GE 2: READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY

MODULE 1:
THE MEANING AND NATURE OF HISTORY

Module Learning Objectives:

At the end of the module, the students are expected to:
a. Define what is history;
b. Determine the nature and relevance of history to mankind;
c. Explain the significance of history
d. Identify the primary and secondary sources in understanding Philippine
History;

TOPICS
1. The Meaning of “History”
2. Nature of History
3. Distinction Between Primary and Secondary Sources
4. Evaluation of Primary and Secondary Sources
Tabon Man
Katipunan and the Revolution: Memoirs of a General

I. The Meaning of “History”

History is the analysis and interpretation of the human past enabling us

to study continuity and changes that are taking place. It is a means to
understand the past and the present. The different interpretation of the past
allows us to see the present differently and therefore imagine –and work
towards-- different futures.
The origin of word History is associated with the Greek word “Historia”
which means “information” or “an enquiry designed to elicit truth”.
History has been defined differently by different scholars. Following
definitions indicate the meaning and scope of History.

Burckhardt: “History is the record of what one age finds worthy of note in
another”
Henry Johnson: “History, in its broadest sense, is everything that ever happened”
Smith, V.S.: “The value and interest of history depend largely on the degree in
which the present is illuminated by the past”.
Rapson: “History is a connected account of the course of events or progress of
ideas”
Jawaharal Nehru:” History is the story of man’s struggle through the ages against
Nature and the elements; against wild beast and the jungle and same
of his own kind who have tried to keep him down and to exploit him
for their own benefit”
John Jacob Anderson: History is a narration of the events which have happened

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 among mankind, including an account of the rise and fall of nations,
as well as of other great changes which have affected the political
and social condition of the human race”.

WHY HISTORY MATTERS

All people are living histories – which is why History matters

Historians are often asked: what is the use or relevance of studying History? Why
on earth does it matter what happened long ago? The answer is that History is
inescapable. It studies the past and the legacies of the past in the present. Far
from being a 'dead' subject, it connects things through time and encourages its
students to take a long view of such connections.

All people and peoples are living histories. To take a few obvious examples:
communities speak languages that are inherited from the past. They live in
societies with complex cultures, traditions and religions that have not been
created on the spur of the moment. People use technologies that they have not
themselves invented. And each individual is born with a personal variant of an
inherited genetic template, known as the genome, which has evolved during
the entire life-span of the human species.

So understanding the linkages between past and present is absolutely basic for
a good understanding of the condition of being human. That, in a nutshell, is
why History matters. It is not just 'useful', it is essential.

The study of the past is essential for 'rooting' people in time. And why
should that matter? The answer is that people who feel themselves to be rootless
live rootless lives, often causing a lot of damage to themselves and others in the
process. Indeed, at the most extreme end of the out-of-history spectrum, those
individuals with the distressing experience of complete memory loss cannot
manage on their own at all. In fact, all people have a full historical context. But
some, generally for reasons that are no fault of their own, grow up with a weak
or troubled sense of their own placing, whether within their families or within the
wider world. They lack a sense of roots. For others, by contrast, the inherited
legacy may even be too powerful and outright oppressive.

In all cases, understanding History is integral to a good understanding of the

condition of being human. That allows people to build, and, as may well be
necessary, also to change, upon a secure foundation. Neither of these options
can be undertaken well without understanding the context and starting points.
All living people live in the here-and-now but it took a long unfolding history to
get everything to NOW. And that history is located in time-space, which holds
this cosmos together, and which frames both the past and the present.

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II. Nature of History
To better understand history, it is essential to determine its very nature
1. History is a study of the present in the light of the past
The present has evolved out of the past. To understand how society has
come to its present form, there is a need to know its past.
Example: Understanding the Birth of Philippine as a Nation
2. History is the study of man
History deals with man’s struggles through ages. Past events are riddled
with man’s engagement in wars, his struggles to win his independence.
History traces the fascinating story of how man has developed through
the ages, how man has studied to use and control his environment and
how the present institutions have grown out of the past.
Example: Growth and development of the Philippine Government from
Pre-colonial to the Present
3. History provides an objective record of happenings.
Historians are careful on the data they include in their books. They base
their data on original source and make them free from subjective
interpretation.
4. History is multisided.
History is not limited to one certain aspect of man’s life; it covers all other
aspects as they are all closely interrelated. A change in politics could
have an effect in other aspects of the society
5. History is a dialogue between the events of the past and progressively
emerging future ends.
Past events are interpreted and become predictor of new objectives.
6. History is not only narration but it is also an analysis.
History is not confined with narrative accounts. It dissects and explains the
occurrence of the events and how it ultimately changes the society
overtime.
7. Continuity and coherence are necessary requisites of history.
History monitors the development of the society, from generation to
generation, after series of events, justifying the essence of continuity.
8. History is relevant
In the study of history, only significant events which have influenced the
society are covered and essential to the understanding of the present life.
9. History is comprehensive
History is not limited to one period or to one country alone.
It deals with all aspects of human life- political, social, economic, religious,
literary, aesthetic and physical, giving a clear picture of global linkage
Example: Socio-cultural aspect of the Filipinos it is a mixture of the culture
of the east and the west

