2. Chapter 1: Introduction to History
Learning Objectives:
• To understand the meaning of history as an academic
discipline and to be familiar with the underlying
philosophy and methodology of the discipline.
• To apply the knowledge in historical methodology and
philosophy in assessing and analyzing existing historical
narratives.
• To examine and assess critically the value of historical
evidences and sources.
• To appreciate the importance of history in the social and
national life of the Philippines.
3. Definition and Subject Matter
• The study of the past.
• History was derived from the Greek word
Historia (knowledge acquired through inquiry or
investigation).
• This term was then adapted to Latin where it
acquire 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.
4. • The Latin meaning stuck until the early parts of
the twentieth century, making History an
important academic discipline.
• It became the Historian’s duty to write about
the lives of important individuals like monarch’s,
heroes, saints, and nobilities/nobles.
• History was also focused on writing about wars,
revolutions, and other important breakthroughs.
5. What Counts as History?
• Traditional historians lived with the mantra of
“No document, no history”.
• > This means that unless a written document
can prove a historical event, then it cannot be
considered as a historical fact.
6. • Giving premium to written documents essentially
invalidates the history of other civilizations that do
not keep written records. (Ex. Peasant families and
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? This loophole was recognized by
historians who started using other historical
sources, which may not be written but just as valid.
7. Oral Source
• Oral source or oral data are testimonies handed
down to us by word of mouth from one generation
to another over time.
• According to Janvansina “oral tradition are all
testimonies concerned past which are transmitted
from one generation to another”.
• A few examples of these are Oral Traditions in
forms of epics and songs, artifacts, architecture,
and memory.
8. • History thus became more inclusive and started collaborating
with other disciplines as its auxillary 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 hisorical evolutions,
past connections among different groups, and flow of cultural
influence by studying language and the changes it has
undergone.
• Even Biologists and Biochemists can help through
analyzing genetic and DNA patterns of human societies.
9. Importance of History
1. Studying history is important because it allows us to
identify ourselves in the larger past, and recognize that
we are shaped by historical processes.
2. History also gives us invaluable lessons from the past
that can help us understand the present and prepare
for the future.
3. History is an eye opener to understand our culture,
language and society.
4. History may arouse patriotic, humanitarian nature in
people
10. Branches of History
• Political History is the narration of the evolution of the
political related matters of the past. This branch of history
deals with the analysis of political leaders, ideas, events,
movements, activities and so on, along with the making of
government policies (constitutions etc).
• Military history refers to warfare, strategies, battles,
weapons, and combat psychology.The "new military history“
since the 1970s has been more concerned with soldiers than
with generals, with psychology rather than tactics and with
the wider impact of war on society and culture.
11. Branches of History
• Diplomatic History is the branch of history that focuses
on the study of international relations between nations
(between states). This history tends to be more concerned
with the history of diplomacy and the ideas of diplomacy
and much more
• Cultural History is the branch of history that deals with
the traditions and cultural interpretation of the past. It is a
study of various facets of human and history. Simply,
cultural history records and interprets various past events
involving human beings like literature, sport, and
entertainment and much more
12. Branches of History
• Social History focuses on the study of various societal
norms like ways of living, standard, customs, disciplines,
status and so on of the people, alongside the demography.
Simply, it is a branch of history which looks at the lived
experience of the past. Today, social history is otherwise
called the New Social History
• Economic History is the branch of history that focuses on
the study of economies as well as economical phenomena of
the past. Simply, the study of the pattern of the production,
consumption alongside industry, market and so on
concerning the past, economic history aims to understand
the historical events of the economical processes
13. Branches of History
• Intellectual History aims to understand the ideas
(ideology and philosophy) by understanding the political,
cultural, intellectual, and social context of the past.
Intellectual history is about the human (historians) actions
and how they developed history.
• Environmental history is the study of human interaction
with the natural world over time. Environmental history
tends to focus on particular time scales, geographical
regions or key issues.
14. History and Story
• History: unaccountable, more factual, non-fiction,
academic, it really happened.
• Story: imaginary, fiction, narrative, it often didn’t really
happen
But there are moments where history, which is not countable,
and story, which is countable, actually can be the same thing,
and this is when there are anecdotes, anecdotes or biographies,
documentaries, or historical movies.
15. Questions and Issues in History
Questions Regarding History
• What is History?
• Why study History?
• History for whom?
• All of these questions can be answered by
Historiography (It is the history of history.)
16. History Vs. Historiography?
• History - object of the study is the past, the
events that happened in the past, and the causes
of such events.
• Historiography – object of study is history
itself. (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?”
17. • In Historiography we do not just get to study
historical facts, but we are also provided with the
understanding of the facts and the historian’s
contexts.
• Historiography is important to someone who
studies history because it teaches the student to
be critical in the lessons of history presented to
them.
18. History Has Played Various Roles in the Past
• States use history to unite a nation. It can be used
as a tool to legitimize regimes and a forge of sense of
collective identity through collective memory.
• Lessons from the past can make sense of the present.
• Lessons of past mistakes can help people to not
repeat them.
• Being reminded of a great past can inspire people to
keep their good practices to move forward.
19. School of Thoughts Relating to History
1. Positivism (18th – 19th century)
•
•
• A school of thought that requires empirical and
observable evidence before one can claim that a
particular knowledge is true.
It entails an objective means of arriving at a
conclusion.
Positivist Historians are expected to be
objective and impartial not just in their
arguments but also on their conduct of historical
research.
20. 2. Postcolonialism
• A school of thought that emerged in the early
20th century when formerly colonized nations
grappled with the idea of creating their identities
and understanding their societies against the
shadows of their colonial past.
21. Postcolonial history looks at two things in writing history:
A. First is to tell the history of their nation that will
highlight their identity free from that of colonial
discourse and knowledge.
B. Second is to criticize the methods, effects, and idea
of colonialism.
• Postcolonialism history is therefore a reaction and
an alternative to the colonial history that colonial
powers created and taught to their subjects.
22. History and the Historian
• If history is written with agenda or is heavily influenced
by the historian, is it possible to come up with an
absolute historical truth?
• Is history an objective discipline? If it is not, is it still
worthwhile to study?
• Indeed, an exact and accurate account of the past is
impossible for the very simple reason that we cannot go
back to the past. Historians can only get to access
representation of the past through historical sources
and evidences.
23. What is the job of the Historian?
“Facts cannot speak for themselves.”
• The historian’s job is to seek and interpret facts.
24. • It is the job of the historian to give meaning to
these facts and organize them into timelines,
establish causes, and write history.
• Meanwhile, the historian is not a blank paper
who mechanically interprets and analyzes
present historical fact. He/she is a person of
his/her own who is influenced by his own
context, environment, ideology, education, and
influences among many others.
25. Factors that may influence the Historian
1. Self-context
2. Environment
3. Ideology
4. Education
26. Deception Cases in the Philippine History
• The hoax Code of Kalantiaw is one of the most
scandalous case of deception in the Philippines.
• 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, when american-
historian William Henry Scott debunked the
authenticity of the code due to anachronism and lack of
evidence to prove that the code existed in the
precolonial Philippine society.
27. • Ferdinand Marcos also claimed that he was a
decorated World War II soldier who led a
guerilla unit called “Ang Maharlika” This was
widely believed by students of History and
Marcos had war medals to show. This claim,
however was disproven when historians
counterchecked Marcos’ claims with the war
records of the United States.
