RPH REVIEWER

The meaning of History,

- derived from the Greek word hsitoria, which means earning
knowledge or inquiring.
- The word history is referred usually for account of phenomena,
especially human rights in chronological order.

Factual History
o basic information, vis-à-vis the events that took place (what)
o the time and date it happened (when)
o the people who are involved (who)

Speculative History
o goes beyond facts
o concerned about the reasons for which events happened
(why)
o the way they happened (how)
o it tries to speculate the cause and effect

- history from the Filipino perspective term as kasaysayan.

o came from salaysay, meaning narrative or story
o and from the word, saysay or meaning

- according to Zeus Salazar, ang kasaysayan ay isang salaysay na may

saysay sa mga taong magsasaysay.
- pantayong pananaw
o “tangkilikin ang sariling gawa natin”
- a narrative without meaning to the group of people will never be
history.
- to Agoncillo, it is the study of the relevant past.
o it is the struggle of every Filipino for freedom.
- to Constantino, it is the history of the inarticulate.
Sources of Historical Data
Primary Vs. Secondary Sources

Primary Sources
- raw materials of historical research
- documents or artifacts closest to the topic of investigation
o examples:
▪ autobiographies and memoirs
▪ diaries, personal letters
▪ interviews, surveys, field works
▪ photographs, drawings
▪ speeches, works of art and literature
▪ orig documents (birth certi, property deeds)
▪ artifacts, patents, research datas

Secondary Sources
- offer an analysis or a restatement of primary sources.
- often attempt to describe or explain primary sources.
o examples:
▪ bibliographies
▪ biographical works
▪ dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases
▪ articles from magazines, journals, newspapers after an
event
▪ literature reviews and review articles
▪ history or scholarly books
▪ works of criticism and interpretation, commentaries
and treatises.

Categories of Written Sources

 - Narrative
o written to impart a message whose motives for their
composition vary widely.

- Diplomatic Sources
o documents/record and existing legal situation or create a
new one.
o professional historians treated as the BEST source.

- Social Document
o information pertaining for economic, social, political, or
judicial significance.

Non-written Sources of History

- Material Evidence
o one of the most important unwritten evidences.

- Oral Evidence
o told by the tales or sagas of ancient people.
External Criticism
- determine the authenticity of the material, also called provenance
of a source.
- the critic should determine:
o the origin of the material
o author
o source of information used

Test of Authenticity, to distinguish a hoax or misinterpretation from a

genuine document, the historian has to use tests that are common also in
police and legal detection.
- guessing the date of the document
- examining materials whether they are not anachronistic.
- also examines the ink for signs of age or anachronistic chemical
composition
Making his best guess for the possible author, they see if they can identify:
- handwriting
- signature
- seal
- letterhead
- watermark
Even when the handwriting is unfamiliar, it can be compared with
authenticated specimens.
- [isographies, dictionaries of biography giving examples of
handwriting]
- experts also use paleography and diplomatic, first systemized by
Mabillon in the seventeenth century.
Seals have been the subject of special study by sigillographers and experts
can detect faked ones.
Anachronistic style (idioms, orthography, or punctuation), can be detected
by specialists who are familiar with contemporary writing.
Often, spelling, particularly or proper names and signatures reveals a
forgery as would also unhistorical grammar.
Anachronistic references, refers to events or the dating of a document at a
time when the alleged writer could not possible haven been at the place
designated (alibi) uncovers fraud.

Identification of Author and of Date

- some guess of the approximate date of the document and
identification of the supposed author obviously form an essential
part of the external criticism.
Internal Criticism/High Criticism
- it deals with more important matters than external form
- to weigh the testimony of truth
- the critic must:
o examine the trustworthiness of the testimonies
o determine the probability of the statements to be true
- to obtain a set of particulars relevant to some topic or questions
that he has in mind.

