HISTORY

History

- is about life and events in the past

- It tells us facts
- Biases of historians
- Morality
- Society and
- Moral judgments
As a subject
- History is interesting for it is not only an inquiry into the past
but
1. An understanding of change
2. How societies came to be
3. It tells us of events from distant time that made significant
changes in the present, and into the future
- Thus HISTORY can develop critical thinking
- By its most common definition, the word history now means
“the past of mankind”
History
 is derived from the Greek word Historia – which means
learning by inquiry
 Aristotle (Greek Philosopher) – looked upon history as the
systematic accounting of a set of natural phenomena
 That is taking into consideration the chronological
arrangement of the account.
 This explained the knowledge is derived through conducting
a process of scientific investigation of past events.
 The word History – is referred usually for accounts of
phenomena, especially human affairs in chronological order.
 There are theories constructed by historians in
investigating history: the Factual and Speculative
1. The Factual history presents readers the plain and
basic information,
a. The events that took place (what)
b. The time and date with which the events happened
(when)
c. The place with which the events took place (where)
d. The people who are involved (who)
2.) Speculative – goes beyond the facts, because
a) it is concerned about the reasons for which events
happened (Why)
b.) the way they happened (how)
it tries to speculate on the cause and effect of an event.

History – deals with the study of past events

Historians – individuals who write about history
a. They seek to understand the present by examining what went
before
b. They undertake arduous historical research to come up with a
meaningful and organized rebuilding.

Whose past? – is the basic question that the historian needs to

answer
- Because this sets the purpose and framework of historical
account
The Limitation of Historical Knowledge
• The incompleteness of records has limited man’s
knowledge of history
• Most human affairs happen without leaving any
evidence or records of any kind, no artifacts
• If there are artifacts – no further evidence of the
human setting in which to place surviving artifacts
 WHAT IS THE HISTORICAL
METHOD?
Historians have to verify
sources, to date them, locate
their place of origin and
identify their intended
functions
Historical Method – is the process of critically examining and
analyzing the records and survivals of the past.

Historiography – the imaginative reconstruction of the past from the

data derived by that process/ the practice of historical writing

By means of historical method and historiography the historian

endeavors to reconstruct as much of the past of mankind as he /she
can.
 A salient feature of historical writing is the facility to give meaning
and impact value to a group of people about their past.

 The traditional method in doing historical research that focus on

gathering of documents from different libraries and archives to form a
pool of evidence needed in making a descriptive or analytical
narrative.
 The modern historical writing does not only include examination of
documents but also the use of research methods from related areas
of study such as archeology and geography
Historical Analysis: is also an important element of historical
method.
• In Historical analysis, historians:
a.) select the subject to investigate
b.) collect probable source of information on the subject
c.) examine the source genuineness, in part or in whole
d.) extract credible particulars from the sources ( or part of sources)
• Historical Data – are sourced from artifacts that have been left by the past

Artifacts relics or remains

testimonies of witnesses to the past
Historical sources – tangible remains of the past ( Anthony Brundage)
are those materials from which the historians
construct meaning
to rearticulate (reshape), a source - is an object from the past or
testimonies concerning the past on which historians depend in
order to create their own depiction of the past (Howell and
Prevenier, 2001)
 - The source provides evidence about the existence of an event, and a
historical interpretation
- Relics or remains (artifacts)
whose existence offer researchers a clue about the past
example: the relics or remains of a prehistoric settlement
- Artifacts
can be found where relics of human happenings can be found
example: a coin, a ruin, a manuscript, a piece of wreckage, a
strand of hair, a book, a portrait, a stamp, or other archaeological
or anthropological remains
these objects are never the happening or the events
 if written documents, they may be the results or the records of
events.
whether artifacts or documents, they are materials, out of which
history may be written.

TESTIMONIES OF WITNESSES
whether oral or written , may have been created to serve as
records or they might have been created for some purposes,
all these describe an event, such as the record of a property
exchange, speeches, and commentaries
WRITTEN SOURCE OF HISTORY
Written Source of History:
Written sources are usually categorized in 3 ways:
1. Narrative or literary
2. Diplomatic or judicial
3. Social documents

Examples of Written Sources

1. Published materials
a. Books, magazines, journals
b. Travelogue ( talk, lecture, travel program)
c. Transcription of Speech
2. Manuscripts ( any handwritten or typed record that has not been
printed)
a. Archival materials ( information objects that serves as evidence of past
events)
b. Memoirs or diaries
Non-written sources
1. oral history
2. artifact
3. ruins – ( are the remains of human made architecture)
4. fossils - ( remains of prehistoric organism preserved in petrified form)
5. arts works
6. video recording
7. Audio recording
oUnwritten sources are as essential as written sources
o there are 2 types:
1.) the material evidence – archaeological evidence, is one of the most
important unwritten evidences:
Example: pottery, jewelry, graves, churches, roads and others that
a. tell a story about the past.
b. Tell about the ways of life of people in the past, and their culture.
c. Reveal a great deal about the socio-cultural interconnections of the
different groups of people especially when an object is unearthed in more
one place
d. Commercial exchange
Example: drawings, etchings, paintings, films, and photographs, vusual
presentation of the past.
2.) Oral Evidence
folksongs/ popular rituals
interviews

Primary and Secondary sources

PRIMARY SOURCES: (direct)
- Are 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 ( gov’t or private), and even photographs
 FOUR MAIN CATEGORIES OF PRIMARY RESOURCES
1. Written
2. Images
3. Artifacts
4. Oral testimony
- Primary are original, first hand account of an event or period that are
usually written or made during or close to the event/period
- Sources are original and factual
- Their key function is to provide facts
- Example: diaries, journals, letters, newspaper, magazine articles
1. Photographs – that may reflect social conditions of historical
realities and everyday life
2. Old sketches and drawings that may indicate the conditions of life
of societies in the past
3. Old maps that may reveal how space and geography were used to
emphasize trade routes, structural building
4. Cartoons for political expression or propaganda
5. Material evidence of the prehistoric past like cave drawings,
ancient writings
6. Statistical table, graphs, and charts
7. Oral history or recordings by electronic means of accounts of
eyewitness or participants, the recordings are then transcribed and
used for research
- Interviews with people who lived during a certain time,
- Songs, plays, novel, stories, paintings, drawings and sulptures
8. Published and unpublished primary documents

SECONDARY SOURCES ( indirect)

- The testimony of anyone who is not an eyewitness that is of one who
was not present at the event of which he tells (Gottschalks)
- Material made by people long after the events being described had
taken place to provide valuable interpretations of historical events
- Analyzes and interprets primary source
- It is an interpretation of second hand account of a historical event
Example:
biographies
histories
literary criticism
Book written by third party about a historical event
Art and theater reviews
Newspaper or journal articles that interpret

- Both primary and secondary are useful in writing and learning history
Thank you