Lesson Week 1

Historiography and Its Importance

➢ The term historiography is the craft of writing history. It is the art

of historical writing and communicating in writing what the
historian thinks he knows about the past.

History and historiography as intertwined concepts

➢ Historiography is the subject matter of history. In other words,

without the study of the past called history, historiography would not
exist.

Importance of History

➢ Knowledge of Society. History provides societies with knowledge about

themselves.
➢ Used in problem-solving. History is useful in meeting new situations
and solving the present's problems because a full understanding of
human behavior in the past allows us to solve present issues
intelligently.
➢ A bridge of all disciplines. As a mediating discipline, history is also
useful because everything has a history. Medicine, banking, legal
practice, teaching religion, commerce, etc., have history.

Why Study History?

According to Peter Stearns (1998), we should study history because it
is essential to individuals and society and harbors beauty.

History Helps Us Understand People and Societies

1. In the first place, history offers a storehouse of information

about how people and societies behave. Understanding the
operations of people and communities is difficult, although
several disciplines attempt it. Exclusive reliance on current data
would needlessly handicap our efforts.

History Helps Us Understand Change and How the Society We Live in Came
to Be
 ➢ The second reason why history is inescapable as a subject of serious
study follows the first one closely. The past causes the present and
the future.

Importance of History in Our Own Lives

➢ The two fundamental reasons for studying history underlie specific

and relatively diverse uses of history in our own lives. A well-told
history is beautiful.

History Contributes to Moral Understanding

1. History also provides a terrain for moral contemplation.

Studying the stories of individuals and situations in the past
allows a history student to test their moral sense and hone it
against some real complexities that individuals have faced in
challenging settings.

History Provides Identity

➢ History also helps provide identity, which is one reason all modern
nations encourage its teaching in some form. Historical data
includes how families, groups, institutions, and whole countries
were formed and how they have evolved while retaining cohesion.

Studying History Is Essential for Good Citizenship

➢ A study of history is essential for good citizenship. The need for

good citizenship is the most common justification for history in the
school curricula.

What Skills Does a Student of History Development

➢ Ability to Assess Evidence. The study of history builds experience in

dealing with and assessing various types of evidence, that is, the
kind of evidence historians use in shaping the most accurate
pictures of the past that they can.
➢ Ability to Assess Conflicting Interpretations. Learning history means
gaining skill in sorting through diverse, often conflicting
 interpretations. Understanding how societies work, which is the
central goal of studying history, is inherently imprecise.
➢ Experience in Assessing Past Examples of Change. Experience in
assessing past examples of change is vital to understand the
difference in society today; it is an essential skill in our "ever-
changing world."
➢ Hence, the study of history is crucial to developing a well-informed
citizen. It provides necessary factual information about our political
institutions' background and about the values and problems that
affect our social well-being.

History Is Useful in the World of Work

History is useful for work. Its study helps create exemplary

businesspeople, professionals, and political leaders.

FOUNDATION OF DATA

Primary Source(s)

➢ It is a document created during the time of your

research subject about your research subject. These
documents are directly connected with the events or
people being researched (Concordia University Texas
Library, 2020).
➢ It contains original information that is not derived from
interpretation, summarizing, or analyzing someone else's
work (Eastern Institute of Technology, nd).
➢ These are firsthand accounts created when a historical
event occurred or are records of original ideas. It consists
of information that has not been analyzed, commented
on, or interpreted
• These sources are original or new materials, such as an activist
giving a speech, a scientist conducting original research, a
student drawing original conclusions from others' works, an
artist creating a piece of artwork, or your grandmother writing
an autobiography.
Example of primary sources:

• Autobiographies and memoirs

• Books, articles, or news stories written at the time of the event
• Diaries and journals
• Data and original research
• Speeches and interviews
• Letters and memos
• Government documents from that period
• Census statistics
• Organizational records from that period
• Documentaries that rely on primary source materials
• Photographs
• Art (from a period)
• Maps (from a period)
• Personal narratives
• Internet communications (including listservs and emails)
• Any of the above reprinted in the original format and language

Questions to Ask When Determining If Something is a Primary Source:

• Was the author the first to create this research?