Garraghan (1950), identified six points of inquiries to evaluate the

authenticity of a primary sources:
- date, when was it produced?
- localization, wherever did it originate?
- authorship, who wrote it?
- analysis, what pre-existing material served as the basis for this
production?
- integrity, what was its original form?
- creditability, what is the evidential value of its content?

Gottschalk (1969), he emphasized that it’s impossible to not use secondary

sources due to difficulty in accessing primary sources. Most often, they
depend on secondary sources to improve their background knowledge of
contemporary documents and detect errors.
Gottschalk suggested that secondary sources must only be used for:
- deriving the setting wherein the contemporary evidence will fit in
the grand narrative of history.
- getting leads to other bibliographic data
- acquiring quotations or citations
- deriving interpretation 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 evidence in ahistorical argument it must satisfy three
preconditions:
- must be comprehensible at the most basic level of vocabulary,
language and handwriting.
- source must be carefully located in accordance with place and
time.
- must always be checked and counterchecked before being
accepted as a credible source in any historical findings.

Historians also evaluate in terms of internal criteria which include seven

factors identified by Howell and Prevenier (2001) as cited by Asuncion and
Cruz (2019):
- Genealogy of the document, development of the document. it
may be original, a copy, or a copy of the copy.
- Genesis of the document, situations and the authorities during the
document’s productions.
- Originality of the document, nature of the document whether it is
an eye/earwitness account or merely passing of.
- Interpretation of the document, deducing meaning from the
documents.
- Authorship authority of the document, relationship between the
document’s subject matter and its author.
- Competence of the observer, author’s capabilities and
qualifications to critically comprehend and report information
- Trustworthiness of the observer, author’s integrity – whether he or
she fabricates or reports truthfully.

The reliability of primary sources is assessed on how these sources are

directly related and closely connected to the time of the events they pertain
to.
Primary Vs. Secondary Sources
The “Acta de Tejeros” (pp.18-31)

The Katipunan and the Revolution:

Memoirs of a General by Santiago Alvarez

Written by Santiago Alvarez. Also known as Gen. Apoy, is the author

of Memoirs of a General. He was the only child of Gen. Mariano Alvarez,
the leader of the Magdiwang faction, and Nicolasa Virata. He was 24 years
old when his education was interrupted by the Revolution. He also led the
battle of Dalahican. He continued his studies after the revolution in UST
then transferred to San Juan de Letran to finish his Bachelor in Arts degree.
Santiago Alvarez’s objective in writing the book was to make known to the
youth the fading struggle of the revolutionaries and the story of the
revolution. To shed more light on the different facets of the Revolution.
Memoirs of a General was published on 1992 by Ateneo University
Press and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies

Dates Mentioned Key Personalities

March 24 1897 – scheduled meeting for the Andres Bonifacio Luciano San Miguel
leaders but got postponed. Diego Mojica Pablo Mojica
Jacinto Lumbreras Severino de las Alas
March 25 1897 – the exact date the meeting Mariano Alvarez Santiago Rillo
was held. Pascual Alvarez
Baldomero
Ariston Villanueva
Aguinaldo
Mariano C. Trias
March 25 1897 – the Spaniards captured and Emiliano R. de Daniel Trona
occupied the town of Imus in the afternoon. Dios Cayetano Topacio
Santiago V. Daniel Tirona
March 27 1897 – revealed that a secret Alvarez Capt. General Apoy
meeting was held at Tanza parish house. Artemio Ricarte – Emilio Aguinaldo
Secretary General Vibora
April 3 – the Supremo made a bid to Santos Nocon
recapture Noveleta.
Summary:
– On March 25 1897, the assembly was convened in Tejeros. The
meeting begun and the main topic or reason for the assembly was
revealed by Lumbreras.
– A lot of arguments happened before proceeding to the election.
Bonfacio lost two positions from the election, for president and
secretary. Tirona requested that the position for secretary is for a
more educated person that offended Bonificio.
– Baldomero requested for another meeting to reconvene but was
ignored. So, they held their own meeting on March 27 1897 at Tanza
parish house.
– On the same day as the assembly, March 25, the Spaniards captured
and occupied the town of Imus. A battle started, they then rested in
Bakaw but got ambushed with potshots by small Katipunan troops.
– In April 3, Bonfacio bid to recapture Noveleta. After a few days of
attempt, he failed and fresh Spanish reinforcements begin arriving in
Bakaw, Noveleta, and Salinas.
– It was a fierce battle that Bonficaio and Apoy lost many comrades on
their sides.
– General Apoy then went to Tarike for to boost the morale of the
troops.
– Gen. Pio Del Pilar along with his troops arrived at the location but for
some unknown reason, he left even before the battle begun, not
informing those in the fort.
– The enemy then took Noveleta without resistance, they captured the
fortifications and collected Katipunan arms and ammunition.
Coming from different location, they overwhelmed the people’s
troops with their sheer number
Revolt of the Masses by Teodoro Agoncillo

