I.

Understanding Meaning & Relevance of History

 History
o The record of past events and times, especially in connection with the human race.
o A systematic account of any set of natural phenomena without particular reference to time.
o From old French estoire, estorie "story; chronicle, history", from Latin historia "narrative of past
events, account, tale, story," from Greek historia "a learning or knowing by inquiry
o Father of History -Herodotus
 Why study history?
o History helps us develop a better understanding of the world.
o History helps us understand ourselves.
o History helps us learn to understand other people.
o History teaches a working understanding of change.
o History gives us the tools we need to be decent citizens.
o History makes us better decision makers.
o History helps us develop a new level of appreciation for just about everything.
 We conduct historical research for a number of reasons:
o to avoid the mistakes of the past
o to apply lessons from the past to current problems
o to use the past to make predictions about the present
o to understand present practices and policies in light of the past
o to examine trends across time

Historical Sources of Data

 Primary Data
o A primary source is something that originates from the past. It can be a chronicle, a piece of
pottery, or even a piece of glacial ice that gives us climate data about the levels of atmospheric
carbon one thousand years ago.
o Historians, to the best of their abilities, work with primary sources to understand the past on its
own terms, not through the modern-day lenses.
o For example, if one were only to study the Crusades through modern-day books, they would
not be able to understand what would motivate a knight to travel across the world and engage in
warfare against Muslims in his own words. It would be too easy to view his motivations with our
modern-day disapproval of his actions. But if we look at a primary source, we can at least
sympathize better with the medieval world that would make the act of Holy War seem
reasonable to him, even if we still strongly disagree with the outcome.

Primary Sources:
The primary sources can be classified into the following categories:

(1) Contemporary Records:

These types of primary sources are in the form of the instruction documents, stenographic and phonographic
records. The business and legal paper and autobiographies, etc. The instruction documents may be in the form
of an appointment notification, and direction from a foreign office to the ambassador, etc. Generally, such
documents have very little chance of error but it is essential to ascertain their authenticity.

The Business and legal letters consist of the bills, journals, leases, wills, tax records which gives an insight into
the working of the firms as well as the persons. The autobiographies are a credible source of history because
they are very close to the events with which they deal and written by a person himself. These are non-prejudicial.
(2) Confidential Reports:
The confidential reports are not intended for a general audience and are less reliable than the contemporary
sources. These types of reports are generally in the forms of military and diplomatic dispatches, Journals, diaries
or memoirs, and personal letters.

(3) Public Reports:

The public reports are meant for the general public and less reliable. There are three types of public reports and
each possesses a different degree of reliability, such as— Newspaper reports and dispatches are more reliable
which depends upon the agency from which it originated and the newspaper in which it is published; Memoirs
and autobiographies are another public reports which are written for the public at the close of the life when the
memoirs of author is fading and are, therefore, not very reliable and the official histories of the activities of
government or business house are also an important kind of public reports. They possess incriminating material
and less reliable.

(4) Government Documents:

Numerous government documents are compiled which are also a source of vita! importance to historians such
as statistics about the fiscal, census and vital matters which can be made use of by the historians. All these
reports have first-hand importance but require proper evaluation before the use.

(5) Public Opinion:

The public opinion as expressed in editorials, speeches, pamphlets, letter to the editor is another important
source available to the historian, But the authenticity of this must be corroborated by other evidence because
public opinion may not be always reliable,

(6) Folklores and Proverbs:

The folklores which reveal the stories of legendary heroes are also an important source of history. They tell us
about the aspirations, superstitions, and customs of the people among whom- the stories developed, e.g. “Alla-
Uddal” the hero Rajputana.

To make the use of these folklores the historian should not only possess a thorough knowledge of the history of
the period but also able to distinguish between the legendary and authentic elements. Similarly, proverbs can
give us an idea but scholars must have a thorough knowledge of the customs and traditions.