• Is the information uninterpreted data or statistics?
• Is the source an original work?
• Did the information come from personal experience?

Why Use Primary Sources?

Sources that present new research, original conclusions based on the

data, or an author's actual perspective are useful for your needs.

Note: Given that primary sources reflect the true meanings and ideas
introduced by authors, the information itself may not be completely objective,
well-reasoned, or accurate.

Secondary Source(s)
 • It is a document created at a much later than the period of the
event being researched by someone who did not experience the
said event.
• These works have been based on primary or secondary sources.
These sources are generally an interpretation, a summary, an
analysis, or a review (Eastern Institute of Technology, nd)
• It offers commentary, analysis, or interpretation of the
primary sources. These sources are written many years after an
event or by people that are not directly involved in the event.
• These sources interpret, include, describe, or draw conclusions
based on works written by others.

Example of secondary sources:

• Encyclopedias
• Chronologies
• Biographies
• Monographs (a specialized book or article)
• Most journal articles (unless written at the time of the event)
• Most published books (unless written at the time of the event)
• Abstracts of articles
• Paraphrased quotations
• Dictionaries
• Textbooks
• Webpages
• Documentary movies
• Analysis of a clinical trial
• Commentaries
• Literature reviews and meta-analyses

Questions to Ask When Determining If Something Is a Secondary Source:

•Did the author consult multiple sources to create this work?

•Is this information an interpretation or paraphrasing of another author's

work?

•Did the information come from second-hand reporting?

•Is the source a textbook, review, or commentary?

Why Use Secondary Sources?

Secondary sources are best for uncovering the background or historical

information about a topic and broadening your understanding of a subject by
exposing you to others' perspectives, interpretations, and conclusions.

Lesson Week 2
THE PHILIPPINES as an archipelago

As an archipelago nation, the Philippines has more than 7,100 islands

with a coastline that stretches 10,850 miles. The archipelago has no land
boundaries. Taiwan is the nearest country to the north, Brunei, and Malaysia
to the southwest, Indonesia to the south, Vietnam to the west, and China to
the northwest. The South China Sea surrounds the Philippines in the west,
the Pacific Ocean in the east, the Sulu and Celebes Seas in the south, and the
Bashi Channel in the north.

The archipelago is geologically a part of the Philippine Mobile Belt,

situated between the Philippine Sea Plate, the South China Sea Basin of the
Eurasian Plate, and the Sundra Plate.

Topography

The Philippines lies between Taiwan and Borneo in the Pacific Ocean
and the South China Sea. Nearly 3,000 islands out of the more than 7,000
islands in the Philippines are named. The 11 largest islands account for more
than 90% of the total land area. More than 70% of the population resides on
the two largest islands, that is, Luzon and Mindanao, which together
comprise more than 70% of the land area.

Trade and Rise of Local Rulers

The warm and tropical monsoon winds, blowing from the northeast in
northern winter, and the southeast during the northern summer contributed
to the development of a prosperous and growing regional trade economy.
Indian and Chinese Influences

Some of the earliest known influences came from Hindu and Buddhist
traders and monks who exchanged textiles and other sacred gifts for local
and Chinese wares. They introduced new religious rituals and political forms
of behavior.

Thai Buddhist Slavery

Thai history has long been influenced by Buddhist and Hindu social
teachings.

Early Chinese Slavery

China has been long influenced by Confucian social teachings. In

contrast to Thailand, where the family tree is traced bilaterally through the
male and female lines, in China, genealogical links are recorded over the
generations through male ties.

Ancient Philippine Slavery

The Philippines experienced a mélange of religious and philosophical

influences before the colonial period. Underlying Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic
faiths were widespread and intermingled with indigenous beliefs and
practices that were informed by animistic nature worship.

Lesson 4
A Historian's Critical Questions

Students who study history sometimes confuse sources with evidence.

