Readings in Philippine History

Module 1 Introduction to
History
Introduction

History is one of the oldest disciplines along with Mathematics and

Philosophy. The accounts of the past serve as conduit in understanding the
present and the future. The history of the Philippines has been shaped by so
many events from political, social, cultural, war and other aspects. Most of the
earlier accounts in the Philippine history are written by Ilustrados like Jose
Rizal, Isabelo delos Reyes and Pedro Paterno. The postcolonial era gave rise to
the birth of Filipino historians trying to dissect the identity of the Filipinos apart
from what has been written before. There have been numerous historians in the
country like Teodoro Agoncillo, Renato Constantino, Reynaldo Ileto, Gregorio
Zaide and others who have presented distinctively their own findings and
historical contexts.
This module introduces the students on the overview of History and its
importance as subject.

Topics
 Definition of History
 Origin of History
 Importance of History
 Importance of History in Criminology
 Branches of History
 History and Story
 Historiography
 History and Historian
 Deception cases in Philippine History

Learning Objectives

After studying this lesson, the student should be able to:

1. Discuss the concepts of history.
2. Explain the importance of History in their course program.
3. Distinguish each branch of history.
4. Differentiate history from story.
5. Relate the role of a historiographer.
6. Discuss some deception cases in Philippine history

What is History?

History- is the study of the past.

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History is the account of the past of a person or a group of people through

written documents and historical evidences
History is the record of what one age finds worthy of note in another.
History is a study of human achievements.

History According to Philippines’ Historians

History deals with the past and

not the future. It is a re-creation of the past and not objective in nature
(Agoncillo, 1960)

History is the achievement of man not the individual but the collective
(Constantino, 2010)

History is the history of the people, particularly from the lower class. It is a
history from below which recognizes the role of the lower social class in
participating and molding the Filipino history and culture. (Ileto, 1997)

History is the dynamic process of dealing with the past in which the stages or
aspects of development are interrelated brought upon by the understanding of
the present and future (Tan, 2009)

History is a narrative (which can be written, visual, oral or a combination of all

three) about past events that has meaning to a certain group of people in a
given time and place. (Ocampo, 2001)

Origin of History

 Derived from the Greek word, ἱστορία “historia” which means

“knowledge acquired through inquiry or investigation”.
 History as a discipline existed around 2400 years ago (Mathematics and
Philosophy)
 History became an important academic discipline in the early parts of
20th century
 Herodotus is the Father of History.
 Focusing on the life history of individuals like monarchs, heroes, saints
and nobilities.
 History also focused on writing about wars, revolutions, and other
important breakthroughs.
 “No document, No history”
 It means that unless a written document can prove a certain historical
event, then it cannot be considered as a historical fact.

Importance of History

1. Studying history is important because it allows us to identify ourselves in

the larger past, and recognize that we are shaped by historical processes.

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2. History also gives us invaluable lessons from the past that can help us
understand the present and prepare for the future.
3. History is an eye opener to understand our culture, language and society.
4. History may arouse patriotic, humanitarian nature in people

Importance of History in Criminology

1. Crime is inherent to human since time memorial. The day Cain killed Abel
was the first account of crime committed by man.
2. History provides an account of the past criminal acts and how the society
or the law responded to these.
3. Historiography may help Criminal investigation procedures.
4. History is based on legitimate sources so do criminal investigation.

Branches of History

1. Political history
2. Military history
3. Diplomatic history
4. Cultural history
5. Social history
6. Economic history
7. Intellectual history
8. Environmental History

Political History is the narration of the evolution of the political related

matters of the past. This branch of history deals with the analysis of political
leaders, ideas, events, movements, activities and so on, along with the making
of government policies (constitutions etc).

Military history refers to warfare, strategies, battles, weapons, and combat

psychology.The "new military history“ since the 1970s has been more
concerned with soldiers than with generals, with psychology rather than tactics
and with the wider impact of war on society and culture.

Diplomatic History is the branch of history that focuses on the study of

international relations between nations (between states). This history tends to
be more concerned with the history of diplomacy and the ideas of diplomacy
and much more

Cultural History is the branch of history that deals with the traditions and
cultural interpretation of the past. It is a study of various facets of human and
history. Simply, cultural history records and interprets various past events
involving human beings like literature, sport, and entertainment and much more

Social History focuses on the study of various societal norms like ways of
living, standard, customs, disciplines, status and so on of the people, alongside
the demography. Simply, it is a branch of history which looks at the lived
experience of the past. Today, social history is otherwise called the New Social
History

Economic History is the branch of history that focuses on the study

of economies as well as economical phenomena of the past. Simply, the study of
the pattern of the production, consumption alongside industry, market and so

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on concerning the past, economic history aims to understand the historical

events of the economical processes

Intellectual History aims to understand the ideas (ideology and philosophy) by

understanding the political, cultural, intellectual, and social context of the past.
Intellectual history is about the human (historians) actions and how they
developed history

Environmental history is the study of human interaction with the natural

world over time.
Environmental history tends to focus on particular time scales,
geographical regions or key issues

History and Story

History: uncountable, more

factual, non-fiction, academic, it
really happened.

