Readings in Philippine History PDF 2024-2025

MODULE 1 Readings in Philippine History GE 102 ACADEMIC YEAR 2024-2025 Mr. Antonio M. Regoris Lecturer  MODULES FOR READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY Credits : 3 units lecture (3 hours/week) Pre-Requisite : None Lesson Title: Introductio...

MODULE 1 Readings in Philippine History GE 102 ACADEMIC YEAR 2024-2025 Mr. Antonio M. Regoris Lecturer  MODULES FOR READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY Credits : 3 units lecture (3 hours/week) Pre-Requisite : None Lesson Title: Introduction to History References 1. Candelaria, J. &Alporha, V. (2018). Readings in Philippine History. C.M. Recto, Manila: Rex Bookstore. p. 1-9 2. Historiography by Richard T. Vann retrieved from https://www.britannica. com /topic/historiography 3. Oxillo M.J.C. (2018). Readings in Philippine History - Introduction to Philippine History. Retrieved August 10, 2020 from https://www.slideshare. net/markjhonoxillo/introduction-to-philippine- history-119056759 Objectives At the end of the course, the students are expected to: 1. Recall the basic concepts of history. HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY History has always been known as the study of the past; it was derived from the Greek word historia which means knowledge acquired through inquiry or investigation. History as a discipline existed 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 of a group of people through written documents and historical evidences. That meaning stuck until the early parts of the 20th century. History became an important academic discipline. It is the historian’s duty to write about the lives of important individuals like monarchs, saints, and nobilities. History also focused on writing about wars, revolutions and other important breakthroughs. It is thus important to ask: What counts as history? Traditional historians lived with the mantra of “no document, no history.” It means that, unless a written document can prove a certain historical event, then it cannot be considered as historical fact. Thus, there are valid documents that are being used to record history like receipts, personal letters, chronicle’s accounts, government records etc. There has also been discrimination on the validity of history; whereas, restricting historical evidence as exclusively written is a discrimination against other social classes who were not recorded in paper. Others got their historical documents burned or destroyed in the events of war or colonization. Nobilities, monarchs, the elite and even the  middle class would have their birth, education, marriage, and death as matters of the government and historical record. But the peasant families and indigenous group did not give much thought on being registered to the government records. There is a question lingering to our minds; does the absence of documents mean that people of no history or past? Nor they even existed? Other meaning of History: 1. It is the sum total of what happened in the past; every event, every action, and every thought that a human being has done. 2. It is the act of analyzing and writing about the past. In short, history is not only the past but is also the study of the past. Questions and Issues in History History as a discipline has already turned into a complex and dynamic inquiry. Thus, this produced various perspectives on the discipline regarding questions such as: What is history? Why study history? These can be answered through historiography. Historiography is the writing of history, especially the writing of history based on the critical examination of sources, the selection of particular details from the authentic materials in those sources, and the synthesis of those details into a narrative that stands the test of critical examination. The term historiography also refers to the theory and history of historical writing. History and historiography should not be confused with one another. The former is focused with the study is the past, the events that occurred in the past, and the cause of such events. While, the latter’s object of study is the history itself (i.e., How was a certain historical text written? Who wrote it? What was the context of its publication? What particular historical method was employed? What were the sources used?), so on and so forth. Thus, historiography helps learners to understand more about history. Evaluating Historical Data There are two ways on how to examine historical sources for the scholastic writers and historians to validate the authenticity of the sources that they have collected to be used as the reference of the historical account that they are going to publish. These are Internal and External Criticism. HISTORICAL METHODOLOGY: INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CRITICISMS History is a meaningful record of human achievement. It is not merely a list of chronological events but a truthful, integrated account of the  relationships between persons, events, times and places. History is used to understand the past and to unravel the present in the light of past events and developments. In this modern world, there are plenty of materials that include history in it. It is important to explain the meaning and significance of those materials, and to elaborate, analyze, synthesize and philosophies the ideas in the light of the knowledge we possess. However, historians and students of history need to truly scrutinize these historical sources to avoid deception and to come up with the historical truth. Valid criticisms can be done through External and Internal criticisms. External criticism is the practice of verifying the authenticity (whether the source is real or fake) of evidence by examining its physical characteristics; consistency with the historical characteristic of the time when it was produced; and the materials used for the evidence. Example of the things that will be examined in conducting external criticism of a document includes quality of the paper, the type of the ink, and the language and words used in the material among others. Paleographer- checks the handwriting whether the document belongs to the period one is researching on. Philologist- study the style and language of the text in the document. Numismatics- study the coins and medals of the primary source. Epigraphy- study about the inscriptions in monuments. Internal criticism on the other hand, is the examination of the evidence. Once the source is considered authentic then that primary source goes through internal criticism, it looks at the content of the source and examines the circumstance of its production. Internal criticism looks at the truthfulness and 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 intended purpose, among others. For example, Japanese reports and declarations during the period of war should not be taken as a historical fact hastily. Internal criticism entails the historian acknowledges and analyzes how reports can be manipulated to be used as war propaganda. There are some questions that one may pose to check on the reliability of the source: 1.How close was the author to the event being studied? 2.When was the account made? 3.Who was the recipient of the account? 4. Is there bias to be accounted for? 5. Does informed common sense make the account probable? 6. Is the account corroborated by other accounts?