Good historical sources merely provide raw information that scholars can
reconstruct into evidence.

We get historical information from primary and secondary sources.

Analyzing historical information includes answering the following:

• Who produced this source, and what is his/her background? Is

the author’s biography (i.e. point of view and personal
experience) relevant to comprehending this source? Was the
author biased or dishonest? Did he/she have a plan/agenda?
 • When and where was this source created? Is it similar to other
sources from the same period? In what ways is it a product of
the time, place, or context in which it was created?

• What motivated the author to create this source? Who was

his/her intended audience? And what’s the point? Is the
author’s purpose (or argument) stated explicitly or implicitly?
Was it meant to be used in a public or private setting? Is it a
scholarly work, a work of fiction, a work of art, or a piece of
propaganda?

• How does this source compare to the other sources you’ve

looked at for this study? Is it biased toward a particular
argument? Incorporate or neglect significant pieces of evidence?
Does it structure its argument according to similar (or different)
periods, geographies, participants, themes, or events?

Sources of History

1. Primary Sources of History

• Primary sources are materials produced in the period

studied..

The primary sources used in this research are from the time period
under consideration. These sources include witnesses and artifacts. Familiar
primary sources include newspapers, correspondence, memoirs, laws, official
documents, and published works.

Evaluating Primary Sources

Like an investigative report, historical arguments try to establish how

things may have happened. Still, we have to be careful with interpreting
primary sources as these are not perfect documentations of historical events.

Professor Patrick Rael, who was a Professor of History at Bowdoin

College, developed an acronym for evaluating primary source texts (PAPER)
(Rael, 2004):
 1. P – Purpose of the maker in preparing the source

• Knowing the purpose of the author or maker of a primary

source includes finding out the role or place of that person in
the society he/she lived in. The social structure and culture of
the maker will help us form a basis for the development of the
source.

2. A – Arguments and strategies used to achieve these goals

• What ideas are the maker trying to convey by documenting a
historical event or period? You may also ask who the maker’s audience
is and what is the maker’s strategy in communicating to his/her
audience. For instance, Anne Frank, who lived in the Nazi Period in
Germany, made a dairy. The diary contents are most probably
intended for her private reading. At present, historian now know that
Anne’s father edited some pages to remove sensitive content. Knowing
these details helps us read between the lines and assume the
“unwritten.” This analysis also enables us to know how credible or
reliable the source is.

3. P – Presuppositions and values

• We can also analyze a primary source by examining how the beliefs
of the maker differ or are similar to ours. This process highlights the
values of the maker. At times, it may be uncomfortable to us to read
about slave-raiding of ancient Filipino tribes, but we consider their
behavior as a product of their time because they value different things
(i.e. familial ties and food production).

4. Epistemology
• An epistemological reading of a primary source will give us
information that can be factually proven. These facts are not explicitly
shown in the material. For instance, we can date Anne Frank’s diary
using the material of the paper or the ink that was used.
5. R – Relate to other texts
• We can infer some things from reading various primary sources
from different makers or writers. We can do this by highlighting
repetitive themes across sources. An example would be the current
reading of Ferdinand Magellan’s purpose in coming to the Philippines:
 some historians suggest that he came for trade and not as a
conquistador, effectively dating the Spanish Colonization of the
Philippines to 1565 instead of 1521. (Gerona, 2021)

Secondary Sources of History

Another source of history is secondary sources. If you tried to answer

the questions above or made interpretations about the primary sources in the
previous photos, the documentation of your ideas can be considered a
secondary source of history.

When we join history classes, we are usually asked by our teachers to

explore the discussions of other scholars by writing essays. Our historical
essays can be considered as secondary sources, as long as we provide enough
information about the following:

• Maker or writer of the source/material

• The maker’s or author’s expertise, training, and theoretical approach

• The maker’s or author’s explanation of why and how the events happened

• The maker’s or author’s argument or point of view about the historical

period or event talked about

• The evidence that the maker or author cited to support his/her argument

• The parts of the material that makes the argument weak

• The structure and form of the source (text, art, film, etc.)