Teodoro Agoncillo is the author of Revolt of the Masses. He was born

in Lemery, Batangas 1934. He obtained his AB Philosophy and Master’s
Degree in UP. He was invited to teach at the Department of History at UP
where later he became a chairman, also became a national scientist,
posthumously. He died on January 14 1985.
Agoncillo’s objectives were to inform everyone what happened before the
Tejero convention.
Revolt of the Masses was published on 2002 base on the module, in
Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press.

Dates Mentioned Key Personalities

Middle of December 1896 – Bonifacio left Andres Bonifacio Baldomero
for Cavite Mariano Alvarez Aguinaldo
Pascual Alvarez Candido Tirona
January 2 1897 – Bonifacio wrote from San Emiliano R. de Cayetano Topacio
Francisco de Malabon to his uncle in law. Dios Emilio Aguinaldo
Mariano Alvarez. Mariano C. Trias Edilberto
Ariston Villanueva Evangelista
April 1897 – Bonifacio stayed in the house of Santiago V. Vito Belarmino
Mrs. Estefania Potente until the Spnaish Alvarez Crispulo
captured the town. Diego Mojica Aguinaldo
Artemio Ricarte Jacinto Lumbreras
March 22 1897 – the battle raged and the Mariano Riego de Teodoro Gonzales
assembly convened in Tejeros. Dios Severino de las
Alas

Summary:
– The Katipunan of Cavite were divided into twofactions, Magdiwang
and Magdalo. The proceeded with an election.
– The capital was then moved to San Francisco de Malabon and later to
Naik. Both factions tried to make their troops wear the same uniform.
– After receiving the invitation, Bonifacio left with his wife and two
brothers for Cavite in December 1896
– Bonifacio then met Emilio Aguinaldo, Candido Tirona and Edilberto
Evangelista. He ordered an arrest upon seeing Fernandez and
remembering what he did.
– Then on January 2, 1897, Bonifacio wrote to his uncle in law, Mariano
Alvarez.
– Bonifacio stayed in the house of Mrs. Estefania Potente in Noveleta,
the town was then captured on April 1897.
– Magdiwang and Magdalo convened an assembly to establish a new
government. The assembly was wrapped up with an unaccomplished
discussion and results.
– Arguments from each other started to happen. In January 1897, a
town fiesta was held but disturbed by a series of rifle shots.
– In March 22 1897, another meeting was held by Magdiwang in
Tejeros but not all Magdalo members were able to attend.
– Lumbreras opened the convention, they argued about the K in the
Katipunan flag and the government they had. Montenegro agreed to
the suggestion of De las Alas that made Santiago mad. The assembly
then discontinued.
– The election officers were then finalized with; Emilio Aguinaldo as
president and the others who were appointed to their positions.
Bonifacio won the Director of Interior.
– Bonifacio got offended when Tirona elected Del Rosario for his
position, he almost did something unforgivable but got stopped by
Ricarte. The assembly then was adjourned and he annulled what has
been approved in the election.
– Bonifacio then wrote a letter to Mariano Lavarez. Emilio Jacinto
explained his side.