CHAPTER 1

HISTORY AS DISCIPLINE
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
This chapter goes over the concept of history as an academic discipline. Students would learn
the difference and relevance of history from other disciplines. History as an academic discipline deals
with the branch of knowledge that studies the chronological record of events, based on critical
examination of source materials and usually presenting an explanation of their causes. This module
also includes the distinction of primary and secondary sources; external and internal criticism; and
repositories of primary sources and different kinds of primary sources.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
At the end of this chapter, the student is expected to:
A. Evaluate primary sources for their credibility, authenticity, and provenance;

B. Analyse the context, content, and perspective of different kinds of primary sources;

C. Determine the contribution of different kinds of primary sources in understanding Philippine

history;

D. Develop critical and analytical skills with exposure to primary sources;

E. Demonstrate the ability to use primary sources to argue in favour or against a particular
issue.
LESSON OUTLINE:
1. Defining History
a. Definitions of History
b. Why Study History?
c. History Differentiated
d. Definition of Historical Research
e. Purposes of Historical Research
f. Advantages and Disadvantages of Historical Research
g. Theories of history
2. Distinction of Primary and Secondary Sources
a. Primary Sources
b. Types of Primary Sources
c. Secondary Sources
d. Types of Secondary Sources
e. Tertiary Sources
f. Types of Tertiary Sources
e. Repositories of Primary Sources
3. External and Internal Criticism
a. External Criticism
b. Internal Criticism
KEY TERMS

Diplomatics – is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents, especially,

historical documents.

External criticism – refers to the genuineness of the documents a researcher uses in a historical study

Herstory – history written from a feminist perspective

Historicism – is the belief that history was determined by laws, and the belief that understanding people
and cultures requires an understanding of their historical events.

Historicity – is the authentication of characters in history

Historiography –is the writing of history, and the understanding of how the interpretations of historian
change over time.

History - is an academic discipline that deals with the branch of knowledge that studies the
chronological record of events, based on critical examination of source materials and usually presenting
an explanation of their causes.

Idealism – is the belief that history can be described in terms of ideas – what people thought and the
intent behind their actions

Internal Criticism – refers to the accuracy of the contents of a document.

Palaeography – study of ancient and medieval handwriting.

Past – involves everything that ever happened since the dawn of time

Prehistory – is the period of human activity prior to the invention of writing systems

Primary Source – is one prepared by an individual who was a participant in, or a direct witness to, the
event that is being described.

Relativism – is the belief that there is no absolute truth and that all views of history are valid

Relics – are any objects whose physical or visual characteristic can provide some information about
the past

Secondary Source – is a document prepared by an individual who was not a direct witness to an event,
but who obtained his or her description of the event from someone else.
 LESSON 1: DEFINING HISTORY
A. Definitions of History

Throughout ages, history has been defined and re-defined by various scholars, historians,
writers, inventors and even politicians. Everyone has different opinions on why the past is important
and what the study of history is. But each definition has something in common – that history is an
academic discipline, a chronological order of events based on critical examinations.
These are some of the definitions of history.
History is ….

 an agreed upon set of facts or a forever-fixed story that is never subjected to changes and
subjects.

 a simple historical chronology of famous dates, incidents, and people.

 a strict reliance solely on the past with no examination of how the past has influenced the
present or how it may influence the future.

 a chronological storytelling in its finest form; it sequentially weaves together many related
historical and contemporary events and ideas that are linked to a larger story.

 History is a chronological storytelling in its finest form; it sequentially weaves together many
related historical and contemporary events and ideas that are linked to a larger story.

Definitions of the nature of history:

 History is interpretative; it invites students to debate multiple perspectives, offer their opinions
and educated interpretations, and challenges existing beliefs.

 History is revisionist in scope; it is an on-going conversation and a constant process of re-

examining the past and deconstructing myths based upon discoveries, evidence, and
perspectives.

 History is a constant process of questioning; it requires questioning the texts, examining them
with critical eye, and asking new questions.

 History is integrative of many disciplines; it especially incorporates geography, literature, art,

sociology, economics, and political science.

 History is inclusive; it ensures that the experiences of all classes, regions, and ethno-racial
groups as well as both genders, are included.

 History incorporates historiography; it includes many different interpretations of historical

events written by many different historians.

 History is relevant; it uses past experiences to explain what is important in our lives today.

It seems that a definition of history should include all things that have ever happened. That
definition would include all physical events and occurrences. It would also seem that the definition of
history would be synonymous with a definition of the past- the sum total of all things that ever happened.
But Williams points out that the past is not history. Things may have happened in the past that were not
observed or recorded. History is, therefore only a subset of the past. As a discipline, history is a study
of the past, but it will only reveal a portion of the past, and should be done so as objectively as possible.
Approaches to Study History
Idealism – is the belief that history can be described in terms of ideas – what people thought and the
intent behind their actions. The idealist of the mid-to-late 1800s cared not only about events, but on
what those events meant. Attaching meaning is not easy, and entails problems associated with
interpretation if those interpretations are biased or incomplete. The problem with this viewpoint is that
we can’t always know what was intended. Idealism can be limiting in accurately portraying events as
they really happened.
Historicism – another approach to describe history. Its premise is that “autonomy of the past must be
respected”. Each age has its own values, and events should be described within the context of those
values. One of the problems with historicism is that its approach is tantamount to legitimization of events
by respecting the values of the time. That approach inhibits our ability to fully learn from mistakes of the
past.
Relativism – is the belief that there is no absolute truth and that all views of history is valid. The
metaphor of a cut diamond with many facets, each of with represents a unique view of the whole, is
what relativism is like; each individual sees the world individually, and each view is valid. Relativism
shows its inherent weakness when a viewpoint attempts to deny history, especially in the face of
overwhelming proof.

