MODULE 1: SOURCES AND

CRITICISM IN HISTORY

Introduction

Studying Philippine History requires varied perspectives to

fully understand and analyse its meaning and significance. To
realize this, primary sources are essential for they offer different
lens that could give light to the other details needed to create
Philippine History.
This session is designed to equip you in evaluating primary
sources that could help you identify the corresponding secondary
sources derived from them. You will be guided in using external
and internal criticism to establish the credibility and authenticity
of these sources.

HISTORY: ITS MEANING, RELEVANCE AND

SOURCES

A. Desired Learning Outcomes

OutOutcome
• Evaluate primary sources for their credibility, authenticity and provenance.

B. Objective

• Identify credible and authentic primary sources and know how to evaluate their
provenance.

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 C. Key Concept

MEANING OF HISTORY SOURCES OF HISTORY

- History is an account of the • Documents

unchanging past. (Aristotle) • Archaeological records
• Oral and video accounts
- History can be termed as a
study which is concerned General Kinds of Historical Sources
with the human past.
• Primary Sources
(Reniev)
- documents, physical objects, and
- History is an unending oral/video accounts by an individual
dialogue between the past or group present at the time and place
and the present. (E.H Carr) being described

- History is a detailed account • Secondary Sources

of the events that have taken
place. (Henry Johnson) - materials made by people long after
the events being described had taken
https://www.scribd .com place

HISTORY

HISTORICAL CRITICISM

External Criticism Internal Criticism

- answers concerns and questions - deals with the credibility and reliability
pertinent to the authenticity of a of the content of a given historical
historical source by identifying who source. It focuses on understanding the
composed the historical material, substances and message that the
locating when and where the historical historical material wants to convey by
material was produced, and examining how the author framed the
establishing the material’s evidential intent and meaning of a composed
material.
value

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 MEANING OF HISTORY

MEANING OF HISTORY
History deals with the study of past events presented in chronological order and often
with explanation. By its most common definition, the word history now means “the past of
mankind.” The practice of historical writing is called historiography. Traditional method in doing
historical research focuses on gathering of documents from different libraries and archives to form
a pool of evidence needed in making a descriptive or analytical narrative. However, modern
historical writing does not only include examination of documents but also the use of research
methods from related areas of study such as archaeology and geography.

SOURCES OF HISTORY

a. Documents – handwritten, printed, designed, drawn and other composed materials

e.g. books, magazines, maps, journals, architectural perspectives, newspapers, paintings,
advertisements, and photographs

Relacion de las Islas Filipinas Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas

Colonial records such as government reports and legal documents form a significant
part of our collection of documents here and abroad, particularly in Spain and the United States. In
the 20th century and up to now, memoirs of personal accounts written by important historical
personages constitute another type of documents. Philippine presidents such as Emilio Aguinaldo,
Manuel Quezon, and Diosdado Macapagal wrote their memoirs to highlight their roles as nation-
builders.

b. archaeological records – preserved remains of human beings, their activities and their
environment

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 • fossils – remains of animals, plants and other organisms
In the Philippines, the most significant excavated human remains include Callao Man’s toe
bone (dated 67000 BCE) and the Tabon Man’s skullcap (22000 BCE). Aside from human
remains, other archaeological records are generally categorized as fossils and artifacts.

• artifacts – remnants of material culture

Laguna Copperplate Inscription Manunggul Jar

c. oral and video accounts – audio-visual documentation of people, events and places

These are usually recorded in video and audio cassettes, and compact discs. Aside from
scholars, media people also use oral and video accounts as part of their news and public affairs
work.

GENERAL KINDS OF HISTORICAL SOURCES

a. Primary – documents, physical objects, and oral/video accounts by an individual or

group present at the time and place being described
- The testimony of eyewitness, or of a witness by any other of the senses, or of a mechanical device
like the Dictaphone – that is, of one who or that which was present at the events of which he or it
tells (hereafter called simply eyewitness)

b. Secondary - materials made by people long after the events being described had
taken place
- The testimony of anyone who is not an eyewitness – that is, of one who was not present at the
events of which he tells

A primary source must thus have been produced by a contemporary of the events it narrates. It
does not, however, need to be original in the legal sense of the word original – that is, the very
document (usually the first written draft) whose contents are the subject of discussion – for quite
often a later copy or a printed edition will do just as well; and in the case of the Greek and Roman
classics seldom are any but later copies available. Primary sources need not be original in either of
these two ways. They need to be “original” only in the sense of underived or first-hand as to their
testimony. This point ought to be emphasized in order to avoid confusion between original sources
and primary sources. The confusion arises from a particularly careless use of the word original. It
is often used by historians as a synonym for manuscript or archival. If the key function of primary
source documents is to give facts, secondary source documents, on the other hand, provide valuable
interpretations of historical events.

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 HISTORICAL CRITICISM

External Criticism
– answers concern and questions
pertinent to the authenticity of a historical
source by identifying who composed the
historical material, locating when and where
the historical material was produced, and
establishing the material’s evidential value.

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Internal Criticism
- deals with the credibility and
reliability of the content of a given
historical source. It focuses on
understanding the substances and
message that the historical material
wants to convey by examining how
the author framed the intent and
meaning of a composed material.

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Sources:
Modified CHED Second Generation GE Faculty Training Materials
www.google.com
https://sirdezmodules.blogspot.com
stock.adobe.com
www.flaticon.com
www.bing.com

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