Introduction To History PDF

MEANING AND RELEVANCE OF HISTORY MODULE 1 This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-ND. WHAT IS HISTORY? 2. Chronological record of 3. Came from the Greek word significant events often “Historia” which me...

MEANING AND RELEVANCE OF HISTORY MODULE 1 This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-ND. WHAT IS HISTORY? 2. Chronological record of 3. Came from the Greek word significant events often “Historia” which means 1. Study of the past. including an explanation of “knowledge acquired through their causes. inquiry or investigation.” NO DOCUMENT, NO HISTORY! if there’s no written document that can prove a certain historical event, then it cannot be considered as a historical fact. VALID HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS Government records Chronicle’s accounts personal Letters Receipts Diaries Atifacts architecture etc. DIVISIONS OF HISTORY 1. PRE Period where no written records exist or HISTORY/ when the writings of eole were not PRE Preserved. HISTORIC analyzed through fossils and artifacts by Archeologists and Anthroologists. PERIOD This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-NC.  Period when man started to write and record events using a system of writing. 2. analyzed through wood carves, engraved metals, written PaPyrus, HISTORY written PaPers , etc. it is studied by historians.  HISTORY VS. HISTORIOGRAPHY  Writing of history  based on critical examinations of sources, selection of particular details from authentic materials in those sources and the synthesis of those details into a narrative.  done through “historical research” with the aid of “Historical Methodology”. HISTORICAL WRITING 1. Choosing a topic. 2. Looking for data through historical sources. 3. Determining the data as a primary or secondary source. 4. Analyze the data through historical criticisms. 5. Writing the entire narrative. IMPORTANCE OF HISTORY 1. To unite a nation. 2. To legitimize regime and forge a sense of collective identity through collective memory. 3. To make sense of the present. 4. To not repeat mistakes of the past. 5. To inspire pepole to keep their good practices to move forward. DISTINCTION OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES; External and Internal Criticism This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC. HISTORICAL SOURCES 1. PRIMARY SOURCES Produced at the same time as the event being studied (Contemporary Accounts) Include documents or artifacts created by a witness or participant of the event. “firsthand testimony”, “eyewitness accounts” It may include diaries, letters, interviews, photographs, newspapers 6 POINTS OF INQUIRIES TO EVALUATE RIMARY SOURCES (Garraghan, 1950) 1. DATE- when was it roduced? 2. LOCALIZATION- when did it originate? 3. AUTHORSHIP- who wrote it? 4. ANALYSIS- what reexisting material serves as a basis for its production? 5. INTEGRITY- what was its original form? 6. CREDIBILITY- what is the evidential value of its content? ADVANTAGES OF PRIMARY SOURCES 1. PRIMARY SOURCES provide a window into the past - unfiltered access to the record of artistic, social, scientific and political thought and achievement during the specific eriod under the study and produced by people who lived during that period. these unique, often profoundly personal documents and objects can give a very real sense of what it was like to be alive during a long past era. DISADVANTAGES OF PRIMARY SOURCES PRIMARY SOURCES are often incomplete and have little contect. students must use prior knowledge and work with multiple rimary sources to find patterns. 2. SECONDARY SOURCES Produced by authors who used and interpreted rimary sources. analyzed a scholarly question and often use primary source as evidence. include books, thesis, dissertations, journals, magazines, knowledge of historians. written few years after the exact time of the event. ADVANTAGES OF SECONDARY SOURCES SECONDARY SOURCES provide analysis, synthesis, interretation, or evaluation of the original informatiion. best for uncovering background of historical information about a topic and broadening your understanding of a topic by exosing to others perspectives, interretations and conclusions. allows the reader to get exert views of events and often bring together multiple primary sources relevant to the subject matter. DISADVANTAGES OF SECONDARY SOURCES SECONDARY SOURCES their reliability and validity are oen to question, and often they do not rovide exact information. they do not represent first hand knowledge of a subject or event. there are countless books, journals, magazine articles and web pages that attemt to interpret the past and finding good secondary sources can be an issue. HOW TO EVALUATE THE VALIDITY AND CREDIBILITY OF THE PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES 1. how did the author know about the given details?  Was the author Present at the event? 2. Where did the information come from?  Is it a ersonal experience, an eyewitness account, etc. 3. Did the author conclude based on a single or multiple source? IN TERMS OF HISTORICAL RELIABILITY PRIMARY SOURCES SECONDARY SOURCES the closer the date of creation, the more reliable the more recent, the more one reliable one. GUIDE QUESTIONS  when it was written?  where it was written?  who was the author?  why did it survive?  what were the materials used?  were the words used were being used during those times? WRITTEN SOURCES OF HISTORY This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC. 1. NARRATIVE OR LITERARY 2. DIPLOMATIC SOURCES sources that rofessional historians treated as purest, and best source. a LEGAL DOCUMENT is usually sealed or authenticated to rovide evidence that a legal transaction has been completed and can be used as evidence in judicial proceedings in case of dispute. 