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III: Distinction Between Primary and Secondary Sources
 In conducting any historical research, different sources of information are
required to gain extensive knowledge on a particular topic.
 Some researchers rely on written sources while others choose to make use
of oral sources.
 Primary Sources: These sources are considered as contemporary accounts
of an event, personally written or narrated by an individual person who
directly experienced or participated in the said event.
 Primary sources also include materials that capture the event such as
photographs, voice and video recordings, and the like. These materials are
considered as original sources that directly narrate the details of the event.
 Diary
 Journal entries
 Letters
 Memoirs
 Speeches
 Interviews
 Official Records
 Minutes
 Artworks
 Artifacts
 Primary sources mostly include unpublished works of individuals that were
discovered after some time as during historical excavation and historical
researches done in public and private libraries.
 Newspapers and magazine articles are also considered primary sources as
long as they were written soon after the events and not as historical
account.
 Secondary Sources: These resources serve as interpretations or readings of
primary sources. Usually, the author of a piece incorporates his or her
personal insights and interpretations, thus, detaching the original value of
the component of the subject being discussed.
 These sources usually contain analyses of primary sources by experts,
academicians, and professionals.
 These are usually in the form of published works such as journals, articles,
reviews, books, conference papers, and documentaries.
 They can also be based on interpretations of other secondary sources or a
combination of primary and secondary sources.
 Many historical researches also bank on secondary sources to get different
perspectives on a particular topic. However, relying too much on
secondary sources may blur out the actual details of particular historical
events.
 Therefore, primary and secondary sources should be evaluated. Most
scholars use the following questions in evaluating the validity and credibility
of sources of historical accounts:

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 1) How did the author know about the given details? Was the author
present at the event? How soon was the author able to gather the
details of the event?
2) Where did the information come from? Is it a personal experience,
an eyewitness account, or a report made by another person?
3) Did the author conclude based on a single source, or on many
sources of evidence?
 The evaluation of an available source shows any indication that it is an
interpretative work rather than a factual firsthand account, it is considered
as a secondary source.

IV: Evaluation of Primary and Secondary Sources

 Primary source provides better and more accurate historical details
compared to a secondary source. However, the authenticity and reliability
of primary sources should be scrutinized before they are used.
 In this day and age, the proliferation of fake news is evident in both print
and digital media platforms.
 Although primacy is given to primary sources, there are instances when the
credibility of these sources are contestable. Garraghan (1950) identified six
points of inquiries to evaluate the authenticity of a primary source:
1) Date – When was it produced?
2) Localization – Where did it originate?
3) Authorship – Who wrote it?
4) Analysis – What pre-existing material served as the basis for its
production?
5) Integrity – What was its original form?
6) Credibility – What is the evidential value of its content?
 Secondary accounts of historical events are narratives commonly passed
on from one generation to the next or knowledge that is shared within a
community. Similar to the usual problem with passing information from one
point to another, details can be altered.
 Louis Gottschalk (1969) emphasized that is impossible for historians to avoid
using secondary sources due to difficulty in accessing primary sources. He
suggested that secondary sources must only be used for:
1) deriving the setting wherein the contemporary evidence will fit in the
grand narrative of history;
2) getting leads to other bibliographic data
3) acquiring quotations or citations from contemporary or other
sources; and
4) deriving interpretations with a view of testing and improving them but
not accepting them as outright truth.
 Martha Howell and Walter Prevenier (2001) stated that before any source
can be considered as an evidence in a historical argument, it must satisfy
three preconditions.
1) It must be comprehensible at the most basic level of vocabulary,
language, and handwriting

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 2) The source must be carefully located in accordance with place and
time. Its author, composer, or writer and the location where it was
produced/published should be noted for the checking of
authenticity and accuracy.
3) The authenticity of the source must always be checked and
counterchecked before being accepted as a credible source in any
historical findings. Subtle details such as the quality of paper used,
the ink or the watermark of the parchment used, and the way it was
encoded.
 Cases of forgery and mislabeling are common in Philippine historiography.
 Ambeth Ocampo’s discovery of the alleged draft of Jose Rizal’s third
novel, the Makamisa
 Signature of Gen. Urbano Lacuna that led to the captivity of Emilio
Aguinaldo
 Signature of Jose Rizal in the great retraction controversy
 Josephine Bracken and Jose Rizal marriage under Catholic rites
 Internal criteria set by Howell and Prevenier (2001):
1) The genealogy of the document – refers to the development of the
document. The document may be original, a copy, or a copy of the
copy.
2) The genesis of the document – includes the situations and the
authorities during the document’s production.
3) The originality of the document – includes the nature of the
document whether it is an eye/earwitness account or merely passing
of existing information.
4) The interpretation of the document – pertains to deducing meaning
from the document.
5) The authority of the document – refers to the relationship between
the document’s subject matter and its author.
6) The competence of the observer – refers to the author’s capabilities
and qualifications to critically comprehend and report information.
7) The trustworthiness of the observer – refers to the author’s integrity –
whether he or she fabricates or reports truthfully
 Primary sources: How these sources are directly related and closely
connected to the time of the events they pertain to.
 Secondary sources: Depends on the elapsed time from the date of the
event to the date of their creation. More likely, the farther the date of
creation from the actual event, the more reliable the source is (exhaustion
of all available materials).
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