CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION TO HISTORY AND ITS SOURCES

Learning Objectives:
1. Discuss the meaning and relevance of history.
2. Distinguish primary sources from secondary sources.
3. Critique primary sources for their credibility, authenticity, and
provenance.
4. Recognize the different repositories of primary sources.

Meaning and Relevance of History

History was derived from the Greek word historia, which means “knowledge
acquired through inquiry or investigation.” As used by the Greek philosopher
Aristotle, history meant a systematic account of a set of natural phenomena, whether
chronological factoring was a factor in the account.
While history can be defined in several ways, possibly the most widely cited
and accepted definitions of this word are as follows: 1) history is everything that
happened in the past and 2) history is an account of the past. In short, history is both
“the past and the study of the past”.
In her article “Tradisyunal Na Kasaysayan”, Abrera (1992) presented the
traditional definition of history confining only its definition “to past events while
disregarding current events as part of it” (p. 86) and stressed four of its major
characteristics: “(1) history as confined only to past events; (2) historical documents
are important in reconstructing the historical past; (3) the importance of historical
criticism in evaluating the authenticity of these documents and their contents; and (4)
primary recognition of the literate, articulate and the upper class as the source of
historical events” (p. 86). In her concluding remarks, she claimed “history as confined
only to the use and analysis of written documents” (p. 95).
Padilla and Funtecha (2000) viewed this as a weak definition of history
because: (1) it views history as based merely on written records, (2) interviews and
oral traditions, and cultural artifacts are not considered, (3) the notion of “no written
record, no history” has confined history to the literate and articulate and has resulted
in the production of historiographies from upper-class male perspectives. To address
such concerns, a modern definition of history was presented. Based on the modern
definition, “history is the reconstruction of the past based on written records, oral
history, cultural artifacts and folk traditions in order to determine the meaning and
scope of human existence” (pp. 1-2).
In the Philippines, we use the word kasaysayan as our Filipino counterpart for
the word history. However, it is worthy to note that our word for “history” in Tagalog
but does not refer to knowledge, to the search for information or to what happened
in the past as such. Etymologically speaking, the word kasaysayan comes from saysay
which means both “to relate in detail, to explain,” and “value, worth, significance.
As to why the study of history is important, Abrera (1992) held that history: (1)
helps us to understand the nature and extent of current events by tracing their
historical roots; (2) explains the development and evolution of various societies for us
to understand them better; and (3) develops our critical thinking and art of
questioning and reasoning (p. 95).
In addition, Carr (1961) holds that history can be used in explaining the causes
and effects of things and events wherein he emphasized that event could not have
happened differently unless there was a different cause (p. 96).
Historiography
Historiography is the history or the writing of history. History and
historiography should not be confused with each other. The former’s object of study
is the past, the events that happened in the past, and causes of such events. The
latter’s object of study, on the other hand, is history itself (i.e., How was a certain
historical text written? Who wrote it? What was the context of its publication? What
historical method was employed? What were the sources used?). Thus,
historiography lets the student learn have better understanding of history; historical
facts; also provide understanding of the facts and historians’ contexts. The methods
employed by historian and the theory and perspective, which guided him, will also be
analyzed.
Historiography is important for someone who studies history because it
teaches the student to be critical in the lessons of history presented to him.
Objectivity in History
Carr (1961) commented on the idea of an ‘objective history’ arguing that “the
facts of history never come to us pure” (p. 22). He argued that historians selectively
choose what ‘facts of history’ get to become ‘historical facts’, “to which facts to give the
floor” or a “process of selection in terms of historical significance” as he described it.
(pp. 11, 105). He supported this claim citing the case of Julius Caesar crossing the
Rubicon River as an example. According to him, “it is the historian who has decided for
his own reasons that Caesar's crossing of that petty stream, the Rubicon, is a fact of
history, whereas the crossing of the Rubicon by millions of other people before or since
interests nobody at all” (p. 11). Citing the case of 5th century B.C. Greece as an
example, he further explained that our knowledge about the past has been
“preselected and predetermined for us, not so much by accident as by people who
were consciously or unconsciously imbued with a particular view and thought the facts
which supported that view worth preserving” (p. 13). In short, there is no such thing as
objective history because history is always subjected to historian’s biases. Even the
famous Filipino historian Teodoro Agoncillo quipped: “What history is not biased? Show
me a historian, a real historian, who is not biased! History is never objective.”
Sources of History
Sources are items or vestiges which give us information of the past. There are
two major classifications of sources. First, is primary source which come in different
forms: official documents and records, letters, chronicles, diaries, artifacts, paintings,
photographs, maps, murals, buildings, furniture, clothing, and archeological relics.
Primary sources may also refer to those who have witnessed the event that took place
or have been part of the incident being studied. The information derived from the
primary sources can be used as evidence to form conclusions.
On the other hand, secondary sources are sources that have not been part of
the event being considered. It also refers to articles written about the primary sources
(e.g., magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, typescripts, and articles written
about/using primary sources). Both primary and secondary sources are useful in the
writing and learning history.
Criticisms of Sources
Historians and students of history need to thoroughly scrutinize these historical
sources to avoid deception and to come up with the historical truth. They should be
able to conduct an external and internal criticism of the sources, especially primary
sources which can age in centuries.
• External Criticism – The practice of verifying the authenticity of
evidence by examining its physical characteristics; consistency with
historical characteristic of the time when it was produced; and the
materials used for evidence. This is important in ensuring that the source
is not fabricated. Examples of the things that will be examined when
conducting external criticism of a source include quality of the paper,
the type of ink and the language and words used in the material, among
others.
• Internal Criticism –The examination of the truthfulness of the evidence.
It looks at the content of the sources and examines the circumstances of
its production. Further, it examines the factuality of the evidence by
looking at the author of the source, its context, the agenda behind its
creation, the knowledge which informed it and its intended purpose.
For example: Japanese reports and declarations should not be taken as
historical facts hastily.
Validating historical sources is important because the use of unverified,
falsified, and untruthful historical sources can lead to equally false conclusions.
Without thorough criticisms of historical evidence, historical deceptions and lies will
be highly probable.
Repositories of Primary Sources

1. National Library of the Philippines (NLP) – OPAC at www.elib.gov.ph

2. American Historical Collection (ACH) at the Ateneo de Manila University
3. Rizal Library OPAC at http://rizalls.lib.admu.edu.ph/#section=home Manila
Observatory Archives (MOA) – at the Ateneo de Manila
4. UP Diliman Main Library OPAC http://ilib.up.edu.ph
5. National Archives of the Philippines (War Crime Trials)
http://nationalarchives.gov.ph/
6. Lopez Museum and Library in Ortigas https://lopez-museum.com.ph/
7. Filipinas Heritage Library at the Ayala Museum
http://www.filipinaslibrary.org.ph/
8. Ortigas Foundation Library http://ortigasfoundationlibrary.com.ph/
9. Jose P. Laurel Memorial Foundation Inc. http://joseplaurel.com/schedule-a-
visit/
10. Presidential Museum and Library https://web.facebook.com/malacanang/?_rdr
11. Jose B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center in UP Diliman
https://vargasmuseum.wordpress.com/
https://web.facebook.com.vargasmuseum.upd?_rdr
12. Library Link A Union of Filipiniana Catalogue http://www.librarylink.org.ph/