Secondary Sources:
 Secondary Data
o A secondary source is a work that comments on the past.
o Typically, this is a recently written book that describes past events, often written by a historian
or trained scholar familiar about the time period and civilization in question.
o Scholars will spend just as much time with secondary sources as they will with primary sources
since they attempt to understand how other scholars interpret obscure events and may disagree
with their analyses.
o For example, a Roman coin that was made by the Romans is a primary source, but a drawing of
a Roman coin made in 2003 would be a secondary source.A book written about the Tudors in
1525 would be a primary source, but a book written about the Tudors in 1995 would be a
secondary source.
Example:
The primary sources can be of great help to the historian if he has acquired a thorough knowledge of the
background through the study of secondary sources, i.e. the works of the great and important historians of the
proposed area and period of research. On the basis of this knowledge, he can utilize the contemporary document
at a relevant places and can correct the secondary sources.
Historical Criticism:
i.e. External and Internal.

(1) External Criticism:

The ‘External Criticism’ is of a less intellectual type of criticism of the documents. It includes examinations of
documents like manuscripts, books, pamphlets, maps, inscriptions, and monuments. The problem of authenticity
of document arises more in the case of manuscripts than the printed documents because the printed document
has already been authenticated by the editor.

Historian has to resort to a number of tests to determine the authenticity of a particular document in his proposed
area of research such as— ‘Authorship’ the first question while examining the authenticity of a document is its
author. Even the anonymous writings can provide us useful and important knowledge. But the discovery of an
author’s or writer’s name adds the authenticity of the information because of the character, connections and
trustworthiness of the author determine the authenticity.

Secondly, “Date of Document”, i.e. the time, place of publication of the document must be inquired to determine
the authenticity of the document. In the modern publications year and place of publication is indicated on the
book or document on the title page or backside (overleaf). However, in the old manuscript where the data and
place are absent, it can be found out from the language or from the date of birth and death of the author.

Thirdly, the historian confronts the textual errors which may be either unintentional or deliberately committed.
Unintentional error can take place in the copies of the documents (originals are not available). These mistakes
may be caused by the scribe, typist or printer.
An intention error may creep in when the effort is made to modify, supplement or continue the original. This
problem can be overcome through textual criticism. Under this technique, the effort is made to collect as many
copies of dubious text as possible and they are compared.

If the ideas and style do not match or resemble the idea and style of the author it can be safely assumed that
they were not parts of the original manuscript and were forged by the later ones. Further’ more, the textual
accuracy can be solved with the help of “sciences auxiliary” to history such as “Paleographists” have
authenticated numerous documents of the medieval period by their handwriting and have published easily legible
printed versions.

The “archaeologists” provides rich information to the historians, the “numismatists” by dating the coins, medals
and deciphering their inscriptions render valuable assistance. Fourthly, after the confirmation of the authenticity
of the sources historians confronted with the different terms used in the document.

The meaning of words often changes from generation to generation. Therefore historians must find out the
meaning and sense in which it has been used in the document. The misinterpretation of terms may lead to a
misunderstanding of historical development.

In this way, even after the historian established the authenticity of the documents and discovered the meaning
of the text his duty is not over. He is confronted with another important problem with the credibility of the
document.

(2) Internal Criticism:

While collecting the material, it must be remembered that a document contains the idea of the man who wrote.
A historian must analyze the contents of the documents with a view to determining the real meaning. He must
try to avoid the laps such as avoid the reading into meaning which author did not mean to convey, etc., and
make a sincere effort to find out the facts even if they are contrary to his set notions and theories.
He must be able to understand the literal and real meaning of the document which is termed as ‘Positive
Criticism’. It reveals us with the author’s conceptions and general notion which he represents. On another hand,
historian sometimes comes across documents which contradict each other. Hence the need for eliminating
statements and facts which are obviously wrong and false arises.

Therefore, historians have come to hold the view that all that cannot be proved must be temporarily regarded as
doubtful because of the incompetence and unreliability of the author which prevents him from telling the truth
even when he knows. To assess the correctness of the fact, the historian must ascertain whether the author had
the opportunity to know the facts as an eyewitness or not.

