OF CREDIBILITY  If the document is silent or when the source intentionally leaves information of which
you are aware from other sources. Example of this silent bias is the Declaration of the
 1st step: is the identification of the author. Philippine Independence
 2nd step: in testing the credibility of the eyewitness is to determine the approximate  The last if is there are obvious errors or when the
date.  source provides information that you know to be false from alternative sources.
 3rd step: in testing the credibility of the source is its ability to tell the truth.  Next is to analyze the historical perspective or a point of view a creator describe the
 4th step: is the willingness to tell the truth event.
 5th step: is to look for corroboration. Corroboration is the ability to compare information D. Contribution and Relevance of the Document in Understanding the Grand Narrative of
provided by two separate sources and find similarities between them Philippine History
In this activity look for the cause and consequences of the primary sources. A cause is a
Main Topic II: Content and Contextual Analysis of Selected person or thing that makes something happens while a consequences is a direct result of the
Primary Sources cause. Example is the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan.
E. Relevance of the documents to the present time.
A. Background of the Author/Creator  Look for the historical significance or what modern people consider to be important
First the researcher must provide brief biographical sketch of the author or creator of the from the past. There are many events in our history we have to choose but few people,
primary source. Family background, educational attainment, religion and many others shall events or ideas to focus on.
be given priority in presenting the biography of the author.  How to determine significance of the event? We have to follow the acronym NAME
B. Background of the Document/Primary Source orNovelty, Applicability, Memory and Effect.
1. Basic background of the source like the type of primary source. o Novelty or when something is new or never been
a. Parts/chapters o seen before. Example is when Cory Aquino became President; it is significant because
b. Time allotted she is the
c. Location of the source o first female president of the Philippines.
2. Check the authenticity of the source. o Applicability or when it is similar to the present. The
a. Origin of the document o Spanish Flu of 1918 suddenly became important topic because of Covid-19.
b. Intended audience o Memory or how it has been remembered over time. The typhoon Yolanda is
c. Creator and the time creation remembered because it is the strongest weather disturbance that hit the country. Effect
3. Look for the purpose of motive of the source. or how people have been affected.
a. Understand the historical context Taal Volcanic Eruption is significant particularly in Batangas area because many were
b. Do a background research. affected.
Main Topic III: One Past But Many Histories
A. The First Mass Site in the Philippines
According to Pigafetta, the first Mass was celebrated on March 31, 1521, an Easter Sunday.
Pigafetta referred to the venue as “Mazaua.” Some say that the venue is the island of
Limasawa in Leyte. Others, however, claim that Pigafetta was referring to Masao the
community at the mouth of Agusan River adjacent to what is now the city of Butuan.
Nearing 500 years since the first Mass, debates continue whether it was held on Limasawa
Island, in Agusan or somewhere else.

B. The Two Faces of the 1872 Cavite Mutiny

Two major events happened in 1872, first was the 1872 Cavite Mutiny and the other was the
martyrdom of the three martyr priests in the persons of Fathers Mariano Gomes, Jose
Burgos and Jacinto Zamora (GOMBURZA). However, not all of us knew that there were
different accounts in reference to the said event. All Filipinos must know the different sides
of the story—since this event led to another tragic yet meaningful part of our history—the
execution of GOMBURZA which in effect a major factor in the awakening of nationalism
among the Filipinos.

C. Cry of Balintawak or Pugadlawin?

The controversy among historians continues to the present day. The “Cry of Pugad
Lawin” (August 23, 1896) cannot be accepted as historically accurate. It lacks positive
documentation and supporting evidence from the witness. The testimony of only one
eyewitness (Dr. Pio Valenzuela) is not enough to authenticate and verify a controversial issue
in history. Historians and their living participants, not politicians and their sycophants, should
settle this controversy.