B. Why Study History?

According to processhistory.org, the study of history is essential for the following reasons:

To Ourselves
Identity – history nurtures personal identity in an intercultural world. It enables people to
discover their own place in the stories of their families, communities, and nation.
Critical Skills – history teaches critical 21st Century skills and independent thinking. The practice
of history teaches research, judgment of the accuracy and reliability of sources, validation of
facts, awareness of multiple perspectives and biases, analysis of conflicting evidence,
sequencing to discern causes, synthesis to present a coherent interpretation, clear and
persuasive written and oral communication, and other skills.

To Our Communities
Vital Places to Live and Work – history lays the groundwork for strong, resilient communities.
No place really becomes a community until it is wrapped in human memory: family stories, tribal
traditions, civic commemorations.
Economic Development – history is a catalyst for economic growth. People are drawn to
communities that have preserved a strong sense of historical identity and character.

To Our Future
Engaged Citizens – history helps people craft better solutions. At the heart of democracy is the
practice of individuals coming together to express views and take action.
Leadership – history inspires local and global leaders. History provides leaders with inspirations
and role models for meeting the complex challenges that face our communities, nation, and the
world.
Legacy – history, saved and preserved, is the foundation for future generations. History is crucial to
preserving democracy for the future by explaining our shared past.
C. History Differentiated
1. History vs. past
The past is not the same as history. The past involves everything that ever happened since the
dawn of time.
History, by contrast, is a process of interpreting evidence or records from the past in a thoughtful
and informed way. History is the narrative that gives meaning, sense, and explanation to the past in the
present.
2. History vs. Prehistory
History and Prehistory show differences between them in their nature and substance. Their
main difference is the existence of records. History is the record of significant events that happened in
the past whereas prehistory is the period of human activity prior to the invention of writing systems.
3. History vs. The Other Disciplines
No discipline is an island. In the past hundred years or so, the ways that we study, write, and
teach history have changed dramatically, often because of influence from other disciplines.
4. History, Historicity, and Historiography
In a nutshell, history is a narrative account used to examine and analyse past events
Historicity is the authentication of characters in history, as opposed to legend or myth.
Historiography is the writing of history, and the understanding of how the interpretations of
historians change over time.
5. History vs. Herstory
The word “history” (from Greek word historia, meaning “inquiry, knowledge acquired by
investigation”, is etymologically unrelated to the possessive pronoun his. Traditionally, history has been
defined as “the study of the past as it is described in written documents.” Feminist argued that it has
been men (“his”, “story”) who usually have been the ones to record the written past.
Herstory, by contrast, is history written from a feminist perspective, emphasizing the role of
women, or told from a woman’s point of view. It is a neologism coined as a pun with the word “history,”
as part of a feminist critique of conventional historiography, which in their opinion is traditionally written
as “his story,” i.e., from the masculine point of view.
D. DEFINING HISTORICAL RESEARCH
Historical research “comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use primary
sources and other evidence, including the evidence of archaeology, to research and then to write
histories in the form of accounts of the past” (“Historical Method-Wikipedia,” 2017)
The historical approach “is employed by researchers who are interested in reporting events
and/ or conditions that occurred in the past. An attempt is made to establish facts in order to arrive at
conclusions concerning past events or predict future events.” (Key, 1997)
Examples of Historical Research
1. From Chalkboard to Whiteboard: A Historical Study of Teaching Instruction
2. A study of the effects of the historical decisions of the Philippine Supreme Court of the
Philippines.
3. A study of the evolution of print journalism in the Philippines through a study of collections of
newspapers (BCPS, 2010)
E. THE PURPOSES OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH
The main purpose of Historical Research is to describe and examine events of the past to
understand the present and anticipate potential future effects.
 The purpose of historical research is to reach insights or conclusions about past persons or
occurrences. Historical research entails more than simply compiling and presenting factual information;
it also requires interpretation of the information. (“Historical Research Methods,” n.d.)
Educational researchers conduct historical studies for a variety of reasons, but perhaps the
most frequently cited is to help people learn from past failures and successes.
When well-designed and carefully executed, historical research can lead to the confirmation or
rejection of relational hypotheses. (Fraenkel & Wallen, n.d.)
Typically, histories focus on particular individuals, social issues and links between the old and
the new. Some historical researches are aimed at reinterpreting prior historical works by revising
existing understandings and replacing them with new, often politically charged ones. (“Historical
Research Methods, “n.d.)
Histories are powerful because they both create and reinforce collective identities. Without
history it is difficult to know who one is, where one comes from or where one is headed. It is difficult to
belong or have direction. History is like a collective memory, which historians produce about the past
(Marvick, 2001). Having a history is important because what happened in the past profoundly affects
all aspects of our lives and will affect what happens in the future. (Bryant et al., 2013, p.4)
CHARACTERISTICS OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH
1. The unique characteristic of historical research is that it focuses exclusively on the past.
(Fraenkel & Wallen, n.d.)

