CHAPTER 1

Introduction to History: Definition and Relevance of History

Good day our dear students! Welcome to the first topic of the course, "Readings in Philippine
History." This chapter introduces history in a form of narrative and as academic discipline. It presents
various definition of history, which go beyond the usual definition as the study of the past and of course, the
relevance of history as an academic discipline to you, as students and to our country.

The learning objectives for this lesson are the following, to wit:
1. To understand the meaning of history as an academic discipline
2. To appreciate the importance of history in your life and to the country

Definition and Relevance of History

Most often, history has always been defined as the study of the past. Students of the general
education are often dismayed and do not appreciate the subject much because of the wrong connotation
that they have, like students are required to memorize names, dates, places, and events from time
immemorial. This low appreciation of history by the students may be due to superficial understanding of the
students when it comes to the relevance of history to their chosen field of specialization and to their life.
Although, the popular definition of history as the study of the past is not wrong, it does not give justice to
the complexity of the subject matter and its importance to human civilization (Candelaria and Alporha,
2018).
Etymologically speaking, the word history is derived from the Greek word 'historia' meaning ’inquiry
or research.’ One of the great philosopher, Aristotle regarded history as a "systematic account of a set of
natural phenomena, whether or not chronological ordering was a factor in the account." The term "history"
has now come to be applied to accounts of events that are narrated in a chronological order, and deal with
the past of mankind. Learning by inquiry about the past of mankind was later developed into a discipline by
the Greek historians Thucydides and Herodotus (who is popularly known as the Father of History).
Although the term 'History' 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 twentieth century. History became
an important academic discipline. It became the historian's duty to write about the lives of important
individuals like monarchs, heroes, saints, and nobilities. History was 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 a historical fact (Candelaria
and Alporha, 2018).
Moreover, E. H. Carn defined history as an "unending dialogue between the present and the past."
Jawaharlal Nehru observed that man’s growth from barbarism to civilization is supposed to be the theme of
history." Will Durant called history "a narrative of what civilized men have thought or done in the past time."
The importance of history is in its capacity to help one to draw conclusions from the past events. It
may be said that history is to the human race, what memory is to each man. It sheds the light of the past
upon the present, thus helping one to understand oneself, by making one acquainted with other peoples.
Also, as one studies the rise and fall of empires and civilizations, the lessons of the past help one to avoid
the pitfalls of the present.
History makes one’s life richer by giving meaning to the books one reads, the cities one visits or
the music one hears. It also broadens one’s outlook by presenting to one an admixture of races, a mingling
of cultures and a spectacular drama of the making of the modern world out of diverse forces. Another
importance of history is that it enables one to grasp one’s relationship with one’s past. For example if one
wonders why the Philippine flag has red, white, and blue, with a sun and three star or why Brunei or Japan
follows monarchy, one has to turn to history for an answer. History is of immense value to social scientists
engaged in research. Thus the political scientist doing research on the parliamentary form of government,
has to draw his materials from the treasure trove of history. It preserves the traditional and cultural values of
a nation, and serves as a beacon light, guiding society in confronting various crises. History is indeed, as
Allen Nerins puts it, "a bridge connecting the past with the present and pointing the road to the future."
But as any other academic disciplines, history developed and opened to any possibility of valid
historical sources, which were not limited to government records, chroniclers' accounts, and personal
letters. Just relying to the written documents invalidates the other civilizations that do not keep record or
loss their records due to natural calamities and human calamities like war. Albeit, studying history should
not confined us by just using written records but by also utilizing other aspect like oral tradition wherein
information are passed from one person or group of persons to the others orally. Restricting historical
evidence as exclusively written is also discrimination against other social classes who were not recorded in
paper. Nobilities, monarchs, the elite, and even the middle class would have their birth, education,
marriage, and death as matters of government and historical record. But how about the peasant families or
indigenous groups who were not given much thought about being registered to government records? Does
the absence of written documents about them mean that they were people of no history or past? Did they
even exist? Those questions were answered through the book of Candelaria and Alporha entitled
Unraveling the Past. They wrote:

This loophole was recognized by historians who started using

other kinds of historical sources, which may not be in written form but
were just as valid. A few of these examples are oral traditions in
forms of epics and songs, artifacts, architecture, and memory. History
thus became more inclusive and started collaborating with other
disciplines as its auxiliary disciplines. With the aid of archaeologists,
historians can use artifacts from a bygone era to study ancient
civilizations that were formerly ignored in history because of lack of
documents. Linguists can also be helpful in tracing historical
evolutions, past connections among different groups, and flow of
cultural influence by studying language and the changes that it has
undergone. Even scientists like biologists and biochemists can help with
the study of the past through analyzing genetic and DNA patterns of
human societies.

Sources:
Candelaria, J.P. and Alporha, V.C. (2018). Readings in Philippine History. Quezon City: Rex Bookstore Inc.
http://pinkmonkey.com/studyguides/subjects/worldhis/chap1/w0101101.asp