3. SOCIAL DOCUMENTS these are information pertaining to economic, social, political or judicial significance. they are records ket by bureaucracies such as government reports, municipal accounts, proerty registrations and census records. HISTORICAL CRITICISM This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC. 1. INTERNAL CRITICISM This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC. INTERNAL CRITICISM 1. Looks at the truthfulness and factuality of the evidence by looking at the author of the source, its context, the agenda and the purpose behind its creation. 2. it looks at the content of the source and examines the circumstance of its production. GUIDE QUESTIONS  was it written by eyewitness or not?  was it written?  is there consistency?  what are the connotations?  what is the literal meaning?  what is the meaning of the context? 7FACTORS IN EVALUATING THROUGH INTERNAL CRITICISM (Howell and Prevenier, 2001) 1. Genealogy of the document 2. Genesis of the document 3. Originality of the document 4. Interpretation of the document 5. Authorial authority of the document 6. Competence of the observer 7. Trustworthiness of the observer 1. Genealogy of the document is the document authentic; is it an original or a copy? Genealogy is the study of the history of families, especially through studying historical documents to discover the relationships between particular people and their families. Genealogical research is the tracing of an individual's ancestral history using historical records, both official and unofficial, such as: Census Records. Vital Records (birth certificates, adoption records, death certificates, marriage and divorce records, etc.) City Directories. Genealogy writing is technical writing about dates, facts, history, and citations. There may not be much emotion to add when writing about unknown historic people, but we can guess at how they may have felt about a marriage, a death, immigration, or other events in their lives. 2. Genesis of the document  who created the document, where, and when?  The genesis of something is its beginning, birth, or creation.  Genesis of a story refers to the origin of something, when it is begun or starts to exist. 3. Originality of the document historian must know something about the tradition around a document in order to read it properly? 4. Interpretation of the document deciphering the intended meaning of the document. Author authority The art or process of determining the intended meaning of a written document, such as a constitution, statute, contract, deed, or will. The art or process of discovering and expounding the intended signification of the language used iu a statute, will, contract, or any other written document, that is, the meaning which the author designed it to convey to others. refers to a person's jurisdiction over a particular subject and the right they have to claim their expertise as an author on the matter. 5. Authorial authority of the document with what authority does the writer speak from? Author Authority can be described as the level of authority an author has gained for a certain topic. If authors publish on trustworthy websites, their credibility and authority grows, and in turn this also helps increase the authority of other platforms they are featured on. 6. Competence of the observer factors particulars to the individual observer and competence pertaining to the time in which the observer lived? An observationally competent person is proficient at: (1) making observations well, (2) reporting them well, and (3) correctly assessing the believability of reports of observations. Care must be taken in interpreting these divisions. 7. Trustworthiness of the observer does the observer have any bias? 2. EXTERNAL CRITICISM This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC. EXTERNAL CRITICISM  the practice of verifying the authenticity of evidence by examining the physical characteristics; consistency with the historical characteristics of the time when it was produced, and the materials used as evidence.  Analyzing source documents for authenticity and accuracy: Accurate and authentic: Sources about which there is no uncertainty regarding form or content. Not accurate but authentic: Sources that are “false” in an intellectual sense, in that they were written to mislead contemporaries or to claim illegitimate rights or privileges. Accurate but not authentic: Sources that are copies of official documents or source material, but not written by the stated author. Intended to fool the reader as to the origin of the document. The information within can be verified as accurate. Copies sometimes fall within this category if they were expressly made and notarized or otherwise authenticated at the time of issuance. As long as the intent of the copier was not to deceive the reader as to it’s origin. Not accurate and not authentic: Sources that attempt to deceive the reader on both the origin of the document and the contents. These can be useful not in the event they describe so much as the intent and political background of the time. Documents such as the Elder Protocols of Zion, The Tanaka Memorial, and others tell us about the political and mental context of the writer and those that uncritically accept the texts than the intended content of the writing itself. This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA.