W h a t is y o u r o w n

definition o f History?

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MEANING OF
HISTORY
 HISTORY
Etymologically, HISTORY (from Greek
word Historia, meaning “Knowledge
acquired by investigation)
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 HISTORY
O n the other side, events occurring before written
record are considered prehistoric; an umbrella t e r m
that relates to past events as well as the m e m o r y ,
discovery, collection, organization, presentation and
interpretation of information about these events.
Hence, scholars who write about history are called
Historians.
 HISTORY
History is a narration of the events which have
happened amo ng mankind, including an account of
the rise and fall of the nations, as well as of other great
changes which have affected the political and social
condition of the h u m a n race.
- Jo hn Anderson, 1876. A Manual of General History
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 HISTORY
T H E W O R D H IS T O RY IS R E F F E R E D USUAL L Y
F O R ACCO U NT S O F PHENO M ENA, SPE CIALL Y
HUMAN AFFAIRS IN C H R O N O L O G I A L O R D E R .

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There are theories constructed by
historians in investigating
history;
✣ a). Factual History
✣ b). Speculative History

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 FACTUAL HISTORY
PRESENT S READERS T HE PLAIN AND BASIC
INFORMATION , T HE EVENTS THAT T O OK
PLACE ( WHAT ), T HE T IM E AND DATE W IT H
WHICH T H E EVENT HAPPENED ( WHEN ), THE
PLACE W I T H WHICH T H E EVENT T O O K PLACE ,
AND T HE PEOPLE THAT WERE INVOLVED
( WHO ).
 SPEC ULATIVE HISTORY

it goes beyond facts because it is concerned

about the reasons for which events happened
(why), and the way they happened (how).

- it tries to speculate o n the cause and effect

of an event – (Cantal, Cardinal et.al.)
T h e practice of historical writing is
called historiography, the traditional
meth o d in doing historical research
that focus o n gathering of documents
f r o m different libraries and archives
to f o r m a pool of evidence needed in
making descriptive or analytical
narrative.

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“Only a part of what was observed in the
past was remembered by those who
observed it; only a part of what was
remembered was recorded; only a part of
what was recorded has survived; only a
part of what has survived has come to
the historian’s attention.”

- Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

 “Only a part of what is credible has been
grasped, an d only a part of what has been
grasped can be expounded or narrated by
the historian.”

- Louis Gottschalk, Understanding

History
SOURCES AND
HISTORICAL
DATA
 Historical Sources

➢ Sources – an object from the past or

testimony concerning the past on
which historians depend in order to
create their own depiction of that
past.

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✣ What are they?
✣ Advantages and disadvantages of using
Primary or Secondary sources
✣ Categories

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PRIMARY S O U R C E S
✣ Primary sources enable the
researcher to get as close as
possible to what actually
happened during an historical
event or time period.
 PRIMARY S O U R C E S
✣ Diaries and journals
⨳ Example: Anne Frank was a teenager during
World W a r II. S h e kept a diary or journal the
years before she died in a concentration camp.
Her diary was later published as the “Diary of
Anne Frank”. This is a primary source.
⨳ Example: Sarah Morgan was young woman
during the Civil War. S h e wrote in her diary or
journal what happened to her and her family
during the war. This is a primary d ocument
because it was first hand. S h e wrote it at the
time it happened.
⨳ Sarah Morgan Dawson: A Confederate Girl's
Diary
 PRIMARY S O U R C E S
✣ Autobiographies
⨳ An autobiography is when you write a
story or book about yourself.
■ Example: Nelson Mandela wrote his
autobiography about events in his life
called “Long Walk to Freedom: T h e
Autobiography of Nelson Mandela.
This is a primary document because
h e wrote his first hand experiences.
 PRIMARY S O U R C E S
✣ Sound Recordings and interviews are
considered primary resources.
⨳ Ex ample 1: During the Great
Depression and World W a r II,
television had not been invented yet.
T h e people would often sit around the
radio to listen to President Roosevelt’s
war messages. T h o s e radio addresses
are considered “primary sources.”
⨳ Example 2: During the 2 0 0 8 election
Barack O bama, had m a n y interviews
that were televised. T ho s e interviews
are considered primary sources.
W H A T IS A S E C O N D A R Y
SOURCE?

A secondary source
is something written
about a primary
source.

