Introduction to History

Philippine History and the

Role of the Dominican in
Nation-Building
What is
History?
HISTORIA/HISTORIE
(Greek)
learning,
inquiry or
investigation
 Traditional Definition
 Records of the Past
 Record of human past from the time written
records began to appear
 Based only on written records (weak definition)
 Interviews /Oral History /Oral traditions and
Cultural artifacts are not considered records
“No written records, no history”
 HISTORIANS:
-give sense to myriads of data or knowledge;
- by constructing narrations out of
available data.
 Traditional Definition
a common definition of history is
that it is the past of mankind
(Gottschalk, p. 43).
 Modern Definition
 The RECONSTRUCTION OF THE PAST based:
available written records, oral history, cultural
artifacts, and folk traditions
 The STUDY of events and DEVELOPMENTS - people in
the past
 Involves - collection, analysis, and synthesis - sources
 Historians should do the important tasks:
Interpret and recreate facts in an orderly and
intelligible manner
 Discover patterns and trends
 HISTORY
Interpretative and imaginative study
of surviving records of the past,
either written or unwritten, in order
to determine the meaning scope of
human existence
 19th century
Positivist and Empiricist School
IMPACT: History became a Science.
No Document, No History

Leopold Von Ranke-

Father of Scientific
History
 As a Social Science Discipline

A systematic study of written and

unwritten accounts about the past events.
.
Why study History?
 Bridging the gap between the present
and the past
 Explaining causes of things and events
 Projecting the future
 Interpreting conditions of a given space
and time
 Promoting Nationalism and Patriotism
 Tool in understanding National Identity

George Santaya: “Those who refuse to learn from history are

condemned to repeat it.”
Elements of History
 PEOPLE
Inanimate beings have no history
LOCATION
LOCAL OR
NATIONAL
 CONTEXT
 When?
 What kind of culture?
Environment?
 Periodization? Chronology?
 Cause and Effect?
SOURCES
 SOURCES
Written or Graphic/ Visual Folklore and Oral History
Inscribed Materials and Oral
Sources Artifacts Literature
- Birth and Death - Photographs interviews
- Heirlooms and
Certificates
keepsakes
- Marriage
- Arts and crafts
Certificates
- Tools, Weapons
- Directories
and utensils
- Church Records
- Old structures and
- Letters and Diaries
landmarks
- Census Reports
- Buried Artifacts
- Surveyor’s Notes
- Skeletal Remains
- Title Deeds
with funerary
- School Records
furniture and
- Government
paraphernalia
Records
- Business Records
- Police Records
- Books, Journals,
and
magazines
- Souvenir Programs
- Hospital Records
- Inscriptions
 Problems and Difficulties in the
Writing and Study of History
 Scarcity of Written Materials especially in the
local level
 Problems of translation with regard to
documents written in Spanish and other foreign
languages
 Biases and Prejudices on the part of the foreign
writers
 The lack of representative materials for the
whole country
 Lack of trained historians
 Major Views and Philosophies
in the Study of History

 Cyclical
 Providential
 Progressive and Linear
 The Marxist and Leftist-
Socialist
 Relativist
 The Cyclical (Fatalist) View of History

• Main Idea: History is just a repetition of

destined events which could not be affected
by human power.
• Just as 4 seasons of Winter, Spring, Summer
and Fall repeat themselves year after year, so
does history follow a cyclical course.
• Main Agent: None but man’s fate
The Cyclical (Fatalist) View of History

WINTER

Four
FALL SPRING
Seasons

SUMMER
 The Cyclical (Fatalist) View of History

• Representatives:
– Herodotus: Father of History
– Thucydides
– Commonality: both believed in “History simply
repeats itself”
 The Cyclical (Fatalist) View of History

• Weakness of this view:

a. It does not admit that the development of
history depends on human effort.
b. It sees no goal in history (Fatalist).
The Providential (Christian)View of History

• Main Idea: History has beginning and

advances in a straight line towards a definite
goal.
• Main Agent: God’s providence

Beginning God’s Definite Goal

Providence
The Providential (Christian)View of History

• Representative:
a. St. Augustine of Hippo: systematized the
Christian view of history
▪ History is struggle between:
City of God (God-loving people live)
-vs-
City of the World (City of the Sinful)
II
end: City of God will reign
The Providential (Christian)View of History