•Any competing material that affects the way the material being studied is
structured

• How different or similar to works on the same topic is the material.

Credibility and Reliability

Aside from analyzing the content of sources, historians also examine

the credibility and reliability of historical sources.
A. Credibility
Credible sources are those that are transparent about approaches,
biases, and points of view. They do this by highlighting what is not known at
the moment and what are accepted as facts while making arguments.

B. Reliability
Reliable sources are those that are relay as facts those that can be
verified with evidence. For example, dates in historical material can be
corroborated by other materials such as laws or new reports.

Lesson 5

A. Book or article

Bangka, Kaluluwa, at Katutubong Paniniwala

Maria Bernadette L. Abrera

Since the fifteenth century, variously characterized as a small and light

vessel to a large commercial boat, “bangka” has been the general Philippine
name for all types of seacraft. This name does not exist in seventeenth-
century Visayan and Bikol dictionaries; instead, the term “baloto” arises,
which is similar in appearance and function to the bangka.

Massive Balangay “Mother Boat” Unearthed in Butuan

By Timothy James Dimacali

Visiting the Site

On August 14, GMA News went to the site and discovered the
excavation site was soggy, requiring more digging and investigation. Bolunia,
on the other hand, assured that for the time being, preserving the antiquities
in this state is actually beneficial to their conservation.

Changing the Course of Philippine History

 It has long been known that Filipinos journeyed throughout Southeast
Asia in groups called balangays as early as the 10th century, reaching
Champa on Vietnam’s eastern coast.

The term “barangay” – the Philippine government’s smallest

administrative decision – perpetuates the impression that these flotillas are
made up of similarly-sized small vessels.

AUTHOR’S ARGUMENT AND POINT OF VIEW

• The idea or belief that an author wishes to persuade readers to

believe is referred to as the author’s argument.

Identify the Issue

• The author’s problematic topic is referred to as the tissue.

The death penalty, gun regulation, foreign policy, and abortion are all
examples of contentious issues.

• “Is the author writing a contentious issue?” you might wonder.

Determine the Author’s Point of View

• The author’s argument expresses his or her point of view on a

particular topic.
• “What is the author’s position on the issue?” you might wonder.

Step 1: Determine the Author’s Premises

• The author’s assumptions are things he takes for granted

without providing any evidence (to put it another way, what
the author believes or accepts as factual and uses to support his
argument).
• “What does the author take for granted?” you might wonder.

• The entire argument will be flawed if the author’s assumptions

are irrational or inaccurate. Unless readers recognize the
author’s preconceptions, they may be mislead.
Step 2: Determine the Different Types of Assistance

• The types of evidence that the author employs to support his or

her argument are referred to as types of support.
• “What kind of backup does the author present to back up the
argument?” you might wonder.

• Research findings, case studies, personal experience or

observation, examples, facts, analogies, expert testimony, and
views can all be used as evidence.

Step 3: Determine the Support’s Relevance

• Relevance refers to how closely the support relates to the

argument.
• “Is the support directly tied to the argument?” you might
wonder.

• Unless the author is a specialist, his or her personal experience

or viewpoint may be irrelevant.

Step 4: Assess the Author’s Objectiveness

• When the author’s argument is supported by facts and other

obvious proof, it is objective.
• “Does the author give facts and clear proof as support?” you
might wonder.

Step 5: Assess the Completeness of the Argument

• If the author provides appropriate support and defeats

opposing ideas, the argument is complete.
• Authors occasionally fail to provide adequate support.

Authors sometimes omit material that would undermine their

position. If they stated and countered their point, it would be
more powerful.

Step 6: Check to See if the Argument is True

 •If an argument is logical, it is legitimate (has validity).

• “Is the argument logical (well-reasoned)?” you might wonder.

Step 7: Assess the Credibility of the Argumen

•If an argument is believable, it has credibility (convincing).

•“Is the author’s argument credible?” you might wonder.

• Because an argument that is not valid will not be believable, validity and
credibility are tightly linked.

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