RHIST L1 — Intro to History

Historia

Latin & Greek word; etymology of “history”

Inquiry

• History is an act of _______

• Aim is to satisfy curiosity and validate info

Investigation

Knowledge in history is acquired through _________.

History

• Systematic study and recording of events that illustrate the evolution of man and their society

• Means of understanding the past and the present

• Bridge to other disciplines

• Provides us with a sense of identity

Rational beings

Humans, by their nature, are the only creatures that can inquire and record facts gathered from inquiry.

Understanding the Past & Present

History is not a blueprint for the future, but is a means of….

Bridge to other Disciplines

All fields of study are rooted in historical background, therefore history is a….

Sense of National Identity

By studying our country’s history, it can help us define and explain Filipino culture, providing us with a…

• helps tracing our people’s roots

• Commonalities in culture & experience

• Need for nationalism in nation-building

Written & Non-Written

Two Forms of Sources

Written Sources

A form of sources; includes:

• published materials (magazines, journals…)

• Manuscripts (memoirs, archival materials…)

Non-Written Sources

A form of sources; includes:

• Oral history (folklore, balagtasan…)

• Artifacts (photographs, tools, arts, remains…)

Primary & Secondary Sources

2 Categories of Sources

Primary Sources

• A category of sources

• materials produced by people or groups directly involved in the event

• Participants/ eyewitnesses

Secondary Sources

• A category of sources

• testimony of anyone who is not an eyewitness/ is not present at the event which they tell

Historical Criticism

• stages of tests designed to verify historical testaments/ artifacts

External & Internal Criticism

2 Types of Historical Criticism

External Criticism

• questions authenticity

• External, physical verifications

• Ex. Identifying fabrications, forgeries, hoaxes, misrepresentation

Internal Criticism

• questions credibility

• Examines relevant particulars in the document

• Verisimilar (aims to critically examine the best available sources to arrive to the closest possible reconstruction of events)

Test of Authenticity

• checking for anachronism in writing style or timeline of events

• dating the document

• determining the author (handwriting, signatures, seals)

• provenance or custody

• Semantics (meaning)

• Hermeneutics (ambiguities)

Test of Credibility

• identification of author (personal attitudes, relaibility)

• Determination of approximate date (handwriting, signature, seal)

• Ability to tell truth (nearness to event, competence, degree of attention)

• Willingness to tell the truth (determining conscious or unconscious falsehoods)

• Corroboration

Corroborration

• Checking multiple sources describing the same historical facts/ events

• Particulars which rest on the independent testimony of 2 or more reliable witnesses

3 Major Components to Effective Historical Thinking

• Sensitivity to Multiple Causation

• Sensitivity to Context

• Awareness of Interplay of Community & Change in Human Affairs