2. Historical research is not a mere accumulation of facts and data or even a portrayal of past
events. It is a flowing, vibrant report of past events which involves an analysis and explanation
of these occurrences with the objective of recapturing the nuances, personalities and ideas that
influenced these events.

3. Conducting historical research involves the process of collecting and reading the research
material collected and writing the manuscript from the data collected. The researcher often
goes back-and-forth between collecting, reading, and writing. i.e. the process of data collection
and analysis are done simultaneously are not two distinct phases of research.

4. It deals with discovery of data that already exists and does not involve creation of data using
structural tools.

5. It is analytical in that it uses logical induction.

6. It has a variety of foci such as issues, events, movements and concepts.

7. It records and evaluates the accomplishments of individuals, agencies or institutions.

(University of Calicut, n.d.)
F. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH
ADVANTAGES
1. The main advantage of historical research is that is permits the investigation of topics that
could be studied in no other way. It is the only research method that can study evidence from
the past. (Fraenkel & Wallen, n.d.)
2. The historical method is well suited for trend analysis.
3. The research is not physically involved in the situation under study.
4. No danger of experimenter-subject interaction.
5. Documents are located by the researcher, data is gathered, and conclusions are drawn out
of sight.
DISADVANTAGES
1. A disadvantage is that controlling for many of the threats to internal validity is not possible in
historical research. Many of the threats to internal validity are likely to exist in historical studies.
(Fraenkel & Wallen, n.d.)
2. The researcher cannot control for threats to internal validity
3. Limitations are imposed due ti the content analysis
4. Researchers cannot ensure representation of the sample
5. There is bias in interpreting historical sources
6. Interpreting sources is very time consuming
7. Availability of sources of historical materials may be problematic
8. There is lack of control over external variables
STEPS IN HISTORICAL RESEARCH
There are four essential steps involved in doing a historical study. This include:
1. Identifying a topic/subject and defining the problem or hypothesis to be investigated;

2. Searching for sources of data and other relevant source materials;

3. Summarizing and evaluating the sources the researcher is able to locate;

4. Analyzing, synthesizing and interpreting the evidence obtained and then drawing conclusions
about the problem or hypothesis.