What was his source of information and how much time elapsed between the event and the record? But the
dependable testimony depends on a number of factors such as ability and willingness to tell the truth, the
accuracy of the report and independent corroboration. However, it may be noted that there is a possibility that a
skillful liar may deliberately create the condition, i.e. ability and willingness to tell the truth with accuracy to
establish the credibility of his statements.

Therefore, in those cases, the credibility must not be accepted without proper investigation. Moreover, if there is
an agreement between documents, we cannot draw the conclusion that the facts are definitive but we must
ensure that the facts are harmonious and prove each other are interconnected.

Summary:
External criticism refers to the authenticity of the document. Once a document has been determined
to be genuine (external criticism), researchers need to determine if the content is accurate (internal
criticism).

THE TABON CAVES OF PALAWAN

 The earliest evidence of man, himself, in the Philippines: which is also the earliest appearance of
modern man – Homo sapiens – in these islands, is that of the Tabon Man of Palawan.
 The discovery of the human fossil was made by a National Museum team headed by the late Dr.
Robert B. Fox.
 The fossil is composed of the skull cap, or the frontal skull bone, two fragments of jaw bones and some
teeth. The set of fossils suggest that are at least three individuals. The skull cap is that of a young
individual, probably female.
 The fossils were found in a cave in Lipuun Point in the municipality of Quezon, Palawan.
 The cave was named Tabon after the large-footed bird that lays eggs in huge holes it digs into cave
floors, many of which have been found in the cave.
 A curious fact is that there is no signs of any sea shells in the cave floor deposits. This is because
during that time of occupation by Tabon Man the sea coast was about thirty kilometers away since the
sea did not reach its present level until about eleven to seven thousand years ago.
 The layer where the fossils of the Tabon Man was found has been dated to 22 to 23 thousand years
old, which also gives the age of the fossils.

PREHISPANIC TIMES IN THE PHILIPPINES

 Society is divided into three social classes. A person’s status may immediately be changed in this
period: A Datu may become a slave and a slave may become a Datu.
o Datu – the leader of the community
o Maharlika – soldiers are included in this class of society
o Alipin - the lowest class of the society
 Slavery may be due to the ff: 1. Inherited status 2. Captured by the enemies in war 3. Those who
cannot pay their debt 4. Punishment of the crime committed 5. Sold to become slave
 Two kinds of slaves in Tagalog
o Aliping namamahay – those who have their own houses and only works for their master in
times of sowing and harvest.
o Aliping saguiguilid – those who live in their master’s house and does what their master told them
to do.
 Government
 The Barangay is the basic unit of government. It may compose of about 30-100 families. Every
barangay is autonomous, and is ruled by either a Datu, Rajah, King or Lakan.
 Powers of a Datu.
o In times of peace: Executive, Legislator and Chief Justice.
o In war: he is the commander in chief of the armed forces.
o Foreign affairs: the datu enables treatise and truce (sanduguan)
 How one can be a Datu
o It may be inherited, either by a man or a woman. (the eldest child).
o Chosen by the community according to the following characteristics (bravest, wealthiest
or the wisest)
Laws
o It may be written or not.
o Unwritten laws are spoken laws that is passed by of course the word of mouth, and may
be passed through generations.
o Written laws are made by the Datu together with the council of the elders as his
advisers.
o Written laws are proclaimed by the umalokohans.
Family
o The society encourages the marriage of equal status in the society but it does not
discourage marriages of different class.
o A Datu may be married to a slave.
o Divorce is allowed in some parts of the country due to: if the wife is unfaithful, if the man
abandons his wife and children, domestic violence, barren or impotence.

LEARNING ACTIVITY Essay

If you are a historian who wants to research what life was like for women living in the Philippines in 1800`s,
what kinds of primary sources might you look for? What kinds of secondary sources? Try to list three of each.