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Readings InPhilippine History Week 1

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88 views3 pages

Readings InPhilippine History Week 1

Uploaded by

Emanuel Romulo
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Readings inPhilippine History

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 To understand the meaning of history as an academic discipline


and to be familiar with the underlying philosophy and methodology
of the discipline.
 To examine and assess critically the value of historical evidences
and sources.
 To appreciate the importance of history in the social and national
life of the Philippines.

Week 1: Meanings and Relevance of History


To make sense of history, it is necessary to first understand what it is
all about. Many people think that history is merely lists of names, dates,
places, and “important” events. However, History or the study of history is
more than just knowing and memorizing facts.

It is a historian’s duty to draw insights from the ideas and realities


that have shaped the lives of men and women and the society. And in
understanding these ideas, a historian (or, in fact, a student of history) can
comprehend how situations happened, identify their elements, and think of
how these situations can solve today’s predicaments, and help them plan for
the future.

The study of history, therefore, is the study of the beliefs and desires,
practices, and institutions of human beings.

WHY STUDY HISTORY?

An examination of the past can tell us a great deal about how we came
to be who we are. It means looking at the roots of modern institutions, ideas,
values, and problems.

Looking at the past teaches us to see the world through different eyes-
appreciating the diversity of human perceptions, beliefs, and cultures.
Different and/or new perspectives will enable us to analyze critically the
present contexts of our society and beings.

THE DEFINITION AND SUBJECT MATTER

History was derived from the Greek word historia which means
“knowledge acquired through inquiry or investigation”. History as a
disciplined existed for around 2, 400 years and is as old as mathematics and
philosophy. This term was then adapted to classical Latin where it acquired
a new definition. Historia became known as the account of the past of a
person or a group of people through written documents and historical
evidences. That meaning stuck until the early parts of the twentieth century.
History became an important discipline. It became the historian’s duty to

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write about the lives of important individuals like monarchs, heroes, saints,
and nobilities. History was also focused on writing wars, revolutions, and
other important breakthroughs. It is thus important to ask: What counts as
history? Traditional historians lived with the mantra “no document, no
history”. It means that unless a written document can prove a certain
historical event, then it cannot be considered as a historical fact.

But as any other academic disciplines, history progressed and opened


up to the possibility of valid historical sources, which were not limited to
written documents, like government records, chroniclers’ accounts, or
personal letters. Giving premium to written documents essentially
invalidates the history of other civilizations that do not keep written records.
Some were keener on passing their history by word of mouth. Others got
their historical documents burned or destroyed in the events of war or
colonization. Restricting historical evidence as exclusively written is also
discrimination against other social classes who were not recorded in paper.
Nobilities, monarchs, the elite, and even the middle class would have their
birth, education, marriage, and death as matters of government and
historical record. But what of peasant families or indigenous groups who
were not given much thought about being registered to government records?
Does the absence of written documents about them mean they were people
of no history or past? Did they even exist?

This loophole was recognized by historians who started using other


kinds of historical sources, which may not be in written form but were just
as valid. A few examples are oral traditions in forms of epics and songs,
artifacts, architecture, and memory. History thus became more inclusive and
started collaborating with other disciplines as its auxiliary disciplines.

Other Definitions of History:

• History is defined as a documented record of man and his society.


(Gray, 1956, pp.1-3).
• As a field of study, history is a study of man and his achievements
from the beginning of written records to the present.
• As a literary form of history is an effective presentation of the
unfolding events. But as a type of literature history falls under non-
fiction work.
• History comes from social history which defines it as a record of
events showing the evolution of man and his society from the earliest
and from the age of barbarism to what he is today.

Understanding History

Why don’t we learn from history? (An excerpt from Lidell Hart, 1971)

What is the objective of history? One would simply answer, quite


simply - “truth”. It is a word and an idea that has gone out of fashion.

The object might be more cautiously expressed thus: to find out what
happened while trying to find out why it happened. It seeks the casual
relations between events.

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History has limitations as a guiding signpost; although it can show us
the right direction, it does not give detailed information about the road
conditions. But its negative value as a warning sign is more definite. History
can show us what to avoid, even if it does not teach us what to do - by
showing the most common mistakes that mankind is apt to make and to
repeat.

A second object lies in the practical value of history. The knowledge


gained from the study of true history is the best of all education for practical
life. The study of history embraces every aspect of life. It lays the foundation
of education by showing how mankind repeats its errors and what those
errors are.

Importance and Uses of History

Given are the uses of history as summarized by Foray and Salevouris


(1988). Some of these are interestingly explained by B.H. Lidedell Hart
(1971).

A. History provides a source of personal and social identity.


B. History helps us understand the problems of the present.
C. History – good history – corrects misleading analogies and “lessons”
of the past.
D. History can help one develop tolerance and open-mindedness.
E. History helps us better understand all human behaviors and all
aspects of the human condition.
F. History provides the basic background for many disciplines.
G. History can be a source of entertainment.
H. History, when studied, can teach many critical skills.

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