Since most historical studies are largely qualitative in nature, the search for sources of data,
evaluating, analyzing, synthesizing and summarizing information and interpreting the findings may not
always be discreet, separate, sequential steps i.e. the sequence of steps in historical research is
flexible. (Fraenkel & Wallen, n.d; University of Calicut, n.d.)
G. THEORIES OF HISTORY
Even among historians, philosophers, thinkers and social scientists, there are different views
on how history develops or progress. Here are some of these views:
a. Cyclical View of History
A cyclical view of history stems from the histories of the Greeks. The Greeks thought that
events recurred on a regular basis.
Herodutus’ (484-424 BCE) work Histories, is the story of men and states as recurring cycles.
Thucydides (460-404 BC) envisioned time as recurring in a cyclical fashion, a process which
men were unable to control.
Petrach (1304-1374) revived the cyclical concept of history in the fourteenth century. He
differed slightly from the Greeks in suggesting the basis of history was the actions of people rather than
the whims of the gods.
Machiavelli (1469-1527) also saw history as being cyclical and suggested that history could
be seen as a casebook of political strategy.
Arnold Toynbee (1884-1975) and Oswald Spengler (1880-1936), based their work on the
premise that history is cyclical: civilizations rise and fall, each new one rising to a greater level.
b. Linear View of History
The linear view of history implies the acceptance or subscription to linear time. It views that
history is progressive, moving forward and not having a cyclical return.
 Augustine (350-430 BCE) saw history as being the unfolding of the plan of God, a process
that would end in the Final Judgement.
Voltaire (1694-1788) saw history as being linear, but in a more secular way. He envisioned
four great ages of man culminating in the scientific enlightenment of Newton.
Marxist historians also subscribe to a linear view of history, in the sense that they see history
as a series of class struggles that inevitably ends in a worker’s revolution.
H.G. Wells (1866-1946) described history as a race between education and disaster, either as
world cataclysm or a world state.
c. The Great God View of History
The most primitive attempts to explain the origin and development of the world and man are
the creation myths to be found among preliterate peoples. We are best acquainted with the one in
Genesis which ascribes the making of heaven and earth with all its features and creatures to a Lord
God who worked on a six-day schedule. These fanciful stories do not have any scientific validity.
Just as the royal despots dominated the city states and their empires, so the will, passions,
plans and needs of the gods were the ultimate causes of events. The ling is the agent who maintains
the world in being by means of an annual contest with the powers of chaos. This theological theory was
elaborated by the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Egyptians before it came down to the Greeks and
Romans. It was expounded in the Israelite scriptures whence it was taken over and reshaped by the
Christian and Mohammedan religions and their states. (Novack, n.d.)
d. Great Man View of History
The “Great Man” theory suggests that dominant personalities determine the course of history.
Rulers, warriors, statesmen, are the decisive forces in history and history is the record of the deeds of
great people.
The Great Man view has had numerous incarnations according to the values attached at
different times by different people to the various domains of social activity. In antiquity, these ranged
from the divine monarch, the tyrant, the lawgiver (Solon), the military conqueror (Alexander), the dictator
(Caesar), the hero-emancipator (David), and the religious leader (Christ, Buddha, Mohammed). All
these were put in the place of the Almighty as the prime mover and shaper of human history. (Novack,
n.d.)
Thomas Carlyle’s (1795-1881) “everyman” view of history is one which sees history as being
a record of the collective experience of the ordinary person. “Universal history, the history of what man
has accomplished in this world, is at bottom the history of the great men who have worked here.”
Sir Walter Scott’s (1771-1832) novels showed how people lived through significant events and
he advanced the idea that history was the story of ordinary people’s lives.
William E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) in his stories, Black Reconstruction in America, Crisis, and
The Souls of Blank Folk, rejected the idea of history as the record of Western European events and
advanced a view of history as the record of the lives of subject peoples.
e. The Best People View of History
This view believes that some elite, the Best Race, the favored nation, the ruling class alone
make history.
The Old Testament assumed that the Israelites were God’s chosen people
The Greeks regarded themselves as the acme of culture, better in all respects than the
barbarians. Plato and Aristotle looked upon the slave-holding aristocracy as naturally superior to the
lower orders. (Novack, n.d.)
Hitler though that the Arian race was the best among races.
f. Ideas or the Great Mind View of History
This view of history is one in which the driving force in history is people’s ideas. The conditions
that create history are created or changed by ideas.
The Greek Anaxagoras said: “Reason (Nous) governs the world.”
Aristotle held that the prime mover of the universe and the ultimate animator of everything
within it was God, who was defined as pure mind engaged in thinking about itself.
G.W.F. Hegel (1770-1831) view history as the continual refinement of intellectual
understanding. The progress of mankind consisted in the working out and consummation of an idea.
He wrote: “Spirit, or Mind, is the only motive principle of history.” The underlying goal of the World Spirit
and the outcome of its laborious development was the realization of the idea of freedom.
Some 18th century rationalists believed that “opinion governs mankind.” They looked toward
an enlightened monarch to introduce the necessary progressive reconstruction of the state and society.
g. The Human Nature View of History
This view believes that history, in the last analysis, has been determined by the qualities of
human nature, good or bad. Human nature, like nature itself, was regarded as rigid and unchanging
from one generation to another. The historian’s task was to demonstrate what these invariant traits of
the human constitution and character were, how the course of history exemplified them, and how the
social structure was molded or had to be remodeled in accordance with them. (Novack, n.d.)
Thucydides, believed that “human nature and human behavior were – essentially fixed
qualities, the same in one century as another.
David Hume asserts that “Mankind are so much the same, in all times and places, that history
informs us of nothing new or strange in this particular. Its chief use is only to discover the constant and
universal principles of human nature.”
E.B. Tylor wrote in 1889: “Human institutions, like stratified rocks, succeed each other in series
substantially uniform over the globe, independent of what seems the comparatively superficial
differences of race and language, but shaped by similar human nature.”
h. Economic View of History
The economic view sees economic factors as the most important determinant of history. The
production and exchange of goods and services is the bases of all social structures and processes. The
economic factor is the foundation for the superstructure of culture and government.
Karl Marx (1818-1883) is the foremost proponent of this view. He disagreed with Hegel by
saying that it was not ideas that created material conditions, but rather the reverse.
i. Gender History
Gender History looks at the past from the perspective of gender. It considers in what ways
historical events and periodization impact women differently from men.
Joan Kelly questioned whether the notion of a Renaissance was relevant to women in a
seminal article in 1977, “Did Women have a Renaissance?”
Gender historians are interested in how gender difference has been perceived and configured
at different times and places, usually with the assumption that such differences are socially constructed.
In the 80s, with the rise of the feminist movement, the focus shifted to uncovering women
oppression and discrimination. Nowadays, gender history is more about charting female agency and
recognizing female achievements in several fields that were usually dominated by men (Wikipedia,
2018)
j. Post-modern View of History
The Post-modern view of history differs dramatically from that of all other worldviews. While a
Christian worldview sees history as the grand unfolding of God’s divine plan to redeem a fallen
humanity, the radical Postmodernist on the other hand sees no ultimate purpose in history.
Postmodernists view history as “what we make of it.” They believe that historical facts are
inaccessible, leaving the historian to his or her imagination and ideological bent to reconstruct what
happened in the past. They use the term historicism to describe the view that all questions must be
settled within the cultural and social context in which they are raised.
Both Jacques Lacan (1901-1981) and Michel Foucault (1926-1984) argue that each historical
period has its own knowledge system and individuals are unavoidably entangled within these systems.
Answers to life’s questions cannot be found by appealing to some external truth, but only to the norms
and forms within each culture that phrase the question.
Most Postmodernists doubt that an accurate telling of the past is possible because they blur
the difference between fact and fiction – some even claim that all historical accounts are fiction. Foucault
is one of the originators of this Postmodern approach to history, which offers a profound challenge to
the norm. (All About Worldview, n.d.)
k. Other Views of History
There are a number of other theories that attempt to explain history. Some historians suggest
that history is the result of geographic factors, and others suggest that wars determine history. Still
others suggest that religion, race, or climate determines the course of history.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) saw history as having no beginning or end, just chaos that
could only be understood by the powers of the mind.
Michel Foucault (1926-1984) posited that the victors of a social struggle use their political
dominance to suppress a defeated adversary’s version of historical events in favour of their own
propaganda, which may go so far as historical revisionism, as in the cases of Nazism and Stalinism.
(“Philosophy of History – By Branch / Doctrine – The Basics of Philosophy,” n.d.)
 SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS 1

