Meaning and Relevance of History

Meaning and Relevance of History

• History traditionally understood as the study of the past.
• It involves chronological records of significant events, along with explanations of their causes.
• Modern understanding comes from the Greek word "Historia," meaning "knowledge acquired through inquiry or investigation."
• Sources can be oral traditions like epics, songs, artifacts, architecture, and memories.
• Zeus Salazar defines history as a narrative with meaning for the people being narrated.
• Divisions of history include pre-history and history.
• Pre-history is the period before written records, or when people's writings were not preserved.
• Pre-history is analyzed through fossils and artifacts by archaeologists and anthropologists.
• History is the period when people began to write and record events using a writing system.
• Historical analysis uses wood carvings, engraved metals, written papyrus, and written papers.
• Historians study history.
• Historiography is the writing of history, also known as historical writing.
• It's based on critical examination of sources, selecting details from authentic materials, and synthesizing them into a narrative.
• This is done through historical research, aided by historical methodology.
• Historical methodology involves choosing a topic, looking for data through historical sources, determining if the source is primary or secondary, analyzing data through historical criticisms, and writing the entire narrative.
• History as a social science includes history, economics, political science, science, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, geography, and psychology.
• History is important to unite a nation.
• It legitimizes regimes and creates a collective identity through collective memory.
• History helps make sense of the present.
• Studying history can prevent repeating past mistakes.
• History inspires people to continue good practices.
• The historical timeframe of the Philippines spans from 9000 BCE or 7000 BCE to the 21st century.
• This includes the Pre-historic era, Spanish era, American era, Japanese era, and the Contemporary era.

Historical Sources

• Primary sources are produced at the same time as the event being studied, also known as contemporary accounts.
• They include documents or artifacts created by a witness or participant.
• Primary sources are considered "firsthand testimony" or "eyewitness accounts."
• This encompasses diaries, letters, interviews, photographs, and newspapers.
• There are 6 points of inquiries to evaluate primary sources following Garraghan (1950): Date, Localization, Authorship, Analysis, Integrity, Credibility.
• Secondary sources are produced by authors who used and interpreted primary sources.
• They analyze scholarly questions and often use primary sources as evidence.
• Secondary sources include books, theses, dissertations, journals, magazines, and knowledge of historians.
• They are written after the event occurred.
• Primary Source A, B, and C can be compared to create a secondary source.
• To assess the validity and credibility of primary and secondary sources, consider: How the author knew the details, the origin of the information, and whether the author used single or multiple sources.

Historical Reliability

• For primary sources, the closer the date of creation, the more reliable it is.
• For secondary sources, the more recent it is, the more reliable it is.

Historical Criticism

• External criticism verifies authenticity by examining physical characteristics.
• It checks consistency with historical characteristics of the time period and materials used.
• External criticism questions include when and where it was written, who the author was, why it survived, what materials were used, and when the words used were being used.
• Internal criticism looks at the truthfulness and factuality of the evidence by examining the author, context, and agenda behind its creation.
• It examines the content and examines the circumstances of its production.
• Internal criticism questions include: Was it written by an eyewitness, why was it written, is there consistency, what are the connotations and literal meaning, and what is the meaning of the context.
• The 7 factors to evaluate through Internal Criticism are genealogy, genesis, originality, interpretation, authorial authority, competence, trustworthiness of the observer