Story: Imaginary, fiction, narrative,

it often didn't really happen.

But there are moments

where history, which is not
countable, and story, which is
countable, actually can be the same
thing, and this is when there are anecdotes, anecdotes or biographies,
documentaries, or historical movies.

History examples

1. Rizal executed in Bagumbayan

2. Lapu lapu killed Magellan
3. Ninoy killed in Tarmac

Story examples
1. Florante at Laura
2. Malakas at Maganda
3. Romeo and Juliet

History and Story Combined Examples

1. Titanic Movie
2. Heneral Luna movie
3. Einstein documentary

Historiography

Historiography is the history of history.

It covers how historians have studied and developed history including its
sources, techniques, and theoretical approaches

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History and Historiography

History is the study of the past, the events that happened in the past while
Historiography focuses on how a certain historical text was written, who
wrote it, what was the context of its publication, what historical method was
employed, what sources were used.

History School of Thoughts (Philippines Setting)

1. Positivism is the school of thought that emerged between the 18th and
19thcentury.
This thought requires empirical and observable evidence before one can
claim that a particular knowledge is true.
Positivist historians are expected to be objective and impartial
The mantra, “ No document, No history” stemmed from this thought.

History is written and taught for certain group of audience.

When the IIustrados, like Jose Rizal, Isabelo delos Reyes and Pedro
Paterno wrote history, they intended it for the Spaniards so that they
would realize that Filipinos are people of their own intellect and culture.
When American historians depicted the Filipinos as uncivilized, they
intended it for the Americans to justify their colonization and to civilize
the Filipinos.

2. Postcolonialism is the school of thought that emerged in the early 20 th

century when formerly colonized nations grappled with the idea of creating
their identities and understanding their societies against the shadows of their
colonial past

Postcolonial history looks at two things:

1. Tell the history of their nation that will highlight their identity free
from that colonial discourse and knowledge;
2. To criticize the methods, effects, and idea of colonialism

Postcolonial history is therefore a reaction and an alternative to the colonial

history that colonial powers created and taught to their subjects.

3. New Historicism seeks the interpretation of facts from all perspectives,

including those that do not concern history before.
For so many years, Filipino historians became followers of a very rigid
tradition in writing history – a tradition based on positivism.
Because of the weaknesses of this tradition, a new historical approach
emerged

Some biases in History

History is written by victors, the powerful and dominant players.

Example:
World War II in the Philippines
Where the Americans are depicted as heroes while the Imperial Japanese as
the oppressors.
Filipinos who collaborated with Japanese are also branded as traitors.

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History and the Historian

 The dilemma of an Historian is to be fair and objective with his

accounts.
 Historian cannot go to the past and rely on the remains or evidences
of the past to analyze and interpret it.
 “Facts cannot speak for themselves”. It is the historian’s job not
just to seek historical evidences and facts but also to interpret them. It
is their job to give meaning to these facts and organize them into
timeline, establish causes, and write history

Factors that may Influence the Historian

1. Self-context
2. Environment
3. Ideology
4. Education

Some Deception Cases in Philippine History

 Code of Kalantiaw
The code was a set of rules contained in an epic
Maragtas which was allegedly written by Datu
Kalantiaw. The document was sold to National
Library and was regarded as an important
precolonial document. In 1968, an American
historian William Henry Scott debunked the
authenticity of the code due to lack of evidence to
prove that the code existed in precolonial Philippine society

 Ferdinand Marcos as decorated WW II soldier

This was widely believed by students of history
and Marcos had war medals to show. This claim
was disproven when historian counterchecked
Marcos’s claims with the war records of the
United States.

References

Agoncillo, T. 1960. History of the Filipino people. C and E Publishing.

Quezon City, Philippines.682 p.

Asuncion, N. and G. R. Cruz. 2019. Readings in Philippine history. C and E

Publishing. Quezon City, Philippines.243 p.

Candelaria, J.P and V.C. Alporha. 2018. Readings in Philippine history. Rex
Book Store. Manila, Philippines. 144 p.

Constantino, R. 2010. A history of the Philippines. Monthly Press Review.

Quezon City, Philippines.

Ileto, R. 1997. Pasyon and Revolution: Popular Movements in the Philippines,

1840-1910. Ateneo de Manila University Press. Manila, Philippines.

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Ocampo, A. 2001. Meaning and history: Rizal Lectures. Anvil Publishing.

Quezon City, Philippines.

Tan, S. 2009. A history of the Philippines. University of the Philippinbes

Press. . Quezon City, Philippines.

Torres, J.V. 2018. Batis. Sources in Philippine history. C and E Publishing.

Quezon City, Philippines.682 p.

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