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• Secondary sources are written
"AFTER THE FACT" - that is, at a
later date.
• Usually the author of a secondary
source will have studied the primary
sources of an historical period or
event and will then interpret the
"evidence" found in these sources.
• You can think of secondary sources
as second-hand information.
 PRIMARY S O U R C E S
• T h i nk about it like this….
• If I tell you something, I a m
the primary source. If you tell
s o m e o n e else what I told you,
you are the secondary source.
• Secondary source materials
can b e articles in
NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES,
BOOKS O R ARTICLES F O U ND
THAT EVALUATE O R CRITICIZE
S O M E O N E ELSE'S ORIGINAL
RESEARCH
 Why Use P r i m a r y S o u r c e s ?
ADVANTAGES
✣ Primary sources provide a window into the
past—unfiltered access to the record of
artistic, social, scientific and political thought
and achievement during the specific period
under study, produced by people who lived
during that period
✣ these unique, often profoundly personal,
documents and objects can give a very real
sense of what it was like to be alive during a
long-past era.
 Primary Source
DISADVANTAGES
✣ Primary sources are often incomplete and
have little context. Students must use prior
knowledge and work with multiple primary
sources to find patterns
✣ In analyzing primary sources, students
m o v e f r o m concrete observations and facts
to questioning and making inferences about
the materials.
 Why Use S e c o n d a r y S o u r c e s ?
ADVANTAGES
✣ Secondary sources can provide analysis, synthesis,
interpretation, or evaluation of the original information.
✣ Secondary sources are best for uncovering background
or historical information about a topic and broadening
your understanding of a topic by exposing you to others’
perspectives, interpretations, and conclusions
✣ Allows the reader to get expert views of events and often
bring together multiple primary sources relevant to the
subject matter
 Secondary Source
DISADVANTAGES
✣ T h e i r reliability and validity are open to
question, and often they do not provide exact
information
✣ T h e y do not represent first hand knowledge
of a subject or event
✣ T h e r e are countless books, journals,
magazine articles and web pages that attempt
to interpret the past and finding good
secondary sources can be an issue
Written Sources o f History
• Narrative or Literary
• Diplomatic or Juridical
• Social Documents
 Diplomatic Sources

✣ It is these kind of sources that

professional historians o nce treated as
purest, “best” source. A legal document
is usually sealed or authenticated to
provide evidence that a legal
transaction has been completed and
can be used as evidence in judicial
proceedings in case of dispute.
 Social Documents
✣ T h es e are information pertaining to
econo mi c, social, political o r judicial
significance. T h e y are records kept by
bureaucracies. Examples such as
government reports, municipal
accounts, property registers and
records of census.
EVALUATING
HISTORICAL
DATA
Historical criticism

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What is Historical Criticism?

➢ In order for a source to be used as evidence in

history, basic matters about its f o r m and
content must be settled

➢ 1. External Criticism
➢ 2. Internal Criticism
What is External Criticism?

➢ T h e pr o blem of authenticity

➢ T o spot fabricated, forged, faked documents

➢ T o distinguish a hoax o r misrepresentation

Tests of Authenticity
1. Determine the date of the document to see whether
they are anachronistic (a chronological misplacing of
persons, events, or customs in regard to each other)
e.g. pencils did not exist before the 16th Century
2. Determine the author
e.g. handwriting, signature, seal
3. Anachronistic style
e.g. idiom, ortography, punctuation

➢ Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

Tests of Authenticity
4. Anachronistic reference to events
e.g. too early, too late, too r emo t e

5. Provenance o r custody
e.g. determines its genuineness
6.Semantics – determining the meaning of a text o r
word
7.Hermeneutics –(principles of interpretation of
ambiguous words)

➢ Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

What is Internal Criticism?

➢ T h e Pr ob lem of Credibility

➢ Relevant particulars in the document – is it credible?

➢ Verisimilar – as close as what really happened f r o m a critical

examination of best available sources

Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

 Tests of Credibility
1. Identification of the author
e.g. to determine his reliability; mental processes,
personal attitudes
2. Determination of the approximate date
e.g. handwriting, signature, seal
3. Ability to tell the truth
e.g. nearness to the event, co mpet ence of witness, degree
o f attention

Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

RELEVANCE
OF HISTORY
What is HISTORY for?

1. It provides SOLUTIONS
to the problems of the
present and GOOD IDEAS
for us to be guided.
What is HISTORY for?

2. It teaches us that
things can
CHANGE
 What is HISTORY for?

3. It teaches us to have
COURAGE
 What is HISTORY for?

4. History is also a tool

for us to APPRECIATE
the advantages we have
today.
 Thank you!

Any questions?
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= hLE-5ElGlPM
https://www.slideshare.net/RomalieGalleto/sources -of-
history-readings-in-the-philippine-history-
161851782?qid=91c6d909-c55e-4212-aa28-
1708c5dca12d&v=&b=&from_search= 1