Name: ______________________________________________ Score _______ Date: ___________

College/Program: _______________________ Class Schedule: Time/Day: ____________________

I. DIRECTIONS: Read each statement carefully and fill in the blank with the correct answer.
_____ 1. A person who studies the events of the past.
_____ 2. A type of qualitative research which involves examining past events to draw conclusions and
make predictions about the future.
_____ 3. An object made by humans, especially one of historical interest.
_____ 4. Any view that stresses the central role of the ideal or the spiritual in the interpretation of
experience.
_____ 5. Events that occurred before the existence of written records in a given culture or society.
_____ 6. History considered or presented from a feminist viewpoint or with special attention to the
experience of women.
_____ 7. Information about the past gathered from interviews with people.
_____ 8. Information in raw or unorganized form (such as alphabets, numbers, or symbols) that refer
to, or represent, conditions, ideas or objects.
_____ 9. Something that proves a belief; something that indicates what happened.
_____ 10. The act of producing a work that attempts to depict an accurate representation of the real
past.
_____ 11. The belief that history was determined by laws, and the belief that understanding people and
cultures requires an understanding of their historical events.
_____ 12. The doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or
historical context, and are not absolute.
_____ 13. The order in which things happen; the arrangement of event in time order.
_____ 14. The study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and
by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject.
_____ 15. The study of what happened in the past; a record of past events.

II. ESSAY (20 points)

`1. Differentiate history from other humanistic or social scientific disciplines. (Choose from any or a
combination of the following: Sociology, Political Science, Archaeology, Anthropology,
Geology, Economics, Art Studies, Literature, Linguistics, Psychology, Demography,
Jurisprudence.)
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
LESSON 2: DISTINCTION OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES

