Readings in Philippine

History
Course Description
The course analyzes Philippine history from multiple
perspectives through the lens of selected primary sources coming
from various disciplines and of different genres. Students are given
opportunities to analyze the authors’ background and main
arguments, compare different points of view, identify biases and
examine the evidences presented in the document. The discussions
will tackle traditional topics in history and other interdisciplinary
themes that will deepen and broaden their understanding of
Philippine political, economic, cultural, social, scientific and religion
history. Priority is given to primary materials that could help students
develop their analytical and communicative skills. The end goal is
to develop the historical and critical consciousness of the
students so that they will become versatile, articulate, broad-
minded, morally upright and responsible citizens.
This course includes mandatory topics on the Philippine
Constitution, agrarian reform and taxation.
Course Outcomes

1. Evaluate primary sources for their credibility, authenticity

and provenance, in order to come up with valid and reliable
historical research outputs.
2. Analyze the context, content and perspective of different
kinds of primary sources.
3. Reflect on personal values acquired or learned from lessons
of the past.
Course Outcomes

4. Propose recommendations/solutions to present-day

problems based on their understanding of the root causes
and their anticipation of future scenarios.
5. Manifest interest in local history and concern in promoting
and preserving our country’s national patrimony and cultural
heritage.
Course Outline

Midterm Coverage
• History and Sources
• Magellan’s Voyage Around the World
• Customs of the Tagalogs
• Declaration of Independence
• Cory’s Speech
• Cavite Mutiny
• First Cry of the Revolution
• Retraction of Rizal
 Course Outline

Finals Coverage
• Philippine Constitution
• Agrarian Reform in the Philippines
• Taxation
• Local History and Cultural Heritage
HISTORY AND SOURCES
Lesson 1
 History
[excerpts from Understanding History: A Primer of Historical Method by Louis
Gottschalk)

• The English word history is derived from the Greek

noun ἱστορία [historia], meaning learning/ knowledge
acquired through inquiry and investigation

• As used by the Greek philosopher Aristotle, history

meant a systematic account of a set of natural
phenomena, whether or not chronological factoring was
a factor in the account…
 History
[excerpts from Understanding History: A Primer of Historical Method by Louis
Gottschalk)

• In the course of time, however, the equivalent Latin

word scientia came to be used more regularly to
designate non-chronological systematic accounts of
natural phenomena

• and the word history was reserved usually for accounts

of phenomena (especially in human affairs) in
chronological order
 History
[excerpts from Understanding History: A Primer of Historical Method by Louis
Gottschalk)

• By its most common definition, the word history now

means, “the past of mankind”

• The reconstruction of the total past of mankind,

although it is the goal of historians, thus becomes a
goal they know full well is unattainable.
 History
[excerpts from Understanding History: A Primer of Historical Method by Louis
Gottschalk)
Only a small part of what happened in the past was ever
observed. Only a part of what was observed in the past
was remembered by those who observed it; only a part of
what was remembered was recorded; only a part of what
was recorded has survived; only a part of what has
survived has come to the historians’ attention; only a part
of what is credible has been grasped; and only a part of
what has been grasped can be expounded or narrated by
the historian.
 History

• the study of the beliefs and desires, practices, and

institutions of human beings

• also includes a look into the development of the

Philippine culture through time especially with the
influences of the colonial period that would eventually
shape the present Philippine identity
 Why study history?

• An examination of the past can tell us a great deal about

how we came to be who we are.

• Looking at the past teaches us to see the world through

different eyes – appreciating diversity of human
perceptions, beliefs, and cultures.
HISTORICAL METHOD AND
HISTORIOGRAPHY
• Historical Method
process of critically examining and analyzing the
records and survivals of the past (sources)

• Historiography
imaginative reconstruction of the past from the
data derived by historical method (writing of history)
 SOURCES

• Primary sources
• Secondary sources
 Primary SOURCES

• Materials produced by people or groups directly

involved in the event or topic being studied. These
people are either participants or eyewitnesses to the
event.
• These sources range from eyewitness accounts,
diaries, letters, legal documents, official documents
(government or private), and even photographs.
• It provides direct firsthand evidence about events,
object, person, or work of art.
• It provides compelling evidence about humanity
• These are actual records that have survived from the
past
 What if these primary sources are
reproduced? Are they still considered
primary sources?
 Primary SOURCES

• must thus have been produced by a contemporary of

the events it narrates; does not however, need to be
original in the legal sense of original (that is the very
document)
 Primary SOURCES

Formally there are 8 examples of these primary sources:

• photographs that may reflect social conditions of
historical realities and everyday life
• old sketches and drawings that may indicate the
conditions of life of societies in the past
• old maps that may reveal how space and geography
were used to emphasize trade routes, structural
buildup, etc.
• cartoons for political expression or propaganda
 Primary SOURCES

• material evidence of the prehistoric past like cave

drawings, old syllabaries, and ancient writings
• statistical tables, graphs, and charts
• oral history or recordings by electronic means of
accounts of eyewitnesses or participants; the
recordings are then transcribed and used for research
• published and unpublished primary documents,
eyewitness accounts, and other written sources
If a student of history wishes to study about the
Commonwealth Constitution Convention of 1935, his
primary sources can include:
• Minutes of the convention
• Newspaper clippings during the period
• Philippine Commission reports of the US
Commissioners
• Records of the convention
• Draft of the constitution
• Photographs of the event
• Eyewitnesses accounts of convention delegates
 Secondary SOURCES

• The testimony of anyone who is not an eyewitness –

that is one who was not present at the event which he
tells

• These are books, articles, theses, dissertations and

scholarly journals that had interpreted primary sources or
had used them to discuss certain historical subjects in
the remote past
• If a student wishes to study the Philippine Revolution, he
might used secondary sources such as:
• Revolt of the Masses: The Story of Bonifacio and the
Katipunan
• Malolos: The Crisis of the Republic
• Author: Teodoro Agoncillo
PROCESS OF VALIDATING SOURCES

• External Criticism
• Internal Criticism
 EXTERNAL CRITICISM

• Problem of authenticity/ genuineness

• The historian checks the validity and originality of the

evidence used for the reconstruction of a historical event
or figure

• This includes: quality of the paper, the type of the ink

used, physical aspect, etc.
 INTERNAL CRITICISM

• Problem of credibility

• The historian checks the validity of the content of a

historical document or artifact by comparing it with
existing historical evidence related to the same event or
figure

• This is done by looking at: the author of the source, the

context, the agenda behind its creation, the knowledge
which informed it, its intended purpose, etc.
 Why is it important to validate
historical sources?

• Without thorough criticism of historical evidences,

deceptions and lies will be highly probable

• The use of unverified, falsified, and untruthful historical

sources can lead to equally false conclusion
 The Hoax Code of Kalantiaw

The code was a set of rules contained in an epic,

Maragtas, which was allegedly written by a certain Datu
Kalantiaw. The document was sold to the National
Library and was regarded as an important precolonial
document until 1968, American historian William Henry
Scott debunked the authenticity of the code
How do you examine things if it is a fact or a
myth/hoax?