Hist 1

Module 2

Introduction to history

Overview: This module is designed and written in consideration of you and your level of
knowledge as well as your capacity to learn and apply the necessary skills needed. It is made to
train your mind appreciating the History of the Philippines. To further your ideas and imagination
in relation to the topic, this module offers various activities that are contextualized and simplified.
At the start of the module, you are to take the pre-assessment test to see how much
background information and knowledge you have about the topic. This module is self-
instructional. You can read, analyze the concepts and ideas presented and reflect on them. The
activity help you assess how you progress as you go through the module. Remember you are to
work on this module independently. It is expected that you will make the most of this module and
grow academically.
This module is intended for MWF schedule dated February 1, 3 and 5. After studying
and scrutinizing this module please submit your answers on the assessment in our LMS group.
The deadline of submission will be on February 19, 2021 at exactly 4 p.m. in the afternoon.

At the end of the topic, you are able to:

1. Identify the differences between a primary source and a secondary source
2. Enumerate materials which can be considered primary source
3. Evaluate materials in terms of authenticity, credibility and provenance.

Sources of information provide the evidence from which the historian obtain facts about the past. In
writing history, the historian not only relies on past thoughts, rather reenacts it in the context of analyzing
the documents and other records left. This is an indispensable condition in the quest for historical facts.

1. What is the main distinction between primary source and secondary source?

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 2. Why is primary source important in the study history?
3. What is the purpose of secondary sources?
4. Do you believe in the statement of the late historian Teodoro Agoncillo that says “no
documents no history?” Prove your answer.
5. Why is historical documentation very important?
6. What do you mean by historiography?
7. Give at least 5 examples of published materials and unpublished materials of secondary
Sources
8. Who carried out the second major archeological exploration from 1922 to 1925?
9. What was the result of the discovery of a major archeological site in Novaliches in 1926?
10. How did Dr. Antonio de Morga described the ancient artifacts that were recovered by farmers
in Luzon?

Class, sources of history may be classified as primary and secondary. Primary sources are those
that have witnessed the event that took place or have been part of the incident being studied. These include
written records (e.g. narratives, manuscripts, pubic documents, letters, diaries), fossils, artifacts and
testimony from living witnesses. On the other hand, secondary sources have not been part of the event being
considered such as magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, typescripts, and articles written about primary
sources.

Formally, there are eight examples of these primary sources:

1. Photographs that may reflect social conditions of historical realities and everyday life.
2. Old sketches and drawings that may indicate the conditions of life of societies in the past
3. Old maps that may reveal how space and geography were used to emphasize trade routes,
structural build up etc.
4. Cartoons for political expression or propaganda
5. Material evidence of the prehistoric past like cave drawings, old syllabaries and ancient
Writings
6. Statistical tables, graphs and charts
7. Oral history of recordings by electronic means of accounts of eyewitnesses of participants, the
recordings are then transcribed and used for research
8. Published and unpublished primary documents, eye witnesses’ accounts, and other written
sources.

Secondary sources are divided into two:

1. Published materials – such as newspapers, magazines, journals, encyclopedia, pamphlets,

books, circulars, and other materials which are published either hard and soft copies
2. Unpublished materials – such as letters, biographies, autobiography, theses and dissertations
and other papers written by a scholar. The diary of Anne Frank for example was an
exceptional document of World War II as seen from the eyes of a young Jewish girl.

Historical documentation according to Teodoro Agoncillo (the late nationalist historian) “no documents no
history” …which had given the documentary evidences more weight rather that “sabi-sabi” or hearsays. Historical
documentation is very important for biography in the sense that the person was existing during his time. Records
like letters, birth and death certificates, voice recordings, paintings and even court records show the “primary
evidence” in writing history.

Historical methodology is the process of writing historical details is called “historiography”. It narrates
history in a proper way according to the time, space and depth. Writing history depends on the scope of the writer’s
research and his critical analysis in using the available sources and references.

Prehistory, a term given by 19th century French scholars covers the past human experiences prior to the
existence of written records. The basic source of prehistory is archeology, which is a sub-discipline of Anthropology
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(i.e. the study of all aspects of human life and culture). Archeology is the study of the past cultures. Archeologists
study artifacts (material equipment made by people of the past like tools, pottery, and jewelry) and fossils (preserved
remains of plants, animals, and people of a remote geological past). Archeological excavation refers to the
systematic recovery and study of these pieces of material evidence.

Early archeological undertakings in the Philippines began with the first major expedition in 1881 by a
Frenchman, Alfred Marche in the island of Marinduque and other sites in central Philippines.
Dr. Antonio De Morga, in his “Sucesos de Las Isal Filipinas” (Historical event of the Philippine Islands),
described the ancient artifacts that were recovered by farmers in Luzon, particularly in Ilocos, Pangasinan,
Pampanga and Manila. These were clay vessels of dark brown color and some marked by characters. These items
are no longer being manufactured in the Islands.
Jose Rizal, the country’s foremost hero was noted to have found ground and polished stone tools
during his exile in Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte.
The second major archeological exploration was carried out by Carl Guthe from the university of
Michigan from 1922 to 1925. With his team, they conducted several test digs in Palawan, Bohol, Northern
Mindanao and other places in Central Philippines. The purpose of this Michigan Archeological expedition was to
collect Chinese ceramics exported to the Philippines from China to look into the early Filipino-Chinese relationship.
The collection resulting from the excavation consisted of more than 3o cubic tons of prehistoric artifacts. They are
now kept at the university of Michigan.
From 1926 to the outbreak of the Second World War, much of the archeological discoveries were
done by Henry Otley Bayer (1883-1906) born in Edgewood, Iowa who had married Lingayu Gambuk.
The discovery of a major archeological site in Novaliches in 1926, resulting from the construction
of a dam for Manilas’ water supply, was Bayer’s first Archeological research in the country. N 1947, Beyer
published the Outline Review of Philippine Archeology by islands and Provinces, a pioneering research activity in
the Philippine prehistory.

a. Documents are one of the reliable sources of history, therefore, the sources of history are
primary and secondary
b. It is from historical sources that our history is studied and written. Several methodologies and
theories were used by historians to properly study history and glean from the sources what
is, for them, a proper way of writing history to enhance and disseminated national identity.

Note:

Generate your own generalization at least two:

1.
2.

What difficulty that I encounter in using this module?

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Books:

1. Batis: Sources of Philippine History, By Jose Victor Torres, 2018, C&E Publishing Inc.
2. Philippine History: By Maria Christine N. Halili, Published and distributed by Rex bookstore