Four Basic Categories of Historical Source Materials

1. Documents are written or printed materials that have been produced in one form or another
sometime in the past.
2. Numerical Records include any type of numerical data in printed or handwritten form.
3. Oral Statements include any form of statement made orally by someone.
4. Relics are any objects whose physical or visual characteristics can provide some information about
the past. (Fraenkel & Wallen, n.d.)
The main emphasis in historical research is on interpretation of documents, diaries and the like.
Historical data are categorized into primary or secondary sources.
A. Primary Sources
Primary Sources is one prepared by an individual who was a participant in, or a direct witness
to the event that is being described.
Primary Sources give first-hand, original, and unfiltered information. Examples are eyewitness
accounts, personal journals, interviews, surveys, experiments, historical documents, and artifacts.
These sources have close, direct connection to their subjects.
Advantages and Disadvantages:
Primary sources directly address your topic and often provide information that is available
elsewhere. For example, the questions you compose for an interview or a survey will likely target your
unique interest in the topic. Similarly, to test a particular hypothesis, you can design your own
experiment. On the other hand, some primary sources, such as eyewitness accounts, may be too close
to the subject, lacking critical distance. Others, such as interviews, surveys, and experiments, are time
consuming to prepare, administer, and analyze.
Types of Primary Sources
1. Autobiographies and Memoirs
An autobiography is an account of a person’s life written by that person. Autobiographical works
can take many forms, from the intimate writings made during life that were not necessarily intended for
publication (including letters, diaries, journals, memoirs, and reminiscences) to a formal book-length
autobiography.
e.g. “Mga Tala ng aking Buhay”, written by Gregoria de Jesus about herself, her husband Andres
Bonifacio, the Katipunan and the Philippine Revolution.
The translation was done by Leandro H. Fernandez, a University of the Philippines History
Professor, and published in the June 1930 issue of the Philippine Magazine, Volume XXVII, No. The
original copy of the document was furnished to Hernandez by Jose P. Santos.
A memoir is a history or record composed from personal observation and experience. Closely
related to, and often confused with, autobiography, a memoir usually differs chiefly in the degree of
emphasis placed on external events; whereas writers of autobiography are concerned primarily with
themselves as subject matter, writers of memoir are usually persons who have played roles in, or have
been close observers of, historical events and whose main purpose is to describe or interpret the
events.
e.g. “La Revolucion Filipina” a compact analysis and commentary on the Philippine Revolution by
Apolinario Mabini.
2. Diaries, Personal Letters, and Correspondence
A diary is a form of autobiographical writing, is a regularly kept record of the diarist’s activities
and reflections. Written primarily for the writer’s use alone.
e.g. diary of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos
A personal letter is a type of letter (or informal composition) that usually concerns personal
matters (rather than professional concerns) and is sent form one individual to another.
e.g. personal letter of Marcelo H. del Pilar to his niece, Josefa Gatmaitan.
A correspondence is a body of letters or communications. If you’ve had a pen pal or an email
buddy, you’ve written plenty of correspondence
e.g. body of letters between Jose Rizal and Ferdinand Blumentritt.
3. Interviews, Surveys, and Fieldwork
An interview is a conversation where questions are asked and answers are given. Interview
usually involve a transfer of information from interviewee to interviewer, which is usually the primary
purpose of the interview, although information transfers can happen in both directions simultaneously.
(Wikipedia, 2018)
A survey is a list of questions aimed at extracting specific data from a particular group of
people. Survey may be conducted by phone, mail, via the internet, and sometimes face-to-face on busy
street corners or in malls. Survey research is often used to assess thoughts, opinions, and feelings.
Survey can be specific and limited, or they can have more global, widespread goals. (Wikipedia, 2018)
Field research or Fieldwork is a collection of information outside a laboratory, library or
workplace setting. Field research involves a range of well-defined, although variable, methods: informal
interviews, direct observation, participation in the life of the group, collective discussions, analyses of
personal documents produced within the group, self-analysis, results from activities undertaken off- or
on-line, and life-histories. (Wikipedia, 2018)
4. Photograph and Posters
Considered as primary sources because photographs and posters can illustrate past events as
they happened and people as they were at a particular time.
5. Works of Art and Literature
In fine art, a work of art, an artwork, or a work of creation, such as a song, book, print, sculpture
or a painting, that has been made in order to be a thing of beauty in itself or a symbolic statement of
meaning, rather than having a practical function. Art can take the form of:
Paintings: a form of visual art where paint or ink is used on a canvas or, more often in the past,
wooden panels or plaster walls, to depict an artist’s rendering of a scene or even of an abstract, non-
representational image.
Drawings: a form of visual art in which a person uses various drawing instruments to mark
paper or another two-dimensional medium. Instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked
brushes, wax colored pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, various kinds of erasers, markers,
styluses, various metals (such as silverpoint) and electronic drawing.
Literature: a body of written works. The name has traditionally been applied to those
imaginative works of poetry and prose distinguished by the intentions of their author and the perceived
aesthetic excellence of their execution. Literature may be classified according to a variety of systems,
including language, national origin, historical period, genre, and subject matter.
6. Speeches and Oral Histories
A speech is a form of communication in spoken language, made by a speaker before an
audience for a given purpose. (Dictionary,n.d.)
7. Other Primary sources includes books, magazine and newspaper articles and ads published
at the time of the event and artifacts of all kinds – tools, coins, clothing, furniture, etc.
B. Secondary Sources
A secondary source is a document prepared by an individual who was not a direct witness to
an event, but who obtained his or her description of the event from someone else.
Secondary sources are one step removed from the topic. While they can be just as valuable as
primary sources, you must remember that secondary information is filtered through someone else’s
perspective and may be biased.
Advantages and Disadvantages:
Secondary sources provide a variety of expert perspectives and insights. Also, peer review
usually ensures the quality of sources such as scholarly articles. Finally, researching secondary sources
is more efficient than planning, conducting, and analysing certain primary sources.
In contrast, because secondary sources are not necessarily focused on your specific topic, you
may have to dig to find applicable information. Information may be colored by the writer’s own bias or
faulty approach.
Types of Secondary Sources
1. Bibliographies
An annotated bibliography is an organized list of sources, each of which is followed by a brief
note or “annotation.” These annotations do one or more of the following: describe the content and focus
of the book or article, suggest the source’s usefulness to your research, evaluate its method,
conclusions, or reliability, and record your reactions to the source.
e.g. Dr. Jose Rizal’s annotations to Antonio Morga’s Succesos de las Islas Filipinas
2. Biographical works
A biography is a description of a real person’s life, including factual details as well as stories
from the person’s life. The word biography comes from the Greek words bios, meaning “life” and –
graphia, meaning “writing.” Biographies usually include information about the subject’s personality and
motivations, and other kinds of intimate details excluded in a general overview or profile of a person’s
life.
e.g. Andres Bonifacio, the “Father of the Philippine Revolution” and the President of the Tagalog
Republic.
3. Periodicals
Periodicals are newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals – all of which are published
“periodically”. Some periodicals are in print, some are electronic, and some use both formats.
a. Newspaper
Is a periodical publication containing written information about current events. Newspapers can
cover wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sport and art and often include materials such as
opinion columns, weather forecasts, reviews of local services, obituaries, birth notices, crosswords,
editorial cartoons, comic strips, and advice columns. *(Wikipedia, 2018)
b. Magazine and Journal
Unlike daily newspaper, magazine and journals may be published weekly, monthly, quarterly,
annually, or at some other interval. Print editions use better paper and more color than newspapers do.
The main difference between magazines and journals is their audience. Journals are written by scholars
for scholars; magazines are produced by professional writers and editors for a general readership.
4. Literature reviews and review articles (e.g. movie reviews, book reviews)
A literature review is an evaluate report of information found in the literature related to your
selected area of study. The review should describe, summarize, evaluate, and clarify this literature. It
should give a theoretical base for the research and help you (the author) determine the nature of your
research.
A review article summarizes the current state of understanding on a topic. A review article
surveys and summarizes previously published studies, rather than reporting new facts or analysis.
Review articles are also called survey articles or, in news publishing, overview articles. Academic
publications that specialize in review articles are known as review journals.
Film Review
The film review is a popular way for critics to assess a film’s overall quality and determine
whether or not they think the film is worth recommending. Film reviews differ from scholarly film articles
in that they encompass personal and idiosyncratic reactions to and evaluations of a film, as well as
objective analyses of the film’s formal techniques and thematic content.
Book Review
A book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is analysed based on content, style,
and merit. A book review may be a primary source, opinion piece, summary review or scholarly review.
Books can be reviewed for printed periodicals, magazine, and newspapers, as school work, or for book
web site on the Internet. A book review’s length may vary from a single paragraph to a substantial
essay. Such a review may evaluate the book on the basis of personal taste. Reviewers may use the
occasion of a book review for an extended essay that can be closely or loosely related to the subject of
the book, or to promulgate their own ideas on the topic of s fiction or non-fiction work.
5. Other types of secondary sources include history books and other popular scholarly books,
works of criticism and interpretation, commentaries and treaties, textbooks, video
documentaries and multimedia reports.
C. Tertiary Sources
Tertiary Sources provide third-hand information by reporting ideas and details from secondary
sources. This does not mean that tertiary sources have no value, merely that they include the potential
for an additional layer of bias.
Advantages and Disadvantages:
Tertiary sources offer a quick, easy introduction to your topic. They may point to high-quality
primary and secondary sources.
Conversely, because of their distance, tertiary sources may oversimplify or otherwise distort a
topic. By rehashing secondary sources, they may miss new insights into a topic.
Types of Tertiary Sources
1. General references such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, almanacs, and atlases
2. Crowd sources Wikipedia, YouTube, message boards, and social media sites like Twitter
and Facebook
3. Search sites