• Criticisms:
a. Human being was just instrument moved by
God.
b. It is so mysterious, regarded by social science
today as unacceptable.
The Progressive and Linear (Spiritual)of History

• Main Idea: History is progressing in a straight

line according to the progress of the human
spirit (Spiritual View).
• Main Agent: Human Being (rather than God’s
providence) who drives history.
History
Human Beings

Progress of Human Spirit

The Marxist, Leftist-Socialist View of History

• Karl Marx: What drives history is productive

forces with its corresponding relations of
production.
• In short, History is history of Class Struggle
(Conflict) = engine of historical change
The Marxist, Leftist-Socialist View of History
Communism
SOCIALISM
Bourgeoisie Capitalism: Proletariat
Labor Force

Feudalism:
Landlord Land Serfs/Vassals
(Conflict)

Master Slavery: Slaves

Strength/Power
Communal Society
 The Relativist View of History

• In General: Relativism is the belief that there

is no absolute truth.
▪ everyone’s concept of truth is The Truth
▪ truth is “in the eye of the beholder”
 The Relativist View of History

• Application of Relativism in History:

a. There can be no objective standard of
historical truth.
b. The interpretation of data will be affected by
subjective factors (e.g. character or
temperament of the historians or the period
in which the historian lives).
 The NATIONALIST
Point of View
 Foreign Interpretation is biased and
prejudiced

 Filipinos have greater familiarity with and

understanding of their own culture and history

 The Filipino point of view can help promote

Nationalism and Patriotism
Does HISTORY repeat
itself?
How can an event
become part of
history?
• There are societies who did not have any written
records of their past.
• Some did not know how to read and write.
• Some did not have the necessary tools for writing
• Some were not able to preserve their written
accounts.
• For some ethno-linguistic groups, their history are
not written. They are in oral form.
 ORAL HISTORY
• Pass their knowledge, culture, tradition
and history through words of mouth

• Usually in the form of stories, songs,

folktales, epics, myths and legends.

• Although they are not written, we can

consider these forms as history because
these provide us a clear description of
their society’s past
Is HISTORY
an ART ?
or SCIENCE ?
 History: Art or Science?
• The Answer is BOTH.
• History has the element of (Social) Science
and Art (or Humanities)
• How?
a. As a Social science, historian’s methodology
is scientific. It does not allow the literary
artist’s imagination to interfere with the
scientific method of investigating the idea
used in historical writing.
 History: Art or Science?
b. As an Art,
▪ Data are given life and meaning by the artistic
temperament of the historian. (Writing
styles)
▪ The use of “Disciplined imagination” to
recapture the past.
 History: Art or Science?
History Social Science (e.g. economics)

It deals with particular. It deals with general. It

attempts to formulate
laws out of material
examined.
It deals with the past, It can predict trends or
not with what the future possibilities.
will bring.
 FACTS FROM SOURCES
persons, place, events, sources

(HISTORIAN)
performs historical methodology
 • INTERPRETS
 • ANALYZE
 • SELECTS
 • CORROBORATE
 • WRITES WITH ELEGANCE

HISTORY OR
HISTORICAL FACT
 HISTORICAL METHODOLOGY

 Choosing a topic
 Gathering of sources
 Examination of sources or Historical
Criticism (External and Internal Criticism)
 Extraction of data from authentic and
credible sources
 Writing of history - must be well-
organized, coherent and elegantly
written
 HISTORICAL CRITICISM
External Internal
 Examines the physical appearance  Higher level of criticism
of the document
 Examines the content and
(eg: color of paper used, condition
and characteristics of the paper, ink interpretation of the document

used, handwriting style, etc. )  Examines the content of the

 Answers the following questions: document
 What, where, when and how was
 Examine the words used in the
the document acquired?
document
 Is the document original or a copy
of the original
 Is the document primary or
secondary?
 Is the document authentic?
 HISTORY : An Art?
 Interpretation

 In historical writing :
1. well-organized
2. coherent
3 elegant.

History is an art because the

historian interprets facts from
sources.
2 COMPONENTS OF
HISTORY
 SOURCES

 HISTORIAN