Repositories of Primary Sources

1. Library – is a collection of sources of information and similar resources, made accessible to a defined
community for reference or borrowing. It provides physical or digital access to material, and may be a
physical building or room, or a virtual space, or both. A library’s collection can include books, periodicals,
newspapers, manuscripts, films, maps, prints, documents, microform, CDs, cassettes, videotapes,
DVDs, Blu-ray, Discs, e-books, audiobooks, databases, and other formats.
2. Archive - is an accumulation of historical records or the physical place they are located. Archives
contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or
organization’s lifetime and are kept to show the function of that person or organization. Professional
archivists and historians generally understand archives to be records that have been naturally and
necessarily generated as a product of regular, legal, commercial, administrative, or social activities.
They have been metaphorically defined as “the secretions of an organism” and are distinguished from
documents that have been consciously written or created to communicate a particular message to
posterity.
3. Museum – is an institution that cares for (conserves) a collection of artifacts and other objects of
artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these items available
for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary.
4. Historical Society (Preservation Society) – is an organization dedicated to preserving, collecting,
researching, and interpreting historical information or items. Originally, these societies were created as
a way to help future generations understand their heritage.
5. Special Collections – are libraries or library units that house materials requiring specialized security
and user services. Materials housed in special collections can be in any format (including rare books,
manuscripts, photographs, archives, ephemera, and digital records), and are generally characterized
by their artifactual or monetary value, physical format, uniqueness or rarity, and/ or an institutional
commitment to long-term preservation and access. They can also include association with important
figures or institutions in history, culture, politics, sciences, or the arts.
 SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS 2
Name: ______________________________________________ Score _______ Date: ___________
College/Program: _______________________ Class Schedule: Time/Day: ____________________

I. MULTIPLE CHOICE. Read each questions carefully and select the BEST ANSWER among the
choices. Write the LETTER of your answer in the space provided before each number.

_____1. Which of the following is best classified as a source other than a relic?
A. An original painting C. A legal record
B. A piece of furniture D. A monument

_____2. Which of the following is most likely to be a secondary source?

A. A frontier family photograph
B. A soldier’s letter home during Korean War
C. A book about educational theory in the early 1900s
D. A minutes from a university faculty meeting held in 1892

_____3. If a researcher uses a tape of legend from a Tribal elder as a source of data, he is using a data
source known as a(n)
A. Document B. Oral statement C. Relic D. Secondary resource

_____4. Which of the following is most likely to be a primary source?

A. A poem expressing a miner’s feelings
B. A miner’s letter home during the Gold Rush
C. A film about battlefield manoeuvres in the Civil War
D. An article about educational theory in the early 1900s

_____5. Most historical source material can be grouped into which four basic categories?
A. Relics, documents, oral statements, and numerical records
B. Relics, oral statements, museum pieces, and numerical records
C. Museum pieces, documents, oral statements, and numerical records
D. Relics, letters from parents to children, oral statements, and numerical records

_____6. Census data is best described as which kind of historical source material?
A. Document B. Numerical record C. Oral statement D. Relic

_____7. An interview with a World War II combat veteran is best described as which kind of historical
source material?
A. Document B. Numerical record C. Oral statement D. Relic

_____8. A letter from Winston Churchill to Mrs. Roosevelt is best described as which kind of historical
source material?
A. Document B. Numerical record C. Oral statement D. Relic

_____9. A form of autobiographical writing, a record of activities and reflections and intended for the
writer’s use alone.
A. Biography B. Diary C. Journal D. Personal letter

_____10. A list of questions aimed at extracting specific data from a particular group of people.
A. Correspondence B. Fieldwork C. Interview D. Survey
II. Essay
1. Why is primary source important in the study of history?
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2. Why should official records of the government be made accessible to the public?
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 LESSON 3: EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL CRITICISM
Researches cannot accept historical data at face value, since many diaries, memoirs, reposts
and testimonies are written to enhance the writer’s position, stature, or importance.
Because of this possibility, historical data has to be examined for its authenticity and
truthfulness. Such examination is done through criticism; by asking and researching to help determine
truthfulness, bias, omissions and consistency in data. (“Historical Research Methods,”n.d.)
Two kinds of Criticism
1. External Criticism – refers to the genuineness of the documents a researcher uses in a historical
study. (Fraenkel and Wallen, n.d.)
2. Internal Criticism – refers to the accuracy of the contents of a document. Whereas external criticism
has to do with the authenticity of a document, internal criticism has to do with what the documents says.
(Fraenkel and Wallen, n.d.)
A. External Criticism
The part of the historical method which determines authenticity of the source. The document is
somewhat like a prisoner at the bar. Its genuineness must be tested, where possible, by palaeographical
and diplomatic criticism. It must be localized in time and place. It must be ascertained, whether in its
present state it exists exactly as its author left it. In order to test its genuineness, the student must ask
himself if it is what it appears to be or if it is a forgery. One is too apt to imagine that historical forgeries
passed out of style with the Middle Ages. The document must be viewed from every possible angle. Its
agreement or disagreement with facts known from other genuine sources of the same place and period,
or on the same subject, will often be a deciding factor in its authenticity. The writer’s ignorance of facts
which he should have known and which should have been mentioned in the document, or the record of
events which he clearly could not have known at the time of writing, are other signs of genuinity or of
its absence. A document proven probably genuine by these tests can be often be heightened in value
by an analysis which may restore it to its original state or which may accentuate the historicity of the
facts it contains.
Key (1997) enumerates a series of questions to establish the genuineness of a document or relic:
1. Does the language and writing style conform to the period in question and is typical of other
work done by the author?
2. Is there evidence that the author exhibits ignorance of things or events that man of his training
and time should have known?
3. Did he report about things, events, or places that could have not been known during that period?
4. Has the original manuscript has been altered either intentionally or unintentionally by copying?
5. Is the document an original draft or a copy? If it is a copy, was it reproduced in the exact words
of the original?
6. If manuscript is undated or the author unknown, are there any clues internally as to its origin?
(Key, 1997)

Gilbert J. Garraghan (1946) provides the following questions:

1. When was the source, written or unwritten, produced (date)?
2. Where was it produced (localization)?
3. By whom was it produced (authorship)?
4. From what pre-existing material was it produced (analysis)
5. In what original form was it produced (integrity)?

B. Internal Criticism
The part of historical methods which determines the historicity of the facts contained in the
document. It is not of absolute necessity that the document be proven genuine; even forgeries or
documents with truncated truths may contain available material. But before any conclusion is
admissible, the facts contained in the document must be tested. In order to determine the values of
these facts, the characters of the sources, the knowledge of the author, and the influences prevalent at
the time of writing must be carefully investigated. We must first be certain that we know exactly what
the author said and that we understand what he wrote as he understood it.
Key (1997) provides the following questions to check the content of a source of information
1. What was meant by the author by each word and statement?
2. How much credibility can the author’s statements be given?

Gilbert J Garraghan (1946) asks the question below for internal criticism
1. What is the evidential value of its contents (credibility)?

According to Louis Gottschalk, (1950) ‘’for each particular of a document the process of establishing
credibility should be separately undertaken regardless of the general credibility of the author.”
In other words, even if an author is trustworthy and reliable, still, each piece of evidence
extracted must be weighed individually.

External and Internal criticism may be summed up as follows:

A. External Criticism
1. Testing the genuineness of the source.
2. Localizing it (time, place, author)
3. Analyzing it (Recension and restoration of text)
B. Internal Criticism
1. Determining the value of the source
2. Interpretation of the source
3. Establishment of facts.
 SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS 3
Name: ______________________________________________ Score _______ Date: ___________
College/Program: _______________________ Class Schedule: Time/Day: ____________________

Direction: Provide a discussion for the following questions. (5 points each)

1. Discuss external criticism.

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2. Discuss internal criticism.

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3. Among the two types of criticism, which is of less intellectual type of criticism of documents. Justify
your answer.
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SYNTHESIS

History refers to the study, knowledge, interpretation, and recording of the past in a meaningful
way. As an academic discipline, history is conducted by historians, individuals, who take the time to
research, interpret, and put past events into context in a recorded fashion.
There are many good reasons to study history. Studying history provides us with knowledge of
the past. It also gives us understanding of how our own and other people societies have been created.
What happened in the past has an influence on what happens today and the past influences the future.
Studying history provides us with understanding of how different peoples and societies have solved
different types of problems and conflicts in different periods of times. History is often politicized and
instrumentalized by different actors in actual political processes and power battles. Studying history
helps us understand important aspects of contemporary conflict dynamics.
When examining documents, historical researchers are faced with two key issues: primary vs.
secondary sources and external vs. internal criticism.
A primary source was prepared by someone who was a participant or direct witness to an event.
A secondary source was prepared by someone who obtained his or her information about an event
from someone else.
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).
We conduct historical research for a number of reasons:
(1) to avoid the mistakes of the past,
(2) to apply lessons from the past to current problems,
(3) to use the past to make predictions about the present,
(4) to understand present practices and policies in light of the past,
(5) to examine trends across time.

REFERENCES:
Galicia, R.D. & Palencia, M.M.(2019). Readings in Philippine History, Second Edition. Azes
Publishing Corporation.
www.study.com
https://steemit.com/history@fugetaboutit
www.delsiege.info